the multilayered structural work in this book blew me away. cooper uses segments of in-fiction fiction and letters to build up a world of uncertainty around dennis and what he thinks about. the narrative moves incredibly naturally. after finishing [b:Closer|563730|Closer|Dennis Cooper|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327886470l/563730._SY75_.jpg|407625] i did a bit of reading on the cycle (not much sadly as i couldn't find much) and according to cooper, the path of the cycle is a retroactive deconstruction, with closer as the starting point, the three middle books as the brunt of the thematic work, and the last as the final deconstructed and reconstructed interpretation of the first, after having gone through the dissections of 2-4 and completing the cycle. with that in mind, frisk is a natural step into deep conceptual and thematic material after closer. it draws on certain aspects and characters, george reconstructed as henry, and perhaps kevin, to focus in close on one angle of the original presented george miles story and dig into it, to the core. i'm going straight on to the next one; cooper is truly writing at a rare level where this intensely complicated and rigid structure of examination reads as fast as pulp fiction. i can't wrap my head around how he did it, i couldn't begin to explain his craft or process. it genuinely is beyond impressive i've rarely read anything so intentionally built and rearranged.