Tampa: A Novel

Thank goodness there are no mind police. They vivid writing of Allisa Nutting puts some wild images in your head. I would recommend her books to anyone, and Tampa is no exception. Twisted. Wonderful. Thought provoking.

Off putting subject (teacher preying on young boys). This woman was so aroused all the time I wonder how she functioned from day to day. Interesting only for the fact that it was from a predator's point of view......Overall a pretty creepy story,

I am an avid erotica reader, accustomed to graphic and taboo content, but this book really bothered me. It steps inside the mind of a pedophile and makes a joyous home there. The sex scenes are written to entice/arouse and that is where I find issue. I have a thirteen year old son and I CAN'T IMAGINE nor do I want to - how a grown woman would find him attractive. The author/narrator delights in the 'childlike' aspects of the preteen - losing interest in the boys once they start to develop muscles or have deeper voices. That really bothered me - I feel dirty now, just having it on my kindle. It was well-written, it was interesting - but it was sick and depraved and in a horrible icky way, not a hot sexy way.

I would not recommend it. I'm sorry - I just can't. I'm sick at myself for buying this - and for investing six hours in reading it.

Others have written much in their reviews (here and on Goodreads) about whether this work was designed for a literary context, or is designed to titillate the kiddie porn market. I think both outcomes, regardless of the author's intentions, are possible.
I mostly felt I was reading a character study (of the teacher, Celeste) whose relentless sexual appetite and obsession for making it out with 14 year old boys went from fantasy scenarios to descriptive episodes of every possible secret set-up she could engineer with her targets. The book uses the porn vernacular to sketch these scenarios..

When my husband asked me what was I reading and when I told him, briefly, it was about a schoolteacher who seduces her 14 year old students, he said he regretted he never "got lucky" like them. When I told him more about this particular storyline, and the way these students are depersonalised as they're subjected to another's will and sexual exploits, I think his fantasies of an empowering sexual goddess, divined especially for inexperienced highschool boys, had well and truly faded.
I liked the way the author revealed the social context that embeds the story. Far from twigging to anything troublesome that might be happening in the relationship between Celeste and her students; her partner, her faculty staff and parents are so preoccupied with their own little worlds that Celeste can easily manipulate their conceits to mask her intentions and deeds. Celeste could effortlessly proclaim if she wanted to, I do it because I can.
I know the author and other critics have called it a satire but it didn't read like that to me. It wouldn't have mattered to me if the protagonist was male or female, I would have received it the same way. Mostly, I found the story very ugly and very, very sad. Celeste's first 14 year old victim, Jack, has the naive hope their twisted trysts might lead to marriage, and offers her gifts and really everything he has emotionally in the hope there is some meaning to it all beyond the arousal and all the sex. He is yet to discover he's been abused.

I give it 3 stars because frankly I got a bit bored with Celeste's point of view and her one dimensional character and started skipping parts of her narrative. Also I find novels that conclude through court scenes and cross-examinations a bit predictable.

Funny and quick read. Little bit too focused on the horny thoughts of the teacher to be a really good story (I think it could have been a really good story with more 'real' characters and a better build-up).
But liked it as a quicky while travelling.

The sexual predator in this fascinating, controversial ,satirical novel is a gorgeous young woman- getting inside the head of the most sociopathic character in literature since Amy in "Gone Girl" makes this a must read. It's often quite uncomfortable to read, but always thought provoking.

I started this book and was actually somewhat shocked at the content. Bad on me for not really reading the description when I purchased it. I ended up putting it down, but eventually picked it up again and finished it in an evening. It has a pretty touchy subject matter and I was slightly disturbed to think that if someone put this in the context of a male teacher soliciting and preying upon his middle school aged girl students it would be hugely controversial. I don't understand why horny housewives get a free pass at taboo material like this because of 50 Shades of Grey garbage...

Alas, it isn't written terribly, but I don't think that I would recommend it to anyone.

I appreciate what Nutting does here. In Celeste, she creates a character that is unrepentant in what she does, and that is refreshing given that many novels with a sociopathic narrator tend to be apologetic or demanding sympathy from the addressed audience. I also like how she is discussing a taboo subject from a woman predator's perspective. That being said, I feel like the novel doesn't deliver like it should. Sure, readers looking for the sensational and the sexual won't be disappointed. Nutting spares no punches with detailing what occurs. But if you're looking for compelling characters and a study of the inner workings of Celeste then you'll be just as disappointed as I was. We only receive brief moments of her life at home, and I feel like after spending such a long time in Celeste's head that I didn't really know her. Her drive in her relationship is purely sexual, but that's the only thing there. That is frank, but it doesn't sustain for 200 plus pages. The narrative takes its predictable turns, and that wouldn't be so bad if I had more of a character to follow. Celeste just seems empty, but not intentionally so. Nutting has great prose, and I'd love to see what she does in the future. But this first novel doesn't really live up to its ambition.

This was a sick, disgusting book. It made me gag. It took me months to get through because I kept having to take breaks. I'm pretty sure I'm never going to read it again. It was difficult to read, not because of the writing, but because of the content. The writing itself is excellent. It's one of the best debut novels I've ever read.

You feel such intense emotions while reading this. It was a little confusing. Most of the time I was pretty disgusted with the main character, but then sometimes I would get caught up and think, "Oh, man, how is she going to get out of this one?" Almost as if I wanted her to win, which was NOT the case. I just wanted the story to win.

For those of you who don't know, this is about a middle school teacher who is a pedophile and she uses her position to find targets. She's also a sociopath. She is not a sympathetic character, but she is an interesting character. The story keeps you hanging on. You can't help but get invested - you want her to get caught! You want to see some PUNISHMENT.

Does it happen? I'm not telling. You'll have to read the book to find out.

It's not five stars because I do have some criticism of Celeste as a character. What are the odds that absolutely no one was suspicious? Or that, if they were suspicious, they could be easily played? I started to wonder if maybe Celeste was an unreliable narrator and that she wasn't passing as well as she thought, but then you see what students and administrators are saying to her face about how great she is, which disabuses the notion of an unreliable narrator.

And yes, some people really are good enough to get away with being a sociopath. Sociopaths are notorious charming people, able to pick up on what people around them expect to see and hear and mimic that. But Celeste doesn't do that. She's a bad teacher. She's bitchy to the female students and all but ignores the male students who don't fit what she's looking for. She talks about all kinds of ridiculously inappropriate topics in class. Nobody mentions this to their parents? Even passingly?

I also wondered at Celeste's raging sex drive. She comes across almost as a nymphomaniac as well as a pedophile...except she won't have sex with just anyone. She's just constantly filled with sexual urges, to the point of ridiculousness. I started thinking, though - if I absolutely could not express any actual sexual feelings, if I couldn't even TALK about what I was attracted to, much less get off on it, wouldn't I go a little sexually crazy? Maybe? So that part didn't bother me as much.

Alissa Nutting’s novel Tampa is a confusing mixture of elements and leaves the discerning reader with several questions. Is this book meant to titillate its readers or disgust them? From a strictly moral and legal point of view, the protagonist is guilty of sexual crimes and breaking the trust of minors. Is Nutting trying to write a novel about gender roles, transgression, and legal hypocrisy. Maybe, but the case is not strongly etched.

This novel does not shy away from explaining the particulars of explicit sex acts with minors. What is the point of this? There does not seem to be any compelling literary reason to detail them in such exacting ways. Nor does it add to the plot.

It seems Nutting wished to write a literary novel which skirted the outer edge of pornography - mixing the genres. We get neither at the end. Just a muddle.

Reading this makes one consider whether or not you really want to know what's on the mind of people you know, or think you know. Monsters can hide right in front of you, and you want to kick yourself for not seeing them.

This is written from the POV of a young, beautiful female teacher who likes to have sex with young boys. Most libraries won't carry this book; indeed, I couldn't find it anywhere. I had read a review in a magazine and was intrigued. A very disturbing topic (my initial thought was Mary Kay LeTourneau) but a good read.

The author's fronted a bunch of rationalizations about female empowerment, but this is really just prurient exploitation porn. The writing is about on the level of your standard ebook erotica, but since the author comes out of a creative writing program, we get it foisted off on us as literature. If you're into ebook erotica, you can find better stuff at a lower price, and it won't insult your intelligence.

Easy read but a weak ending. Gets a little monotonous at times with the plot line and tone but the author has great diction and the prose is great. I would only recommend if you don't have a weak stomach for sexual deviance..

I purchased this book because of its rave reviews and my regard for Lolita. I don't think the 2 stories are at all comparable beyond the initial premise. This is a fast read and I kept hoping the protagonist would come to some understanding of herself and her obvious illness. The story quickly becomes tiresome - one unsatisfying (for the reader) sex romp after another. I definitely felt the need to read someone wholesome and literary afterwards,

The one thing I appreciate from this book is that I was starting to get worried that I could empathize with everyone and I'm now glad to say it is not true. The story is interesting - to a point- and the lack of remorse Celeste (the lead character) has about her pedophilia is beyond what I could understand. The author got that part really good, and it really makes you feel like you are reading those thoughts. The story becomes a little tedious through the middle and by the time the climax comes it unravels and resolves pretty quickly. I feel it left me craving for seeing her come and face her actions. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as a good read, but if the story compels you to.

although I would not recommend this book to very many avid readers that I know...I found it thought provoking and I found that female predators are every bit as twisted and devious as the male predator.

I was very skeptical about reading this book due to the content. I am not easily offended, so this book wasn't sooooo hard to read. It took me a few chapters to really get used to the fact that she is a grown-up and he is just a child. The book really takes you into the mind of a sociopath. This book really got me thinking about what kinds of people we are all attracted to. I almost felt bad for the main character because she cannot help her feelings. I know it sounds sick, but it's true. The same way I am attracted to men, gays are attracted to the same sex, and one race enjoys someone of another race. This is just another type of preference. I do not stand up for child molestation, but I do understand desires and having preference. It's a good book- I enjoyed running through her mind.

This book is confusing in many ways. The main character is clearly a female teacher sociopath who preys on middle school boys, sexually. The writing is okay, but the exploration of her obsessions is a bit disturbing. I wouldn't say that the book is particularly revelatory in any way. The sex is well written and the kink is stated rather matter-of-factly, but the principal character seems to have no real goals, other than her own pleasure. It left me feeling a bit vacant.

Over-the-top and hyperbolic, but entertaining. Funny in a slightly twisted way. The only downside: the descriptions of Celeste's fellow teachers and the classroom scenes are so cartoonish as to be unbelievable. The "love affair" between Celeste and Jack is what makes the book a good read. The sex is graphic and frequent. All the secondary characters are one-dimensional, but who cares?

This book was disturbing because of the story however I found myself needing to read more to make sure she received punishment for her wrong doings but at the same time feeling anxious when she was about to get caught. I liked having the mixed emotions while reading this book.

Found this sordid insight into a well equipped, female predator very interesting. It is surprisingly humorous (darkly) and satire is definitely a constant undertone but overall a disturbingly good read. (I have a teen brother so it did make me think about what the victims would have gone through in the emotional aftermath).

Not a bad book -- certainly titilating enough, with a protagonist you've never met before. But instead of exploring her, Nutting goes into a murder and the ending doesn't live up to the first 80 percent.

Swimming in the same literary vein as Gillian Flynn, Alissa Nutting has crafted a novel about a female sexual predator that is as brilliant as it is vile. There's never mistaking the fact that protagonist Celeste is a predator, but it comes through in especially clever ways. The language in this novel drags you along, page after horrifying page, to a conclusion that is both inevitable and absolutely chilling.

When I first started reading I couldn't decide where the book was going. It kept me on edge because I couldn't believe where it was heading and would she get away with it? It was a quick read because I literally could not put it down.

I think that because of the negative emotion I have with a mature woman in a position of authority and trust seducing a young boy, I didn't enjoy it that much, especially in light of the end (which I won't disclose for those who have yet to read it). The writing was good; also the build-up of tension. But maybe that is what good writing is all about; getting to the reader's emotions, making one feel angry, uncomfortable, annoyed, etc. In that sense, she was very successful: I was upset.

This is a shocking novel. Like, jaw on the ground for 263 pages kind of shocking. And it is not for everyone. I can already see the protests coming-- the conservative women's clubs and PTAs burning their copies in effigy, and then organizing protests in front of the publisher's building. But for those with a little more open mind, and for those who appreciate truly amazing prose, there aren't many better novels that have come out this year.

Seriously, this is a book about the most horrifying crime (the graphic sexual abuse of children by an adult entrusted with their care). There is absolutely nothing likable (nor redeeming) about the protagonist, 26-year old beauty Celeste Price. She is a sociopath, devoid of ethics. She is selfish -- every nice thing she does for someone else has an ulterior motive. Yet somehow Nutting not only makes it work, she turns it into literary gold.

The reader of this difficult subject matter is in good hands with the capable Nutting. Her use of metaphors and similes is a master class on the subject. She is funny (in an oh-so-dark kind of way), and her character development is complete and compelling. I loved how, when describing the adults in Price's life, she would only point out all of the ugly things. Price was simply unable to see anything good in age. The children, on the other hand, were always described in terms of beauty and innocence. Even the things that most people would not find enjoyable about children (their odor, for example), Price found compelling (and sensual), and Nutting handled this with the skill of a wonderful creative writer.

The book is also a fantastic examination of how society handles female teacher/male student relationships vs. the obvious (but unstated) comparison of every other combination (male teacher/female student, male teacher/male student, etc.), which is always held to a different degree of societal rage.

I also credit the young Nutting (a creative writing teacher herself) with having the guts to write such a book. She had to know the obvious questions would arise -- we write about ourselves, don't we? Especially our first book? I have to admit to turning to the back jacket and looking at her photograph several times while reading, wondering why she chose this topic. For her to put that aside and allow us to read "Tampa," is the mark of a very confident young woman.

I am absolutely looking forward to more from Alissa Nutting.

Yes, the content is horrifying. But the way Nutting shows the reader how a predictor actually thinks, shows me that they are truly mentally ill people. I've always struggled with why child molesters are the way they are and this book helped me to understand that their brains don't work like others. Celeste was just obsessed, nothing else mattered. That is hard for me to wrap my head around but the author did a great job educating me on how those minds work

My (15 year old) daughter asked me what Tampa was about and I told her; a beautiful young female predator teacher obsessed with young boys. She asked if the book was any good. I told her I didn't know yet because I was only about a fourth of the way through, and though I already knew that it was, at the least, soft porn with poor characterization - I couldn't tell if it had any redeeming qualities. I mean ... a real plot. A point to being written.
I just finished the book. I was wrong in what I said to my daughter. It's not so much soft porn as just flat out porn. I have nothing against pornography itself but I don't expect to find it in books passing as 'regular' fiction. In this book, I couldn't tell you if Alissa Nutting can write (despite her apparent credentials) because she didn't really start the plot until the book was more than half over, didn't remember to add a sly humor until near the end, didn't engage me as a reader until she moved from flat out unrealistic characters and tiresomely drawn-out prurient scenarios ... to cartoonish violence and, as mentioned before, she did not create characters that felt real. The husband being a cop (as others have mentioned) simply did not fit and overall the main character - the predator - was comically self-absorbed (in a way that made you wince) but was not a well drawn sociopath at all. In the end, I have no idea why this book was written. For humor I think -- but if that's true, it's a shame the author didn't start with that humor and stay with it consistently all through the book instead of focusing on the graphic sexual escapades.

A brave debut novel with taboo subject matter. Although the plot leaves something to be desired (the tone is a bit like a TV movie) the character study of a deplorable, self-centered woman is a intriguing to read about. A daring choice to narrate the story from the deviant's point of view, Nutting dives in with no reservations. I found myself intrigued by getting granted an all access pass into the mind of such a deviant predator. Not a book for everybody but I enjoyed joining the narrator on her downward spiral and ultimately hopeless journey.

This book is disgusting, and the narrator makes my skin crawl. I still greatly enjoyed it, though. Would not recommend to an acquaintance, because it might give them the wrong idea. Really makes you think about child molestation when the genders are reversed, considering that society praises men and boys for being sexually active, even when they are made victims of rape and abuse.

I was fascinated by the main character's complete self-obsession. It's an interesting change to come across a character who has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. When she's thinking about the incident at Jack's house with Boyd, she muses "But Jack also could've saved us all a great deal of agony if he'd simply had the consideration to call before dropping by." I loved that line as it perfectly highlighted that she and her needs are the complete center of her world. It would be interesting to read a sequel set 20 years down the road, once her body has started to "decay" as she would put it.

Terrible subject, but the author has written this story in such a way that you really do see her protagonist (if you can call her that) as a monster, psychopath, not a pretty woman giving teen boys what they want. She has no redeeming qualities and is so methodical in her child predation. No different from what I suppose men going after little girls do. I found the story very compelling and liked the ending - she ruins so many lives and doesn't give a damn. I look forward to reading Alissa Nutting's next book. I found it interesting to read that she knows/knew the real life teacher who did this in Tampa. Scary stuff for mothers of teen boys I think. I would like to see what the author would do with a Casey Anthony based fiction.

This book was difficult to stomach. I had to wonder what would possess someone to write such a detailed portrait of child abuse and molestation. The writing was blunt and graphic. It was hard to finish, even for someone like me who rarely gives up on a novel.