This is the first Spalding Gray book I've read and it's quite a different experience than listening to his monologues. Sex and Death to the Age 14 started as an ever evolving monologue performed at The Wooster Group, but was then published, even as the work continued to evolve on stage. While a bit is lost in the translation, his personal, funny, insightful accounts of ordinary and not so ordinary things that have happened to him are still delightful.
I responded more to his childhood stories of growing up in Barrington, RI as a horny and naive kid and a little less so to the tales of a slightly pain in the ass Buddha actor. Of course he's a pain in the ass who is extremely intelligent and charmingly hilarious, and not totally unaware of his faults.
Infact, his voice is so human and vulnerable, you almost forget how beautiful his observations are in their simplicity. Gray's death in 2004 was tragic and the world is missing a unique voice. This is an excellent introduction to his innovative work.
But what do you think?