"Support Group"

“Support Group” consists of a monologue, spoken by Jules, a neurotic compulsive masturbator. The story deals with self-loathing and selfishness. Jules is someone utterly lacking in perspective. The worst thing about his story is that he’s telling someone about it. That’s one of my favorite parts about it. Everyone involved with this story wishes it weren’t happening. This story is weird. It is physically uncomfortable to read. I feel like I am looking into something terrible and strange. These are its best features. Much of the story’s tension arises from wondering what atrocious thing Jules would say next, which allows the story to be effective without a clearly delineated arc. You convey Jules’ dysfunction well. You convey so much so much self-loathing and despondency in the last line of the first page. “I am really stupid.” The story’s lack of context works in its favor. It contributes to its disassociated, surreal tone, which is complemented by the narrator’s consistent voice.  The story is as bizarre to the reader as it is for the unseen audience. I like that you do not describe the audience’s reaction. We have a pretty good idea of how people would respond to  this speech, and letting us as readers imagine the audience’s responseis very effective.

I am not sure of the overall idea of the story. It seems that you’re saying a restrictive, shamed view of sex trivializes truly destructive behavior, but that was not readily apparent. I think this story is potentially alienating, and making clear your satirical intentions (if you have them) could make it more palatable. I would like to see why Jules acts the way he does. Were his parents overbearing? Religious? Disinterested?  Were they aggressively Freudian psychologists?

Jules stays about the same throughout the story. It seems like the various stories he tells only reinforce characteristics we find out quickly. I think revealing the extent of Jules’ dysfunction more slowly, over the course of the story, would make a change more obvious.