Vernon God Little door D. B. C. Pierre

1. Essentials
Title: Vernon God Little
Author: DBC Pierre (real name is Peter Warren Finlay)
First date of publication: 20th of January 2003

2. Background
DBC Pierre was born in Australia, but grew up with his wealthy family in Mexico. He always felt like he was a Mexican instead of an Australian. When the banking system of Mexico was nationalized, his family lost all their money and he started using drugs and being involved in illegal schemes. In 2000 he moved to Ireland and started writing.
The time in which he probably has been writing, was 2000-2002 and in this period obviously a lot of things happened in the world (like 9/11), but I don’t think any of these events had an influence on his book. The book only tells the story of Vernon, but does not say anything about what is going on around him.


3. First Impression
What I notice immediately is that the author has a great sense of humor. The main character is extremely funny and the author really takes the time to make jokes and to make you laugh constantly while reading the book. Something what I did not like so much, is that it seems that in the first part of the book there are not so many things happening. The main character mainly describes the other people in the book and this, although he tells it really funny, gets a bit boring after a while.

4. The Story
The story is about a fifteen-year-old boy named Vernon. He tells you about his life with his mother and all the people around him, who just do not seem to understand him. Then, his best friend Jesus kills himself and sixteen classmates because they bullied him. Vernon was around when it took place, so he becomes a suspect. He feels like everyone he knows turns against him and wants to figure out a way to prove that he is innocent. He runs to Mexico but is tricked into telling he committed the crime and is brought back. He gets the death penalty, but just before he gets executed, his former attorney comes with the evidence that proves his innocence.

5. Setting
The book does not mention when the story takes place exactly, so I assume it just takes place in the present.
In the first part of the book, the story takes place in Vernon’s hometown Martirio. Later it continues in Mexico, then in Harris County and at the end back again in Martirio.
The people from Martirio obviously don’t have a lot of money. Vernon and his mother are way behind with paying the bills and Vernon describes the houses in town as looking kind of poor.

6. Characters
The main character is Vernon (or Vern). He looks a bit scruffy, with his weird hairdo and his different taste for shoes (something that is apparently very important to other people). He feels he sees the world very differently than the people around him and is very sadistic. The way he thinks is much more complicated than you would expect from a fifteen-year-old. He knows just how to name things and has a very big insight in the way that other people think.
We keep on getting to know Vernon better and better throughout the whole book, while he tells us about his life and adventures.

He relates to almost all the other characters as them being totally unaware of his feelings and thoughts. You notice this while you read, because you come to think about the people around him as being total idiots and completely unreasonable individuals.

7. Point of view
The story is completely told from Vernon’s point of view. This has the effect that you get to share every little irrelevant thought that goes through his mind. Of course he also thinks about stuff that is important, but the good thing about reading those little thoughts, is that you get to know him better that way, besides from his irrelevant thoughts being really funny. Sometimes he even realizes himself that he thinks too much, like on page 6:
“Are you with me, Mister Little? Are you here?’ Like, duh. I want to say, ‘No, I’m at the lake with your fucken daughters,’ but I don’t. For all I know she doesn’t even have daughters. Now I’ll spend the whole day about thinking what I should’ve said. It’s really fucked.”
These are exactly the kind of things that make the reader laugh (I know I did).

8. Style
The language used by the main character is very easy to read. I still come over some words that I don’t really understand, but even then you can figure out what they mean just by reading the context. What stands out in this book of course is the amount of swearing. You come across the word ‘fuck’ at least every five sentences and if not, you will most likely hit another word that isn’t in your all-day vocabulary.

9. Tone
It is difficult to tell how the author feels toward his subject, since the whole story is being told by the subject (or main character), but considering that the reader feels sorry for Vernon because of everything he has to go through, I think the author is feeling sympathetic towards his subject. I also think he feels kind of close to Vernon, because he has done a wonderful job describing how his mind works.

10. Structure
The book is divided into 27 chapters which are not named. It also consists out of five acts though and they do have names. I will explain those titles shortly:

Act 1: Shit happened
You discover what happened and why he is in trouble.
Act 2: How I spent my summer vacation
He spends all his time figuring out a way to get to Mexico.
Act 3: Against all odds
He travels with the Mexicans and makes it to Acapulco, but then suddenly gets backstabbed by Taylor and he is arrested again.
Act 4: How my summer vacation spent me
He spends all his time in prison or court and in the end gets the death penalty.
Act 5: Me ves y sufres
He is almost executed but gets rescued just in time. During his time in prison he tattooed “me ves y sufres” on his chest, which means “you see me and suffer”. He learned that sentence from Pelayo, a Mexican truck driver.

The dramatic line
Introduction: The whole first part of the book, when he is not a real suspect yet and is out of jail most of the time has no tension. In this part he describes the circumstances in which he lives.
Initial Incident: From the point where he gets caught trying to take his firearm, it gets clear how much he has to get out of town but his attempts to leave keep failing. The tension builds up.

Rising Action: Taylor gets him arrested and he is being accused of a lot of murders.
Climax: He gets the death penalty and the reader thinks he will die.
Falling Action: He gets saved and it becomes clear he is not guilty and will live.
Conclusion: He and Ella leave for Mexico (and live happily ever after?)

11. Theme
I think that the message is: Never hold back any important information if this will unnecessarily get you into trouble.
Vernon did hold back very important information and he went through all that trouble for nothing. At first it didn’t seem so weird that he did it, because the information was kind of embarrassing, but in the end he almost died, trying to keep the information a secret. The conclusion I draw from this is that it is better to say it right away than to hope you will never have to tell.

12. Title
The title comes from the name of the main character. His name is actually Vernon Gregory Little, but his middle name adapts to the circumstances a couple of times during the book, from Genius to Gonzalez to eventually God.

13. Genre
I think it belongs in the genre comedy, but also with a weird kind of drama in it, because the story is obviously not funny by itself. It is not your typical funny book, because the humor is kind of dark sometimes.

14. My own comment
I just love the main character. I think he would be a likable guy in the real world as well and his humor is just so funny and sarcastic. Sarcasm really makes the difference, because normally a funny book makes me laugh sometimes, but does not make me want to grin the whole time, like with this book.

I really sympathized with the main character, because everything he tells you seems to go like; ‘I am in trouble and yet again it is not my fault.’ It feels like he is surrounded by people that are less intelligent then he is and as the story goes along, you get to relate to that more and more.
I would not act like him though, because running away only makes you look guilty. I would have tried to keep that information a secret at first too, but if a really got arrested I would have told them what happened.
My first impression changed a bit, because I know now that Vernon I a more complex individual then you would think in the beginning.
The part of the book that I don’t remember is the beginning, because I was pretty bored at first. There was not so much happening in the first part of the book, so my concentration was not very high any more after a while.


15. Summary
The book starts when Vernon is at the sheriff’s office, three days after the shootings. On that day, Vernon’s best friend Jesus Navarro shot down sixteen of his classmates and himself. He has an alibi, but he does not tell about it because it is kind of embarrassing (a bowel condition). The citizens are devastated and falsely accuse Vernon of accessory to the crime, being the person closest to Jesus. At first however he stays out of jail, because there is no evidence yet. Then he meets Eulalio Ledesma (or Lally) who claims to be a reporter of CNN. Lally offers him a chance to tell his story on television, but Vernon does not take it. Then he gets arrested, but is quickly released again, because the evidence is found to be insufficient to keep him in jail. When he arrives home, he discovers that Lally is his mom’s new boyfriend. It becomes more and more clear that he is only trying to get a good story out of the situation, no matter if this will end up being good or bad for Vernon. Suffering under all the pressure, Vernon decides to try to flee to Mexico and take the girl of his dreams, Taylor Figueroa, who he once met at a party, with him. While trying to catch a train out of town, Pam (his mother’s best friend) sees him and he has to postpone his flee.
Back in town, he hears that a team has been set up to look for a second firearm, mentioned by the teacher that was present at the shootings. The firearm belongs to Vernon and is hidden somewhere just out of town. He never used it to hurt anyone, but he is afraid that if they find it with his fingerprints on it, they will accuse him of the murders. He goes to get the gun as soon as possible, but there are already people there to look for it. He gets busted there while hiding in the shrubs and realizes that he looks even more suspicious now. He rushes home to pack his belongings and leave for Mexico, but runs into Lally, his mom and all her friends at his house. There he gets the opportunity to expose Lally as the liar that he is, being a repairman instead of a journalist. Unfortunately, while trying this Lally gets a phone call, telling him that he gets to cover the story of Vernon on television.
Vernon is still thinking of a plan to get some money to get to Mexico. In order to help him think, he gets some beer and drugs to get wasted and come up with a plan. While doing this Ella Bouchard, a twisted minded girl he knows from junior school, joins him and expresses a lot of interest for him. She tells him she once went to see an old man, who “enjoyed her company”. He asks her to help him blackmail the man and heads for the highway to Mexico on his bike.
At the highway, he gets a bus ride to San Antonio and calls Taylor from there. She agrees to meet him in Houston, but he has to leave quickly when one of his mom’s friends shows up and nearly sees him. They agree on calling again soon. He heads for the border but gets arrested by the border officer. After spending the night at the border the officer, who did not recognize him, lets him pass after taking his last cash. He gets to a bar where he gets drunk with a couple of Mexicans. One of them, a truck driver named Pelayo, will drive him to Acapulco. When they arrive there on his birthday, Vernon gets surprised by Taylor, who suddenly turns up from out of nowhere. She takes him to a hotel room and seduces him. Then she pushes him to tell her he killed all those people for her. When he finally does, she turns out to be wearing a microphone and was conspiring with Lally to get a job on TV. He is flown back to Harris County, where he gets a good lawyer.

The story continues six weeks later, at the start of trial. Vernon spent his whole summer vacation in prison. Then trail starts and both the attorney and the prosecutor make some good points. The court orders Vernon’s teacher, Mr. Nuckles, to testify and help to clear things up. He points to Vernon when they ask him who killed his classmates. Eventually Vernon does not get convicted for the murders in Mexico, which he knows nothing about, but he does get the death penalty on suspicion of killing his classmates. That is where Lally comes in again and announces that he starts a web-vote, so the people can decide which prisoner gets executed first. Then, when after a while it is his time to go to his execution, he gets saved at the last moment by his former attorney who kept on looking for evidence to prove his innocence. He returns home at first, but a little later he gets with Ella and the head for Mexico together.

Quotations
Funny quote: “Mom’s best friend is called Palmyra. Everybody calls her Pam. She’s fatter than Mom, so Mom feels good around her. Mom’s other friends are slimmer. They are not her best friends.”(pag. 12)
Funny quote: “Pelayo has to leave his load in Acapulco before heading to his village, farther north. Smells tag our process into town. We should soon reach the Medicated Pet Soap district, then travel Through the old spice, and Herbal Essence zones, if it’s anything like home. Right now we pass a zone where you just jam a finger up your ass and sniff it.” (page 182)
Surprising quote: “The other big news is that I quit cussing, believe it or not.” (page 204)