Oh hell yeah. I could not stop reading this absolute train wreck. I loved how we were deep inside our main characters mind with the flow of consciousness writing style. The dichotomy between his POV and the implied reality of the situations was perfection. Speaking of perfection, the ending. Chefs kiss from me. I’m sure this book will be divisive because unfortunately some people just don’t appreciate fun depravity but alas it gets a great score from me.

HOLY SHIT.

I have a love and hate relationship with this book it was so wild. this is one of the best character study novel I've read so far. just pure delusion, male entitlement, and the rot of privilege gone to waste. I went into this not expecting any plot but the rather character discomfort was like a slow, grimy unraveling of someone who believes the world owes him everything while he contributes absolutely nothing.

this book is not for people who like tidy plots or redemption arcs or characters that learn a single damn thing. this is for people who want to feel like they just licked the inside of a New York City subway pole in 1992.

premise: Doughty, a delusional, entitled failure from a once-rich family who drifts through 1990s New York City. Believing he’s destined for greatness, he lies, manipulates, and preys on women to survive, while actually living a life of addiction, joblessness, and self-destruction. It’s a dark, satirical character study of male privilege, toxic masculinity, and the quiet violence of mediocrity.
—

Robert Doughten Savile "Doughty" (the name alone makes me want to commit violence) is quite literally the worst man I have ever met on page. He's like if mediocrity was a sport and gaslighting women was cardio. He is a master of absolutely nothing except being a delusional parasite. No talent. no skills. just raw, unfiltered entitlement and crack pipe dreams. this man wakes up and chooses FAILURE every single day and I couldn't stop watching. the novel doesn't just explore toxic masculinity, it throws it at you like a brick through a Soho loft window. it's super grotesque and darkly hilarious it's so real it hurts. every page feels like watching someone dig their own grave with a spoon while monologuing about how they're definitely the next big thing.

and the worst part and scariest part of this is I KNOW MEN LIKE THIS EXIST. we've all met one. the guy who lies about his job. the guy who "used to be" something. the guy who blames everyone else for his failures while preying on vulnerable women just to feel powerful. the author literally said "here's the American Dream rotting from the inside out."

this book is not pretty. it's not kind but it's unforgettable.
4.5 stars
thank you so much Soho Press & Paula Bomer for an early copy!

the book comes out on May 27.

Ok so I didn’t love it.
The blurb had me thinking I was in for something edgy but darkly funny — instead, I got a collection that felt like it was trying way too hard to shock and ended up being just... unpleasant. Crude and just kind of gross for the sake of it. Some of the content felt really off — antiemetic, racially insensitive and scenes of sexual assault.
I don’t mind raw or messy writing when there’s a point to it, but this felt more like provocation without purpose. The tone was jarring and not in a good way — just left me feeling uncomfortable and kind of irritated.
Advertised as black humour that just didn’t ring true for me.

Ok, wow. This is a super dark comedy about a delusional psychopath. I imagine some readers may appreciate this book more than I did. For me, it was just too bleak and sordid. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ok this is legit the most unexpected terrifying book I've ever read! Billed as a "Dumb American Psycho," this is the epitome of horrible white man failing upwards except, twist, he's just a psychopath and doesn't actually get very far. I've never read anything quite like Paula Bomer's THE STALKER and it is for sure going to stay with me for a bit. It def got under my skin.

Doughty is a con-man, drug addict, horrible person from CT who moves to NYC in the 90s and is able to convince women to let him stay with them for free - thinking he has an apartment of his own and a real estate business. He does not. He's stupid, evil, and unfortunately good looking. Being inside of his head was disturbing, but Bomer lands the insane ending and makes the scary journey worthwhile. I think I need to try more of her books as she nails dark comedy, which I love. I can't wait to hear what other readers will think of this one.

Thank you for the galley. I enjoyed this a lot. I was worried this title would be one that certain demographics might come to idolize for the wrong reasons (see the cis-white straight man obsession with American Psycho and Fight Club who fail to see the real meaning of those books), but ultimately this is a different beast. The protagonist Doughty is far too stupid to be idolized. This is an acerbic, nasty, fun book that really lampoons male privilege, class entitlement, and misogyny. This won’t be for everyone but those that get it will really like it.

Really enjoyed reading this and it was a super quick read for me. Never at any point did I have any clue where this story was going to go. It continued to subvert my expectations with every chapter, culminating in an ending that I won’t soon forget. Definitely not a book for everyone, but for those that love an unhinged narrator and have a dark sense of humor. This book is a Gemini and rightly so.

What can I say? It's Knut Hamsun's Hunger but redpilled. It's Dennis Reynolds: Lost In New York. I started reading Stalker and thought, "sure, this guy is a douche bag but it's not as dark as I was expecting" and by the end of the book I felt like laughing maniacally to cope with what I just read. This book is going to be divisive and there's not one redeeming feature about Doughty, the delusional egotistical protagonist, but my god the story is a compelling car crash. I was hooked.

I'm sorry to give this one a low rating as I really thought it sounded great, unfortunately I struggled with the writing style from the very beginning and just didn't feel it brought the character or premise to life. I also assumed the use of the surname Savile had to be deliberate but it doesn't seem it having read the book, which is odd. Fantastic cover design though!

Oof! This author is so talented, to make me despise the book’s main character so much. This is a tough read to work through but honestly, that difficulty only speaks to the author’s skill at representing such a detestable main character. Glad I read, but not sure I could do it again.

I knew from the first page I was going to hate this book. LOATHED IT. The writing style is practically cartoonish, and when it’s not, it’s just completely flat. Thank god it was short. However, it still took me over a week to read because rather than being unable to put it down, I just couldn’t pick it up.

Someone else said if you were okay with American Psycho, you’d be ok with this. False. There’s no comparison, other than depravity. American Psycho, although not for everyone, was still written with some talent.

Skip. Skip. Skip!!!