The Petting Zoo, Jim Carroll
The Petting Zoo, Jim Carroll
1 Rating(s)
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The Petting Zoo
A Novel

Author: Jim Carroll

Narrator: Scott Brick

Unabridged: 13 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/04/2010

Synopsis

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 thirty-eight-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 Velázquez 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.

About Jim Carroll

Jim Carroll (1949-2009) was an author, poet, and punk musician best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries, which was adapted into a film in 1995. He is also the author of Forced Entries and the poetry collections Organic Trains, Living at the Movies, The Book of Nods, and Fear of Dreaming.

Reviews

Goodreads review by David on August 05, 2019

I have had this book sitting on my shelf for several years but was hesitant to pick it up. My procrastination stemmed from the fact that The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll was one of my favorite books in my twenties. Not only did I read it many times, but for several years when I was an actor I c......more

Goodreads review by Jason on January 26, 2011

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.) So before anything else, let me make it clear that I'm as big a fan of Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries......more

Goodreads review by Anna on November 28, 2010

I picked this novel out from the public library, looking for an existential self-exploration akin to "Nausea" or "The Stranger" but written in modern times by an American author. In no way was I let down. I found highly resonant (and heartbreaking) Carroll's depiction of the ambivalence one experien......more

Goodreads review by Denise on June 12, 2013

Jim Carroll is an artist I've followed for years now. This book was not a disappointment. The writing is true to his style - artful and moody and full of wit. A good story and endearing characters. All with NY flavour. I especially enjoyed the Billy's-stay-on-the-psych-ward scenes.......more

Goodreads review by Go on September 19, 2016

I think Patti Smith enjoyed this book more than I did.......more

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