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Written by Laura Hamlett Tuesday, 09 June 2009 15:13

I was repulsed by the book's narrator, and the more I read, the less I liked him.

I have a very lame admission to make. To me, Eric Bogosian is the guy who replaced Jamey Sheridan on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He's Capt. Danny Ross—you know, the one responsible for keeping Vincent D'Onofrio's character in order?

My husband tells me Bogosian is best known for writing—and starring in—Talk Radio. (I never saw it/read it/whatevered it.) In other words: writer first, actor second.

Still, I couldn't shake the image of the Captain out of my head as I read Bogosian's latest novel, Perforated Heart. Told in first person from both present day and 30 years ago, Heart is the story of writer Richard Morris, from his wide-eyed beginnings in New York City to current-day disinterest-turned-accolades over his latest book. Heart is dirty and gritty, at times graphically sexual. It threw me, it really did, picturing Capt. Ross talking about "cumming." Ick.

But the problems I had with this book run deeper, more insurmountable. I was repulsed by Richard Morris, and the more I read, the less I liked him. After a while, you quit giving someone the benefit of the doubt; whether he's real or make believe makes little difference.

Morris's first bit of humanity came when he had heart surgery. Time to change his hard-living ways, to straighten up and live right...right? Well, despite a brief respite, nothing really changed. Nothing.

Still, I kept reading, kept hoping. There toward the end was a sliver, a chance for Morris to find redemption; the fact that he passed up this opportunity, too, was the final nail in an already well-hammered coffin.

I'm sorry, Mr. Bogosian, but I greatly prefer the paternal figure you play on TV over the loosely disguised author-as-writer you've presented here. | Laura Hamlett