Let's see, Salon invests significant bandwidth in covering the Iraq prison scandal and outing Neocons who ignore the Geneva Convention. Then in one day they gleefully publish two accounts of people who find torture sexy and fun. WTF?!?! Let's just let Lyndie Englund write a weekly column for Salon.

You editors are fucktards for publishing this shit.

I have to disagree with the previous letter-writer--this is one of the BEST personal essays I've ever read in Salon! All too often the articles here are well-written but about boring things or are blandly/snarkily written pieces on subjects I'd want to read about.

This guy has had adventures AND he has an evocative writing style! He should pen a memoir!!

(Seriously...I was on the verge of abandoning Salon forever, then I read this story and the one about the mom with her unemployed son and four grandkids...now I'm hooked again!!)

Far better than the usual bland fare. I'd love to see more ex-junkies grace these pages. I'm not being glib; the most moving works I've ever seen on Salon were the pieces by Seth Mnookin and his mother, Wendy - both talking about Seth's addiction to heroin.

And a ski resort at the end -- perfect.

This essay reminds me why I love Salon.

Thanks for publishing something this well-written.

I feel like I've read this before. More than once. Maybe it's the sex and drugs. Or the short sentences.

I have a college degree.

Umm, was this the winner of the BMCC first year creative non-fiction 101 contest? And did Salon pledge to publish the winner no matter how appalling the prose? Or is this some kind of a joke that I'm not hip to?

Elliott is a bracing, honest writer, unsentimental and fearless, except for all the shattered nerves. Thanks for the glimpse of his talent. I'd be glad to have more.

Beautiful - shocking - wonderful. Who is Stephen Elliot? We must know more!

You don't have a link to the book at Amazon - you're missing out on the affiliate commission for all of us who are going to buy the book.

I just noticed that the "Softer Side of S&M" answers alot of questions:

http://www.salon.com/books/review/2006/11/29/elliott/index.html

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

devoid of any self control. Sorry, the story is utter bullshit and not even worth writing. LOSER. No redeeming qualities or purpose. Maybe this loser should have gone back to the herion and ended his useless life.

I bought this book, intrigued by the title, but it was a big dissapointment. Elliot makes the world of S&M, drugs and living on the edge as exciting a a trip to Wal-Mart. Too little insight to be serious literature, too much of a downer to be a guilty pleasure.

Drew

P.S. Read Carrie's Story for real raunchy S&M story.

Normally I find Garrison Keillor a bit too ... Keillor-ish ... but I was rather touched by his essay this week. Touching, with a hint of cynicism, but with your standard Keillor tongue-in-cheekiness.

So I read the letters (some of 'em), of course I check out the "editor's picks," and out of 4 picks, three of 'em were variations on the "Sure You Say We Should All Enjoy Christmas But Here's What You're Missing In The Political Reality Of The Situation."

Okay, fine, but frankly, Keillor's essay is ironically preceded by some article where a guy gets cut and burned -- involuntarily -- by somebody else, and *that's* considered ... enlightening?

I'm a flaming liberal myself but the kind of stuff Salon's editorial staff identifies with makes me give a lot of credence to the theory that most liberals have absolutely no sense of humor about themselves.

If a "complete loser" can manage to spell correctly a common six-letter word that you can't get through without a transposition error, what does that make you?

This rather sad and dreary piece isn't artistically interesting, it's more shock- ersatz-yellow journalism than anything. For a more aesthetically satisfying experience of the outer boundaries of erotic behaviour, perhaps one should read Proust.

This young man has obviously been damaged, and the thought of that middle-aged social worker mentioned in the accompanying review article makes me angry at the hypocrisy and venality of adults who abuse and exploit children.

Oh, and the reviewer is another depressing (I assume) gen-xer who, unable to cheer up her drab and grey existence by picking the scabs off her acquaintances, must indulge in the voyeuristic contemplation of the suffering of others and assumes because she doesn't pass judgement, she is absolved of any responsibility to the writer or the audience. When snuff movies go mainstream on major networks, she'll order them to discuss with her friends and vaguely blame her parents or society at large.

Don't we have bloggers for poorly written insights into their own lives.

This SUCKED.

"I went to college." Please.

I know elliott personally, this story is a complete fabrication.

is that the best you can come up with? How pathetic. You and liar writer are made for each other.

You know, it's like this indie movie I went to see in Chicago a while back, called "Iowa." It started out interestingly enough, but when the sex/drugs thing started rolling, I just felt like this was an thoroughly second-rate derivative of "Requiem for a Dream."

This excerpt feels sort of the same. I've heard it before, seen it before, and whether it's true or not is immaterial. The story ain't that interesting. Midnight Cowboy anyone? Just because you're stupid enough to get sucked into that lifestyle doesn't give you an MFA in Fiction.

Whatever, I'm sure it will be championed as an honest tale, staring clear-eyed into the mirror and the human heart. Blah blah.

Thanks for publishing an excerpt from my son's latest book.(I may be the only person in the world who knows this is his 10th--and he's only 35.)Yes, it is all true, and beautifully written, like everything he does. But how could he ever think that nobody loved him? It was a great pleasure to read, enlightening, and I'm sure this excerpt would encourage many people to buy the book.

It is one of my great disappointments that I have never seen him dance, because I hear that he is wonderful at it and has my dancing gene. His Great-uncle Simon Frug was the last National Jewish Poet under the Tsar Nicholas, so he comes to his writing brilliance naturally, too. He was the sweetest little boy, and I remember all the beautiful things he said to me when he was 8, 10, and 4. And I still have all his beloved and loving notes, letters and fathers day cards. And pictures of us together. And they will go with me to my grave. Hopefully,soon. Without love there is nothing in this life. And the beautiful faces of the children and the beautiful things they have to tell us every day.

"Love alone can make the fallen angel rise,

For it takes Two together, to enter Paradise."

--Neil Elliott