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Title: The Petting Zoo

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Jim Carroll

Narrator: Scott Brick

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-04-10

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

When poet, musician, and diarist Jim Carroll died in September 2009, he was putting the finishing touches on a potent work of fiction. The Petting Zoo tells the story of Billy Wolfram, an enigmatic 38-year-old artist who has become a hot star in the late 1980s New York art scene. As the novel opens, Billy, after viewing a show of Velazquez paintings, is so humbled and awed by their spiritual power that he suffers an emotional breakdown and withdraws to his Chelsea loft. In seclusion, Billy searches for the divine spark in his own work and life.

Carroll's novel moves back and forth in time to present emblematic moments from Billy's life (his Irish Catholic upbringing, his teenage escapades, his evolution as an artist and meteoric rise to fame) and sharply etched portraits of the characters who mattered most to him, including his childhood friend Denny MacAbee, now a famous rock musician; his mentor, the unforgettable art dealer Max Bernbaum; and one extraordinary black bird. Marked by Carroll's sharp wit, hallucinatory imagery, and street-smart style, The Petting Zoo is a frank, haunting examination of one artist's personal and professional struggles.

Critic Reviews:

"A heartfelt portrait of a New York original by a New York original." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Needs an editor!

Well, it starts out interesting enough, but gradually loses steam until it becomes so sagged down I made it about nine hours through (more than halfway) before giving up. I think the narrator is very good, but the book just is wayyy too slow-paced and rambling, taking forever to make any point while we take a lazy tour through the muddy philosophies and slightly tormented mind of a New York artist. It is often repetitive, stating the same exact thing more than once. I liked Basketball Diaries and Jim Carroll was a talented person, the concept of this book has potential, but needs a good editor to pare down to about half the length.

Deserves to be read

Any additional comments?

First things first. Scott Brick does his usual wonderful job reading. He even sounds a little like the real Jim Carroll, which is a double edge sword. Its good hearing the words as Jim might have said them, but I find myself too often comparing Billy, the lead character, to Jim Carroll. I sort of imagine a lot of this novel is a thinly veiled autobiography and I think thats a little unfair of me because its a novel. I just cant help it particularly with the voice so like Jims.

Apparently Jim Carroll had a cardiac event at his desk while writing this beast and died. I call it a beast because the other reviewer is correct that it is quite fat and begs for a good shaving that I think it might have gotten had Jim Carroll lived long enough to complete it.

On the other hand, it has the feel of a novel that he never would have finished, and thats kind of the problem. There is a linear thread through the novel, but the digressions are so far afield and, frankly, irrelevant (at least for me) that it does get to be a bit of a bear.

But SOOOO worth it. This novel may not be an autobiography, but it stands as a great rumination about the creative process and its impact on artists life that I think any dedicated artist can relate. Those are the parts I really appreciated. And I didnt mind some of the digressions about Billys youth that actually felt more like their own novellas because they just kind of went on and on sometimes.