Any Kind of Luck

Rating:
Summary: No "Luck" with this Book!
Review: Any Kind of Luck is not the kind of book you read on an airplane unless everyone around is wearing earphones. The vivid imagery and colorful characters will force you to leave an imprint on someone else's eardrum. If chicken soup is good for the soul, Any Kind of Luck is good for the heart. William Jack Sibley's book is a melting pot of small-town characters, puntuated with dysfunctional family members, coupled with gay relationships...not to mention a menagerie of Chihuahuas at foot. You will find yourself anxiously awaiting the next hilarious entry in each chapter. Witty, charming and heart warming. With William Jack Sibley, it has nothing to do with luck, but everything to do with talent.

Rating:
Summary: With "Any Kind of Luck" you'll won't go wrong
Review: Funny, touching, througly enjoyable novel about a gay man (Clu Latimore) and his partner going home (Texas) to care for his sick mother dying of cancer. The whole idea of going back to "samll town" life strikes a chord in several gay men and I think it is the part I enjoy the most about this book. Although some critics argue that this is a "quick, fluff beach read" I rate this novel a notach above the likes of "California Screaming" and "Misadventures in 213" Those characters seem stupid and mindless, while the Clu Latimore ( althought a pretty boy character) has to face a "dilemia" that has been growing for sometime. Hoever, the problem is one the author William Jack Sibley doesn't forshadow you on. Making it come out of nowhere, but life it like that at times.

Still I would read another novel by the author, I think this book would make a cute movie.

Rating:
Summary: With "Any Kind of Luck" you'll won't go wrong
Review: Funny, touching, througly enjoyable novel about a gay man (Clu Latimore) and his partner going home (Texas) to care for his sick mother dying of cancer. The whole idea of going back to "samll town" life strikes a chord in several gay men and I think it is the part I enjoy the most about this book. Although some critics argue that this is a "quick, fluff beach read" I rate this novel a notach above the likes of "California Screaming" and "Misadventures in 213" Those characters seem stupid and mindless, while the Clu Latimore ( althought a pretty boy character) has to face a "dilemia" that has been growing for sometime. Hoever, the problem is one the author William Jack Sibley doesn't forshadow you on. Making it come out of nowhere, but life it like that at times.

Still I would read another novel by the author, I think this book would make a cute movie.

Rating:
Summary: Pleasant but ultimately disappointing!
Review: I found the book to be a diverting read, but ultimately disappointing. Character development was lacking. The characters were created so shallowly that I never really got to know any of them, and I wanted to, especially since the narrator (at least to the extent we got hints as to his character) did not seem to be likeable. There were great possibilites in these cartoon figures, but the author was never willing or able to delve into them. I guess it is a compliment that I wanted to know them better. It was like eating cotton candy. The faint taste I got was intriguing, but there needed to something more solid to it.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly well done
Review: I have to say that based on previous experience with Kensington, the publisher of this book, I didn't expect something engaging and well-written, but I enjoyed Any Kind of Luck thoroughly. I agree with other reviewers that the story is full of eccentric, generally likable characters. Clu, the main character, frequently gets self-righteously angry at the sometimes less than enlightened locals, and at one point I have to say I thought that Clu went a little far. His problems with his temper seem a little out of place considering his generally congenial and considerate personality. Also, his partner Chris starts to drift from Clu as the book progresses, and unless it's Clu's irritability that bothers Chris, Sibley doesn't make it clear (to me anyway) why Chris might be falling out of love. There are some fantastic turns of phrase, and I envy Sibley's ability to weave so many plot lines into a cohesive and very satisfying novel. Sibley also details the contradictions of contemporary rural Texas in fascinating and humorous ways.

Rating:
Summary: Chihuahuas, Musicals, Tex-Mex, Coming Home, Staring Over...
Review: Normally, when I read gay fiction, I get frustrated by the plethora of perfect-looking single men with adequately successful lives bemoaning the tiny imperfections that plague them. When a perfectly built jock-stud with a long string of one-night-stands suddenly wakes up one day and says, "Gosh, I wish I had a true love," I have a hard time gathering much empathy.

This isn't one of those stories.

Here's the deal. Moderately-successful Hand-model Clu Latimore lives on Christopher street in Manhattan with his eight-year-long lover Chris, the Latin teacher. Though Clu has a lot of internal monologue about how he can't figure out why Chris, such an attractive man, is still with him, they're a good, solid couple.

Clu gets called howe - to Grit, Texas - when his mother's impending death to cancer looms. And though the plot from there really shines with a lot of really odd bits and pieces (a tex-mex musical version of Agamemnon, a pack of breeding Chihuahuas, his brother digging for buried treasure, his sister's umpteenth attempt at being pregnant, and a country that just screams hick and angry), it's the characters that keep this one going.

Clu is alternately enjoyable and frustrating. Anyone with emotional baggage from their family can easily empathise with the guy's situation, but you want to smack him over the head every time he takes a well-meaning comment someone else made and turns it into an impromptu "This is why what you said is homophobic" seminar. Clu's relationship with Chris takes a path I really didn't expect, and there's a betrayal that made me ill, but - let's face it - read quite true.

I guess the word "plausible" doesn't sound like it should belong in a tale that includes a tex-mex musical Agamemmnon, but honestly, I can't find a better word to describe the characters nor the emotional reactions. I'll watch out for Sibley in the future.

'Nathan

Rating:
Summary: What a whirl!
Review: Oy! This has all the spice of Tex-Mex, the pathos of going home to Mom, and small-town hickness that will have you rollicking with laughter--and empathy! It's the story of Clu, a somewhat successful 30-something New Yorker, who returns to his small hometown in Texas (called "Grit" of all things). His mother has cancer, but that doesn't stop the announcement of an impending marriage to a minister. Clu has to overcome small-mindedness, getting the hometown to accept Chris, his lover (who happens to be psychic) and has to deal with his redneck brother and ever-pregnant sister. You won't be bored!

Rating:
Summary: Baha Oklahoma - Only Better!
Review: This is a truly fun read - truth, wisdom, and yapping Chihuahuas dished up like so much hot Texas chili. Some daring Hollywood exec needs to option this work and get it onto the big screen.

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Lively, Funny and Moving!!
Review: What a funny, funny, book! The Author, William Jack Sibley, has this great novel take place in Grit, Texas, the hometown of Clu Latimore, a 37 year old New Yorker (Manhattan) actor and hand model, and his partner/lover, Chris). This story keeps you guessing on what could possibly happen to a Gay couple in the small town of Texas.
When Clu’s mother announces she is marrying a clergyman… all the normal stereotypical small town fun takes off. Not to mention the silly local production of Agamemnon Ya'll: A Country and Western Musical that Clu is enlisted to direct while Chris is on a ‘sightseeing’ tour of Texas.

This is a hilarious book that will be a joy and a blast to read!

Rating:
Summary: a literary page-turner
Review: William Jack Sibley has an ear for dialogue, a quick wit, and--thank God!--not a boring bone in his body. Tucked inside this novel of pick-up trucks and Noel Coward-caliber one-liners, "Any Kind of Luck" tells a surprisingly touching story.