a novel Richard Perez
March 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Article by Carla Melendez
Book Review by Carla M.
Dommes are all the rage these days — from Melissa Febos to Elise Sutton. Take it as a sign of shifting gender roles, take it as a sign of female empowerment, take it as a sign of embracing a subculture that just years ago was considered freakish and taboo. Richard Perez’s novel, PERMANENT OBSCURITY explores the world of dommes and “dominas,” particularly from the point of view of two down-and-out East Village wannabe artists who enter it partly out of curiosity, partly out of desperation.
This is by no means a politically correct book — even regarding BDSM culture; the story involves drugs, which as some may or may not know don’t mix with that world, or shouldn’t mix with that world. And this is partly the point of this cautionary tale. Shifting gender roles does not grant anyone the license to abuse others; with power comes responsibility. So maybe the most obvious question this story asks is: How can you dictate to others when you can’t control yourself?
The narrator of this story is Dolores. And she and Serena are best friends; both are young. Both have drug issues. It’s Serena, the more self-confident of the two, who takes ads on Craigslist for willing male subs. Dolores, although dominant by nature, is conflicted and can’t identify that way, and that would make her the more middle-of-the-road character:
“Oh, right,” Serena laughed. “I forgot how you hate being a top.”
She said it sarcastically, but I thought it was true. I mean, it was more responsibility than I wanted.
Usually.” (p. 142)
The story of PERMANENT OBSCURITY hinges on empowerment vs. being powerless; and it underscores the debilitating, soul-sucking quality of addiction, which undermines any possibility of control. And this is the major dilemma in the arts. Addiction of some sort seems to come with the territory. Who and what are artists, poets, writers if not addicted and compulsive people?
The central premise of PERMANENT OBSCURITY revolves around a dream of defining one’s own destiny. Early in the book, Dolores and Serena strike out as photographer and fetish model to produce a layout for a LA publisher, and from there a seed is planted: some possibility of a future project, which evolves into a movie idea. Not just an implausible fantasy, but a real possibility. If only Dolores and Serena can contain their neurotic need for self-sabotage. To put their plan into effect they rely on what’s familiar: putting out an ad on Craigslist, but this time for a writer (who also becomes an agent/author of destiny). With the writer aboard, script approval at hand, they seem, literally, to be in command of their own real life narrative. (The only thing the writer doesn’t deliver is a story ending, which, significantly, he promises to deliver “in person.”)
By hook or crook, Dolores and Serena get the necessary supplies to fulfill their plan: boosted camera, lights, moving van, media. But then fear and the dragon of meaningless rears its ugly head. What are they doing? Why are they doing it? It’s a question that artists continually ask themselves. Now add doubt and drugs to the equation. Then add massive drugs to dull the doubt and self-criticisms and what you concoct is a recipe for disaster, which is how this story unfolds. The Dominatrix film staring Serena, filmed and co-directed by Dolores, devolves into a face-sitting horror show/farce scripted by either Marquis de Sade, Eric Stanton, or David Lynch.
PERMANENT OBSCURITY may not sound like a pleasant story and in many ways it isn’t; yet what makes it palatable is the narrative voice of Dolores, an impulsive and often comically conflicted character, unaware of her own darkness and the depth of her own self-destructive nature. Some have called this a black comedy, and by turns it’s very funny. But in the world of the arts, where desperation and addiction rules, it stands as a warning to anyone who might let control slip away — would-be dominatrix and artist alike.
Book available on Amazon.
PERMANENT OBSCURITY: Or a Cautionary Tale of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography and Death by Dolores Santana
(as told to Richard Perez)
Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Ludlow Press
ISBN-10: 0971341540
ISBN-13: 978-0971341548
About the Author
Originally from Cranston RI, I now live in Brooklyn. I’m a freelance writer, songwriter. I also manage a small fetish apparel shop and collect Burlesque memorabilia.
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