Anel Viz

I haven't read a family saga in a very long time, but I used to love them. Reading The City of Lovely Brothers reminded me of all the good ones I have ever come across while adding the more unusual angle of a gay couple as the main focus.

The characters involved, mainly a group of five brothers of whom Caleb is the youngest, came to life to the point where I was yelling at them to stop being so stupid, stubborn or plain mean (mainly the eldest brother). Caleb suffered so much, a lot due to the callous treatment from his own family, that it brought tears to my eyes. He and Nick totally stole my heart and I hated that the story was "realistic" enough not to give them the ending I wanted.

I really liked the somewhat factual style; in parts this book reads like a documentary of life at the end of the 19th century. This is a nice contrast with the lively characters and makes for a fascinating mix of fact and fiction which had me almost believe that this is a "real" family history.
… (lisätietoja)

Proteus: very interesting stories about a 60 going 70 college professor and the clever student who is trying to seduce him; Edmund is unapologetically clear with the reader that he likes man, and he likes to savor the visual beauty of his young students, but he is also very firm in his decision to not ever give up to the temptation to “taste” them. Not even when Roy does everything in his power to convince the older man that his interest in Edmund is sincere. Edmund has not given up the idea of a long term relationship, but he cannot see it with a man under 40, and so Roy is no game. But their barter in classroom and out of it, is engaging and to a deeper lever than only physical, and so in a way, Edmund has a special relationship with Roy, a relationship that for him is maybe more satisfying than the mere act of sex.

Roomies: a beautiful short stories about three gay men sharing an apartment without being in a ménages a trois. All three of them with enough money to be alone, it’s not clear why they are rooming together, if not maybe since that is a sure way to not be alone. Love can be forever, but most often than not, it doesn’t last to their own experience, while instead their friendship is well-tested and they know each other good and bad sides. And they like each other. Probably between some of them it’s even possible that physical attraction could lead to something, but they don’t want to put in danger their balance. And please notice that I didn’t say love, not since there is not love among them, on the contrary, I absolutely think they love each other, probably more than if they had sex.

Photographic Memories: a short psychological thriller who would have been perfect for an Hitchcock movie. Kyle is the witness at a trial again a gay basher, but while he wants the killer of his friend to be convicted, he is not sure the man under trial is the one. Kyle has some proofs, problem is that, those proofs are not enough to condemn the other man as they are not enough to clear this one. Will Kyle’s conscience be stronger that his emotion? Will he be able to do the right thing, and above all, what is the right thing?

Facing the Music: a bittersweet tale about two very religious men who fall in love with each other. To Max and Joey what they are feeling is a sin, what they are doing is condemning them to eternal hell, but their love is too strong. The story is not a tragic one, the author chose to give them hope, but it’s barely escaping a more dramatic ending; maybe the author wanted the reader to be aware that could have been an option, that Max and Joey are not heroes, but men and like that they are scared and weak. Their only strength is the love for each other, and that is probably also their salvation, a more true salvation than the one their congregation is preaching to them.

Kevvy: this is the story of an unrealized threesome and of two possible closed gay man who probably in 10 years or so will realize they have lost part of their real life; Kevin, Arthur and Mitchell were high school friends, Kevin and Mitchell misfits, the gay kid and the rebel, and Arthur the good boy, the one who wanted to be original, but that, in the end, didn’t have the courage to be. According to me he associated with Kevin and Mitchell because it was the easy way, he can claim to be “cool” since he didn’t care of what everyone was thinking, but if it really came to the point he had to be pointed out for something, he hadn’t done anything.

Polygon: a polyamory story on the trend of Desperate Housewives; a girandole of couple where partners change bed like they would change dancing partner, only that not always they end in bed with someone of the opposite sex. It seems Paradise, isn’t it? Only that not all of them are strong enough to bear it, and someone will not see the end of the dance.

Since the Reunion: a strange little story about a man attending his 25 years High School Reunion party. For most of the story it appears he is regretting he did, but then you realize that the Reunion is the moment he finally came to terms with his own life. Maybe helped by the example of Cora, an homeless woman who once was the best promising of them all.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1614953503/?tag=elimyrevandra-20… (lisätietoja)