Showing posts with label gay fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gay fiction. Show all posts

Military Trade Review

Military Trade
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Military Trade ReviewAfter producing three very insightful books on their quarry, Zeeland provides his readers with an equally intriguing, ocassionally disturbing, and often very funny look at the hunters - the "chasers' of military men. Zeeland examines what motivates these men (and, at last, one woman), but unlike his previous books, in which many of his interviews were fascinatingly intimate portraits of friends, lovers, and acquaintances, Zeeland for the most part steps back and lets these chasers tell their own tales without deeply challenging their motivations and assumptions about the military and military men.
For example, most of the chasers profess to being drawn to the military ideal of loyalty, fidelity, and patriotism, despite the fact that their actual experiences with military men as they tell them often prove otherwise, and few show any insight into the very real working class limitations that lead much of their quarry to join in the first place. This is particularly interesting when one considers the fact that for the most part these chasers are drawn to enlisted men, yet they frequently differ from them significantly in politics, education, and class background, and often show little genuine understanding of them. Then there are those chasers beset by a sort of sexual "Stockholm Syndrome," who find their own lifestyles and political beliefs changed by their exposures to the subjects of their desire. All of these are issues worthy of exploration, but for the most part Zeeland lets these accounts raise more questions than they answer. This reader would love to see more in-depth study by Zeeland of all these issues. Perhaps in a second study of such chasers?
As a woman who was herself a mild military chaser who ended up married to one of her USMC quarry, if there is a second study I would enjoy reading about more women like myself. Indeed, "Military Trade" would have benefited not only from interviews with more women military chasers but also with perhaps an examination of the very gender-bending in which we women indulge in much of our chasing.
At the heart of all of Steven Zeeland's books is a challenge to our assumptions about sexual identity, and this reader, who has done much of just that, would love to see an even more extensive exploration of how both men and women cross the boundaries, as it were, whether chasing military or not.
However, for all the book does offer us, and all the questions it raises, "Military Trade" is a valuable addition to Zeeland's growing canon of studies of the fluidity of sexuality and the cult of the military. Well done!Military Trade Overview

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Stick Review

Stick
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Stick ReviewA while ago, I received an email, asking to be apart of the cover reveal for STICK. And now, the book is here and published and in stores and being read. Time flies.
About a year ago, I got my first taste of Andrew Smith. His novel THE MARBURY LENS was sorta crazy--I think in my review I said something along the lines of, "Andrew Smith writes about rape and dismemberment, and he doesn't make you feel awkward AT ALL." I was totally being honest. I was talking about Andrew's level of awesome with one of my friends, and he said something like, "He stands out among cookie cutter writers." And that's true, too. Andrew Smith's books are all these different things, and I absolutely love them.
In STICK, Stark McClellan is missing some things. He does not have a girlfriend, he does not have a loving family, and he does not have a left ear (or was it right?). What he does have is a gay brother, Bosten, and a gut feeling that he needs to escape from the tight clutches of his abusive father before he finds out.
Bosten leaves, and rightly so, but he left Stark ("Stick") behind. STICK is about a boy who wants something so bad, more than anything in the universe.
So, this book? Was written in this cool little way. Because Stick is missing one ear, he hears things different. Words travel slower. And Andrew Smith shows the reader this on the page, through funky formatting. I wouldn't call it verse or prose, it's just... different. Much like the story itself.
Second to the writing, the characters and their relationships with each other are probably the best thing about STICK. Andrew Smith can write about brotherhood dynamics better than anyone I know, and I got so immersed in the story I felt like they were my brothers and I was on this epic journey with them.
STICK really just blew my mind.
It's different. It's unlike anything you've ever read before. It's Andrew Smith.Stick Overview

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Hook, Line, and Homicide (Paul Turner Mysteries) Review

Hook, Line, and Homicide (Paul Turner Mysteries)
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Hook, Line, and Homicide (Paul Turner Mysteries) ReviewIt's vacation time, and - as in past years - Chicago police detective Paul Turner is heading up to rural Canada to do some fishing, with his life partner, Ben, his two boys Brian and Jeff, along with his precinct partner Buck Fenwick, his wife and girls. Coming along this year are Ian, Turner's ex who is now a journalist, and Mrs. Talucci, an elderly but feisty neighbor whom the boys consider a surrogate grandmother.
They barely get a chance to get settled in their houseboats, and they find a dead body washing up on shore, whom they recognize as the leader of a group of local punks who harrassed them on their day of arrival. When Ian finds out that this is the sixth young man to die in so many years, he starts nosing around town to see if there is a story to be written, which arouses the suspicion of the local egotistical police chief. Turner and Fenwick start to do some investigating on their own, and discover this seemingly quiet town has its own surprising secrets, including police corruption, prostitution, racism, homophobia, drugs, and even a small-time gay porn producer, as well as a mysterious benefactor on a distant island with whom Mrs. Talucci spends her time.
As has been the case with his 19 previous mystery novels (11 in the "Tom & Scott" series, with this being the 9th of the "Paul Turner" series), Zubro spins a creative and realistic mystery yarn that immediately and skillfully engages the reader's interest and curiousity. His best quality is his knack for pacing, feeding the reader little tidbits at a time, and that is also evident here, although he occasionally gets a bit verbose in having Turner dwell on lectures about homophobia or racism. A minor fault, in my opinion, and I still give it five stars out of five.Hook, Line, and Homicide (Paul Turner Mysteries) Overview

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Tale of Two Summers Review

Tale of Two Summers
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Tale of Two Summers ReviewI wish that a novel like this had been around when I was in high school. Author/director/screenwriter Brian Sloan (WTC View, I Think I Do) writes a satisfyingly dense story of a summer in the lives of two bets friends: gay (and newly out) Hal, and Chuck, the straight "wonderboy."
I'm not usually one for books written entirely in emails, letters, diary entries etc. but it works in this book; the heroes are corresponding via a blog, they get more detailed when explaining what's going on in their lives.
The novel is also notable because it explores the friendship between a gay teen and his straight friend. This is such a rare phenomena to depict, it makes the book feel ex. I did relate in many ways as this book reinded me so much of a one of my most important friendships, right down to Hal's neediness. Sloan really gets it. I think Hal may have been just slightly better developed a character than Chuck, but that may just be because part of me was more interested in his tale.
This an excellent, frank and very readable novel. I read it in two days because I kept wanting to see what happened next. The best thing is that nothing works out the way I thought it would. Despite this being targeted for the Young Adult age bracket, I'd recommend this for us "grown-ups" as well. When a book's this good, everybody should take a chance and read it.Tale of Two Summers Overview

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Sprout Review

Sprout
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Sprout ReviewSo I feel a lot of pressure as I write this review. I won't even mention the ONE other review on Amazon. I'm not someone who routinely gives out 5 stars... in fact, if you click on "read other reviews" you'll see I've been a pretty tough critic lately, especially regarding the books I've read. I also get the feeling not many people will ever even hear of this book.
I just finished Sprout. Wow. I also just ordered two more books by this author. Anything I write feels like a cliche: I didn't want it to end, amazing character development,I grew to love the characters and the well-worn COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN. All those things are true.
So what's this book about? A teenage boy nicknamed Sprout, who happens to have green hair, and happens also to be gay. His mother dies (handled as a flashback in the book), leaving him with his alcoholic father (ok the one thing that was maybe a teeny cliche), moving from Long Island to Kansas. Very different from Long Island.
This book isn't about Sprout wrestling with being gay. It's also not about him struggling for acceptance. Or even coming out to his father (his father knows). It's about Sprout dealing with his mother's death, honing his writing skills (makes me wonder if this is semi-autobiographical), falling in lust, falling in love, worrying about a future after high school. This is next-gen gay, where the protagonists' sexuality is an interesting but not a defining detail.
The narrative switches from the third to the first person and back again. Lots of commentary from the narrator directly to us, the readers, fleshing out details, making wry observations on the situation that until that very second we've been reading about in third person. And did I mention the book is funny? Not laugh out loud funny, but lots of things that made me smile as I was reading, make me like the narrator more. Just to give you a flavor, if you've made it this far, here are some of the chapter titles "The margarita was the only virgin in the house," "Rural gay boy, party of one," "Like that girl in the pink coat in Schindler's List."
Language? Well, the F word does make an appearance or two. Sexual situations are handled with a "fade to black" with really no details or descriptions...Probably not something that a typical high school class would read, though it might be a good alternative to "Catcher in the Rye."
The story progresses well - definitely held my interest and took several twists and turns I didn't predict. Actually I couldn't predict anything - the book was one surprise after another. Fitting for a book that begins "I have a secret. And everyone knows it," which might be the all-time best start to a book ever. (Well, right after that whole In the Beginning thing..)
Sprout learns more about himself. And finishes with some more questions. The ending of the book may seem abrupt to some, but for me it was perfect. First love is often messy, filled with emotion, and the author captures the highs and lows with amazing skill.
This is my first gushing review of 2009 and I don't expect too many more. I really enjoyed this book. You might, too. Did I tell you I didn't want it to end?
Sprout Overview

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