Daniel Handler is a hands-down amazing author. This book is unflinchingly honest and enlightening. I think that it broached the subject matter in a way that felt genuine.

A minimalist view of a coming of age story. A teenage boy works through his sexuality, first relationships and having a reputation.

After some controversy surrounding Daniel Handler surfaced, I am choosing to not read or review this title. Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity.

My Thoughts:
Daniel Handler is one of my favorite authors. I've read every book he wrote and loved all of them, including the ones he wrote under the pen name Lemony Snicket. Therefore, I was excited when I got the chance to read his newest book, All the Dirty Parts. However, I found the book to be disappointing. I couldn't even make it through the whole thing, which is sad because it's less than 200 pages. I ended up dropping it at around ten percent.

Daniel Handler's books usually have a great sense of humor that keeps me coming back time and time again. However, this one was boring and bland. There was no humor in it. It was just a description of a teenager's day to day thoughts regarding sex. I didn't mind how lude the book was. My problem with the book was that Daniel Handler usually has a captivating way of writing a great story, and that was completely missing this time.

Typically I love Daniel Handler's books, but I hated All the Dirty Parts. It was missing the usual magic web that his words weave. It didn't pull me in at all. He is one of my favorite authors, so I will continue to read his future releases. I just don't foresee myself giving this book another chance anytime soon.

I give All the Dirty Parts: 1/5.

I read this book months ago, but it has taken me a long time to review it. Why? Well, I had a hard time coming to terms with my feelings about it. It is exactly as advertised, all the dirty parts of a teenage boys mind. Do boys really think about sex all the time? According to my teenage son, maybe not all the time, but certainly a lot. Cole's narrative is mostly stream of consciousness, and takes place during one school year. Cole goes through a lot and he is not a particularly likable character, but you do end up liking him in the end. I liked the writing style, very sarcastic and irreverent and in your face, but I was very glad the story was so short. It is a short ride inside a boy's mind while he is discovering his sexual identity and it is quite the ride. I appreciate that someone wrote a book that is so frank and upfront about sex and the journey that some teens go through to get there. I hope this books finds it way into the hands of those who need to see themselves in books. Well done!

This was an ok book, it felt choppy at parts but i really did feel the exploring of the sexuality

You know how they say don’t judge a book by it’s cover well I am here to tell you that you can judge “All the Dirty Parts” by it’s title. Yep, that’s what it is…all the dirty parts. The author strips away almost everything in short, easy to read chapters, that are basically all the dirty parts. If you are one of those that skip the books just to get to the dirty parts, well this book is for you.

This is the story of Cole. Cole is a typical teenage boy (I must add that I have never been a teenage boy, but I dated a lot of them in high school, and even many, many years later, I remember that it did seem like all they thought about was sex) in that he thinks about sex all the time. All. The. Time. When he’s not thinking about sex, he’s having sex. So much so, that he is getting quite a reputation around school.

This was an easy, short read. There’s so much sex it takes away any of the shock value. I’m not sure who the audience is. Cole is 16, so you might think it’s for teenagers. I don’t know many parents or teachers, though, that would want their teenagers reading this. As an adult, I found it an easy read, but I missed a little more storyline, a little more plot. It turns out, while I do like the dirty parts, I also like a solid story with them.

A Novella of disconnected male teenage thoughts which I enjoyed way more than I expected to.

Written in a style that's almost lyrical, "All the Dirty Parts" dives into the mind of a young man addicted to sex with a stream of consciousness narrative that pulls you in and makes in impossible to stop reading.

While beautifully written, I cannot give the full five stars to this because of the plot. It's more of a snapshot of a life, without real stakes or consequences.

Gritty and irreverent, this nonchalantly told tale was not my cup of tea, but fans of Why We Broke Up will enjoy this book, which lets it all hang out and is not for the faint of heart or those looking for idealized romance.

I am having a difficult time deciding on a rating for this book, so have taken the easy route of rating it straight down the middle. Cole is a problematic main character and I think it's the main reason I am torn. But it is also a fascinating look into a teenage boy's psyche, in particular how he thinks about sex.

I find it a struggle to like Cole and while I don't always need to like the main character, with living inside his head it has a much bigger influence on how I walked away feeling about the book. I was left feeling very creeped out and like I needed a shower.

That said, I do feel that this is the type of book that would capture the most reluctant teenage male reader and give them someone to empathize with, but (hopefully) not aspire to.

I, like many reviewers struggled to explain how I feel about this one. Does this feel accurate? Possibly, in parts. It felt like a glimpse into a mind at that age (certainly not something I'd ever give to one of my teenagers) It is well written at times but also makes one uncomfortable. which may be the point. The plotless aspect of it just wasn't for my taste as a reader.

As a fan of Handler's earlier works, including A Series of Unfortunate Events and Horseradish, I thought All the Dirty Parts would be similarly odd and funny. For me, it wasn't.

“All the Dirty Parts” is one of those books that you will either love or hate. I’m in the LOVE camp. Warning: Don’t buy this for a kid thinking “Lemony Snicket.” This is not a good present from Grandma, though I can promise you it would get read.

Most of us know what it’s like to wait for the dirty part in a movie, book, story your friend is telling, or even our own lives if we’re honest about it. It seems like that’s the good part. The genius of “All the Dirty Parts” is that is exactly what the name implies: all of the dirty parts of Cole’s life. The problem is, when you only look at that, your perception of him as a person is not very good. He seems like a jerk, and probably is, but you can only he has some redeeming qualities about him since he has friends and good grades. We just don’t know what they are. He doesn’t even know what they are. There are a lot of things he doesn’t know about himself, but I’ll leave it to you to learn them.

This book is listed as an adult novel, and that is definitely the correct classification. That being said, there are a lot of lessons in literature that can be taught using it for the older young adult and new adult crowd. It’s also certain to make some banned book lists and become a coveted book for teenagers to acquire. I’m ok with that. Maybe they’ll accidentally learn something.

Highly recommended!

From the title alone, I should have been prepared for the grandiose amount of sex and debauchery inside, but I was still surprised. I requested a copy of this because it's written by Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, author of the beloved Series of Unfortunate Events books. I hoped for a similar level of charm and wit in this adult novel, but I was mostly left with raised eyebrows and questions of what the point of this story was.

The book centers on Cole, a horny teenager that has earned a reputation at his high school. He meets a girl he starts to develop feelings for, somewhat, but true to the title, we only get a sense of "all the dirty parts." By the end of the book, Cole learns a slight lesson, but there wasn't much momentum in it. Instead, we are shown snapshots of his sexual and porn-related endeavors. I felt awkward reading it (and I'm not against these topics in books by any means), and I doubt I'd ever pick this book up again.

Cole Is a HS teen. But Cole is obsessed with sex : talking about it. watching it, and having it. He already had eleven partners in his youth and has quite a reputation already. But then he meets a girl and she will show how those others had felt and open Cole’s eyes to what sex can do to you.
I personally didn’t care for this book. I saw no reason for it. If anything I think Cole is too obsessed with sex and will end up a sex addict if he isn’t already and doesn’t change his ways. I found no value to this book I am sorry to say.

All the dirty parts was just not my cup of tea. I love a good dirty book, so by no means am I faint of heart to the situations and language. I went into this pretty excited but I'm coming back slightly confused.

The writing style of this was not for me. It was as if the character could never get a full sentence out. I guess his mind could never stay on one thing. The other issue I had seems to be the same as other reviewers. I did not feel as though this was the mind of an average teenage boy. This was the mind of a sex addict in serious need of some therapy. His actions were by no means normal.

What he did to his best friend. That is not normal behavior. He took advantage of those feelings and had no respect for him. He also had no respect for his female friend. The one thing I did enjoy about it was the female friend pointing out that girls get called "sluts" while guys get high fived.

I am not even sure what else to say. This book may be for some people but it just wasn't for me.

I was really curious about this one, having never read anything by Handler – including his work as Lemony Snicket. However, the writing style is a bit difficult to follow. There are not quotations around people speaking, which isn’t a big deal, but this combined with the often short scenes, made the book feel a bit too jumpy and hard to follow. I should note that I was reading an e-ARC, so perhaps a finished copy – especially in novel form – might have been the best bet for me. As for the actual book, there really isn’t a story per se. It seems to be more of a look into a high school boy’s life.
In All the Dirty Parts, readers get Cole, who loves sex. He thinks about it, talks about it, and has it. Nothing about this is terribly shocking when it comes to teenagers, and I appreciate the honesty Handler shows regarding that. However, there didn’t seem to be much beyond that. Yes, he does fall for a girl that almost seems like the female equivalent of him, but he still has issues with seeing females and sex the way he seems males and sex. Basically, it’s a case of double standards, and I’m not sure Cole really learns enough by the end of the novel.
I did find his non-relationship with his best friend, Alec, intriguing. Both of them have always watched porn and talked about it, but eventually, they begin incorporating sex into their friendship. It’s a non-relationship though because Cole doesn’t want anymore than that. He’s not gay, and maybe he’s not. It’s just sex for him. But it’s a dynamic in their friendship that doesn’t work when Alec develops actual feelings. All in all, this was just okay for me. I probably finished it more because it was short than because I really enjoyed it throughout.

Pornography - a shortened up plot focusing on the sex and neglecting the actual story. All the Dirty Parts by Daniel Handler is just this sort of book, a XXX movie version of literature. Main character Cole is a randy high school student who has mastered the art of wooing the pants off his female classmates. His less successful friends want him to reveal his secrets, but he's only willing to share the details with his best friend Alec while they jerk off watching "those kind of movies" on the Internet (perhaps one of the reasons the Internet was invented and definitely the cause behind the discovery of the VCR/video camera). Whether from his numerous one night stands or multiple girlfriends of the week, Cole gets a well deserved rep. Yet he doesn't feel the need to force any of them, they seem to expect his attentions and he is more than happy to oblige, aiming to please and refusing to feel guilty when they express remorse for their lewd behaviors. When a dry spell hits and there's no girl available willing to risk her reputation, Cole discovers relief with Alec, but ruins their relationship when he returns to pursuing females claiming he is not homosexual, not even bi. Then Grisaille enters his life and their amazing sexual escapades leads to his first actual experience with love. When she dumps him he is heartbroken and can finally empathize with the multitude of girls he's left behind. As a friend quipped - "The Poetic Justice Series".

Don't expect much of a story since, as the title suggests, the content is mainly about carnal confrontations, with short, incomplete sentences and not much of a narrative despite an occasional mention of soccer, art, music, or homework. Unfortunately, I fear there is a limited audience for this sort of book. It's not quite graphic enough for lovers of porn, but contains too little of a plot to qualify as a story (not even a romance). I'm sure horny teenage boys will find this book entertaining, but the rest of us would prefer to read something a bit more substantial. Someone thought this novel reminded her of a cruder version of Judy Blume's Forever, but it's a bit closer to her adult novel Wifey focusing on just the steamy, vulgar sexual encounters. Its "For Mature Audiences" content is not recommended for school libraries, despite Handler's reputation as a children's author with his Lemony Snicket Series of Unfortunate Events.

Two stars and a thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review also appears on my blog, Gotta Read.

I'm having a hard time writing a review for this. On the positive side his felt like a very real insight into the teenage male mind. It's written as journal entries, and while the confusing jumbled mess of words may be a true portrayal of a boys thoughts, it was a confusing jumbled mess. And beyond the overall themes, there was very little plot or story, and definitely no resolution. It really did feel like he took his teenage diary, and selected a chunk of it, and published it. So while this may be an interesting curiosity, or maybe anthropological evidence, it was not, in my opinion, a good book.