Boy on a Pony: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: I Couldn't Put It Down
Review: Although this book's title seems to refer to an idyllic childhood (it is listed on some websites as a children's book), this book is not for kids. George Abagnalo is one of the co-writers of Andy Warhol's Bad (co-written, by the way, with Pat Hackett who would later go on to publish the Warhol Diaries). Abagnalo has written a tour de force fictional account of the world of medical S&M. Abagnalo's book also provides a language and a voice for anyone who feels that they have been badly treated by their doctors. Shocking at times, but always gripping, I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Boy on a Pony
Review: George Abagnalo's "Boy on a Pony" is written in a piercing style reminiscent of Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground." It tells the story of Will, a love-starved and otherwise very troubled young man who sets out to expose the sexual degeneracy he finds within our medical community. Brimming with extraordinary conflicts and intriguing situations, this sophisticated and ultimately very humanist novel builds to a series of explosive revelations and beautiful denouement. I was not surprised to find it was awarded ForeWord Magazine's 2002 Book of the Year Bronze Award for Gay Fiction. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A mish-mashed laundry list of griping and whining. Ugh!
Review: In fifty years of reading (sometimes 2 or 3 books a day), as an academic, a newspaper editor and someone who enjoys a good sexual romp, I did something I've never done in my entire life--I returned this waste of paper. No sense inflicting it on a friend. Not only is it so badly written as to be laughable, Abagnalo seems to take his weird gripes and paranoid fantasies to extremes, spending most of his time riffing on personal notions of exaggerated cruelties--from his father, his mother, his 'friends,' acquaintances, strangers, institutions. What a bore. The most titillating moment was when I was able to turn to the last page and put an end to both our suffering. This book is one long enema.