Tampa

Tampa by Alissa Nutting tells the story of a female predator who works at a middle school in Tampa to pursue pubescent boys. In much the same way that Nabokov's Lolita forces the reader to be Humbert--viewing his pedophilia through his own eyes and justifications, Nutting has Celeste, her main character, tell her own story.

Nutting is a good writer. She forces her readers to evaluate the real-life (common) reaction of how-can-it-be-rape? she-was-pretty response when it comes to female pedophilia. However, I'm not sure that she is telling a story. This novel is a little too pushy to ever let you forget IT IS BEING WRITTEN! And the author HAS AN AGENDA. I think this novel would have been more interesting as a psychological, nonfiction article.

Now, I agree with Nutting. Our society's judgements, which often puts the children in the role of aggressor, are backward and negative. Our inability to view women as sexual beings also precludes us from viewing women as predators. Tampa is a great example of patriarchy hurting both women and men, but it doesn't necessarily equate to good story-telling or an interesting read. My honest reaction is that Nutting is doing something that Nabokov did better with a very slight change--the female is the aggressor. The writing isn't terrible, but if you are going to force yourself to read illegal sex scenes, you might as well read a master.