Skunk: A Love Story

The story of Damien Youngquist—the annoyingly anal copy editor turned junkie who nearly loses it all chasing the skunk “musk dream”—is as dark and twisted as it is tender and hilarious. From the love of Youngquist’s life, a fish fetishist named Pearl, to his bumbling anarchist neighbor Robbie, Courter creates characters so grossly flawed and dysfunctional that they could almost be real. Skunk brims with repugnant imagery that defies genre, but also reaches new levels of coherent realism and maniacal science fiction. Addiction, love and finding a place in the world is Skunk’s message, but the novel really jumps off the shelf because of Courter’s wicked gift of description and keen sense of story—it’ll have you retching one minute, then trying to find a suitable skunk to milk the next.