Rating: 
Summary: HOT FUN EROTIC STORY
Review: Ben Tyler has done a great job bringing us this novel. It was pure fun to read. I read it all day long and could not even put it down to eat. I knew from the wonderfully designed cover that it would be a super book and I was correct. I want a sequel, Mr. Tyler. I also recommend Camping in the Backyard by Anthony J. Zatti and A Better Place by Mark A. Roeder.
Rating: 
Summary: Like All the Characters, This Book ...
Review: Did Ben Tyler ever once re-read his own writing? Did his agent, editor, or publisher ever pick up a single page of manuscript and look it over? Either the answer is no, or else every person involved in the publication of this piece of useless tripe is illiterate. The writing is amateurish and heavy-handed, at best, condescending at worst. Tyler has apparently never heard the old first rule of writing fiction, "show, don't tell". He asserts all sorts of things about his characters' feelings, thoughts, and inner lives without ever bothering to illustrate the same. On the other hand, he loves to fling around lots of big vocabulary words, but has so little idea of how to construct a graceful sentence that the only theme he really communicates is how much smarter he thinks he is than his readers. The grammar is atrocious, and run-on sentences, illegible sentence fragments abound-- not to mention statements like "No matter what he did, Bart just couldn't impress Shari no matter what he did." See what a single re-reading and some simple editing might have accomplished?
In addition to the Freshman English problems, the underlying content is pointless. These characters are both unlikeable and uninteresting, and if any novel has ever featured such a drippy, shallow protagonist, I'd like to know what it is. Even the purported draw of this novel, the supposed gossip and revelations into Hollywood, turns out to be a hollow promise. There's not a single rumor here that hasn't already been trumpeted on the covers of every tabloid in the nation, not a single innuendo too titillating for People Magazine, and not even one new thought about the nefarious ways of the movie biz-- Mr. Tyler has actually achieved something quite considerable by managing to make this most salacious, manipulative slice of our society utterly boring.
Unbelievable, poorly researched at best, and containing barely a single readable paragraph. Please spend more than a weekend on your next work, Ben.
Rating:
Summary: Worse than bad
Review: Give me a break. Some people have likened Tyler to a gay Jackie Collins; I hope Collins takes offense. I am no fan of Collins, but she is not a sloppy writer. I am all for a light read, but even a light read should have some modicum of decent writing. Ben Tyler has to be one of the worst and sloppiest authors writing gay fiction today (and that's saying a LOT). All the characters in this novel are two dimensional (but I think that may be giving them two too many dimensions)and very few, if any, of the characters are likable. Rod Dominguez, supposedly the hot sexy stud who is an aspiring screenwriter but makes his living as a hustler is one of the most shallow, pathetic and unlikeable fictional characters of all time. Shari Draper, the horrible boss, is so over the top that it's hard to even picture her as a character. All subtlety is lost on Tyler; he feeds the story with ridiculous (and overlong) similes, no allusion gets by without Tyler feeling the need to explain it to us (note: allusions are just that because they should be clear enough to not be explained. When Tyler has two characters get together in a loving relationship, the writing and the dialogue are so saccharine and cliched that I had to skip through those sections before sugar shock set in. It reads like a parody, but sadly, in the romance scenes, Tyler is dead serious. This novel is purportedly a savage skewering of Hollywood, but again, I think subtlety and restraint would have made this much more effective. Plus, there is a climactic revelation about one of the main villains that may have once been a fresh and novel twist, but seems so tired and worn here that it seems Tyler just didn't know what else to do, so he threw in this twist to try and make the character more "layered" with motivation; instead, this just cheapens the book even further. If you want a true skewering of Hollywood, watch Altman's "The Player", if you want fiction so vapid, shallow and pathetic that they need to package it in an ultra-sexy cover reminiscent of old Gordon Merrick novels, then "Tricks of the Trade" is the book to read. But if you want to spare yourself the agony of a wasted time but still want quality gay fiction, read David Leavitt or Mark Merlis.
Rating:
Summary: Worse than bad
Review: Give me a break. Some people have likened Tyler to a gay Jackie Collins; I hope Collins takes offense. I am no fan of Collins, but she is not a sloppy writer. I am all for a light read, but even a light read should have some modicum of decent writing. Ben Tyler has to be one of the worst and sloppiest authors writing gay fiction today (and that's saying a LOT). All the characters in this novel are two dimensional (but I think that may be giving them two too many dimensions)and very few, if any, of the characters are likable. Rod Dominguez, supposedly the hot sexy stud who is an aspiring screenwriter but makes his living as a hustler is one of the most shallow, pathetic and unlikeable fictional characters of all time. Shari Draper, the horrible boss, is so over the top that it's hard to even picture her as a character. All subtlety is lost on Tyler; he feeds the story with ridiculous (and overlong) similes, no allusion gets by without Tyler feeling the need to explain it to us (note: allusions are just that because they should be clear enough to not be explained. When Tyler has two characters get together in a loving relationship, the writing and the dialogue are so saccharine and cliched that I had to skip through those sections before sugar shock set in. It reads like a parody, but sadly, in the romance scenes, Tyler is dead serious. This novel is purportedly a savage skewering of Hollywood, but again, I think subtlety and restraint would have made this much more effective. Plus, there is a climactic revelation about one of the main villains that may have once been a fresh and novel twist, but seems so tired and worn here that it seems Tyler just didn't know what else to do, so he threw in this twist to try and make the character more "layered" with motivation; instead, this just cheapens the book even further. If you want a true skewering of Hollywood, watch Altman's "The Player", if you want fiction so vapid, shallow and pathetic that they need to package it in an ultra-sexy cover reminiscent of old Gordon Merrick novels, then "Tricks of the Trade" is the book to read. But if you want to spare yourself the agony of a wasted time but still want quality gay fiction, read David Leavitt or Mark Merlis.
Rating: 
Summary: Painless but thin and surprisingly sloppy
Review: I have nothing in particular against mindless fluff -- heck, I certainly didn't buy a book with a cover like this one's looking for an intellectual exercise --and by most standards this novel is pretty harmless. But in a book that purports to be narrated by a Hollywood insider, would it be asking too much that the names of mainstream celebrities at least be spelled correctly? Jane "Krakowsky"? "Courteney" Love? Milla "Jovovic"? Oh, and my personal favorite two-for-one blooper, "Toby McGuire"? Those were merely the ones I noticed in two adjacent paragraphs on the same page. Elsewhere there's a reference to the painter Marc "Chagal" and another to actor "Darin" McGavin. Never mind the other typos and errors such as the sentence in which two characters got into a limo and "road [sic] down the hill." Did I mention all the above are within the first 80 pages? I'm by no means a professional copy reader. Neither is the editor of this book, by all appearances.
Rating:
Summary: White-hot, sex-filled page-turner
Review: I have to admit that I bought the book solely based on the really hot cover. I mostly read non-fiction, but the story grabbed me from the second page and now I think this is THE BEST NOVEL I'VE EVER READ! There is more than enough sex to satisfy anyone who expects a hot time after looking at the cover. The writer knows Hollywood and isn't afraid to name names. I hope there is a sequel coming soon!!!
Rating:
Summary: Delightful, SEXY and shameless! Try to stop reading it!
Review: I heard about this book from a review in UNZIPPED Magazine that said, "****! At last, a gay Jackie Collins novel! If Aaron Spelling is reading this review, he should buy it for a series. NOW!" This is a terrific book in many ways: (1) it's impossible to put down; (2) the barrage of erotic scenes don't cheat on the heat, you may need asbestos gloves when handling these pages; (3) the Hollywood guessing game of thinly-veiled celebrities in fictional form is as entertaining at those weekly blind items on the gay gossip column ...; (4) it has a nasty, biting, bitchy sense of humor; (5) it has an honestly engrossing STORY of backstabbing ruthlessness that reminded me of ALL ABOUT EVE and SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS; and (6) when it IS made into a Showtime series (like QUEER AS FOLK, which it resembles) you can say, "Oh, I read that LAST SUMMER and the book was better!" Its the ONE book I'm recommending to ALL my friends this season.
Rating:
Summary: What a Great Read
Review: I just finished reading this book and I gotta say, I loved every single bit of it. The Characters were very well developed. I felt as though I was right there in the mix feeling what the characters went through and salavating over the character of Rod. I couldn't help but fall in love with Bart. I also found myself indentifying at times with what these men went through. I give this book a huge thumbs up. I had a hard time putting it down.
Rating:
Summary: I laughed! I cried!
Review: I KNOW these people! Ben tyler has crafted a delightful read. He has captured the essence of the work-a-day world inside a major studio that the public is never privy to! I can only hope there will be a follow up book because the way the power brokers and Top Brass keep changing, he'll have brand new fodder for his fertile imagination! (All based on cool fact of course!)
Rating:
Summary: EXTREME READING FUN
Review: I never write reviews. However, after reading and rereading TRICKS OF THE TRADE, and buying at least five copies for friends, it's time I got the word out to everyone. This "trick" is a "treat!" The novel's story takes place in the town in which I work: Hollywood. The author, Ben Tyler, has blown the pixie dust (he's gotta be writing about Disney!) off all the pre-conceived glamour of the motion picture industry. I can only applaud him for writing the TRUTH in such a fun and extremely erotic way. I recommend this book to EVERYONE! It's not just a "gay" novel. Sex is merely the subtext. If you like the comic sophistication of Joe Keenan or the laugh out loud observations of David Sedaris, you'll LOVE this novel. I hear it's going to be a movie or miniseries. I'll be the first in line for a ticket. As one who works in casting, I already have my list of sexy actors who should play each character. TRICKS OF THE TRADE is fun multiplied to the nth degree!
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