Rating: 
Summary: Yahoo! A gay kid whose problems aren't that he's gay!
Review: I feel like I have been waiting for this book for five years. Since I was 15, I've been reading books with young gay characters, but I'm dissappointed because they all center on Coming Out as this HUGE trauma, as if being gay was the only big issue in our lives. In THE BIG BOOK... Josh's parents are very cool about his being gay and that's not the central concern of the novel. Some of my friends have had major issues with their parents about coming out, but plenty haven't, so its great to find a book that focuses on other things. Lots of my friends- guy/girl/straight/gay - have concerns about trying to have independent identities apart from their families, and that's what this book is mainly about. Its funny, too, and the retro details are fun to read about. It's not preachy, or touchy-feely, and it doesn't feel like a "Message" book...Just a really true-feeling story that totally pulls you in.
Rating:
Summary: Looking for all the pieces of the puzzle - and finding them!
Review: I loved reading THE BIG BOOK OF MISUNDERSTANDING! There it is, out in the open, and writing a critique of Jim Gladstone's first novel is colored by that sort of passion for writing that happens all too infrequently. Gladstone writes with an elegant wit and grace and obviously fell hopelessly in love with all his varied characters of this absorbing novel.The book opens with what appears to be a suicide decision on the part of our 22-year-old hero Joshua Royalton only to recede immediately into the formative years of this lad and his inimitable family. Gladstone constructs a 1970s family that is headed by Harris Royalton the lawyer father who is obsessed with happiness, and 'inappropriately sensual' with his wife Becca, who weathers the slings of family secrets and misadventures and eventually becomes a psychologist, Joshua our latent closeted gay hero, and his brother Lewis, the athlete and macho man who tolerates the happy-wappy family far less than Joshua. The "Misunderstandings" are sprinkled throughout the progression from childhood glow to teenage angst and we are audience to the disintegration of this Philadelphia family unit which molds the now and future lives of everyone oconcerned. Lewis flees to California's hippy scene, Becca puts all the lunacy into finding her psychologist chair, Joshua tries love with a girl and eventually uncaps his true sexuality and dreams of writing. Only Harris, the softly lovable but deluded 'perfect father' remains on homebase and the 22-year-old Joshua breathes submission then denial to the phrase "You can't go home again." To say more than that would be to deprive you of the tangible joys of turning the pages and falling into the lure of Gladstone's characters. His style of writing is infectious: "Riding the currents of Melville's ocean late into the night, I felt waves of meaning come crashing down. Submerged messages floated to the surface, eddying through my mind. In quicksilver words flashing round a whirlpool, I glimpsed reflections truer and more elusive than mirrors had ever offered. At two in the morning I laughed, exhausted, my pages and my figertips all solid, screaming pink. Having tried to highlight every significant detail, I had drenched the entire story in phosphorescent ink." And when it comes to describing carnal senses, Gladstone is able with a very few words to completely paint the bizarre world of sexuality. This is a coming of age and awareness of a young gay man, but this is much more than that. This BIG BOOK OF MISUNDERSTANDING is one of the finest dissections of American family life, presented on the prosector's table with love, style and tender wisdom. Turning the last page made me return to the opening page and start reading all over again. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Looking for all the pieces of the puzzle - and finding them!
Review: I loved reading THE BIG BOOK OF MISUNDERSTANDING! There it is, out in the open, and writing a critique of Jim Gladstone's first novel is colored by that sort of passion for writing that happens all too infrequently. Gladstone writes with an elegant wit and grace and obviously fell hopelessly in love with all his varied characters of this absorbing novel. The book opens with what appears to be a suicide decision on the part of our 22-year-old hero Joshua Royalton only to recede immediately into the formative years of this lad and his inimitable family. Gladstone constructs a 1970s family that is headed by Harris Royalton the lawyer father who is obsessed with happiness, and 'inappropriately sensual' with his wife Becca, who weathers the slings of family secrets and misadventures and eventually becomes a psychologist, Joshua our latent closeted gay hero, and his brother Lewis, the athlete and macho man who tolerates the happy-wappy family far less than Joshua. The "Misunderstandings" are sprinkled throughout the progression from childhood glow to teenage angst and we are audience to the disintegration of this Philadelphia family unit which molds the now and future lives of everyone oconcerned. Lewis flees to California's hippy scene, Becca puts all the lunacy into finding her psychologist chair, Joshua tries love with a girl and eventually uncaps his true sexuality and dreams of writing. Only Harris, the softly lovable but deluded 'perfect father' remains on homebase and the 22-year-old Joshua breathes submission then denial to the phrase "You can't go home again." To say more than that would be to deprive you of the tangible joys of turning the pages and falling into the lure of Gladstone's characters. His style of writing is infectious: "Riding the currents of Melville's ocean late into the night, I felt waves of meaning come crashing down. Submerged messages floated to the surface, eddying through my mind. In quicksilver words flashing round a whirlpool, I glimpsed reflections truer and more elusive than mirrors had ever offered. At two in the morning I laughed, exhausted, my pages and my figertips all solid, screaming pink. Having tried to highlight every significant detail, I had drenched the entire story in phosphorescent ink." And when it comes to describing carnal senses, Gladstone is able with a very few words to completely paint the bizarre world of sexuality. This is a coming of age and awareness of a young gay man, but this is much more than that. This BIG BOOK OF MISUNDERSTANDING is one of the finest dissections of American family life, presented on the prosector's table with love, style and tender wisdom. Turning the last page made me return to the opening page and start reading all over again. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts great ... then ....
Review: I loved the first 2/3 of this book. The detail of the narrator's childhood, his brother and parents is so real. All
the insecurities, love, childhood memories are captured beautifully. I was very drawn to this family - the father in particular who was guilty maybe of being too loving, too much of a family man -- and I had a hard time dealing with the determined, headstrong way in which the children worked to separate themselves. Also, as the narrator grows older and accepts his homosexuality in college - everything seems very rushed. It is just one declaration of "this is me and I'm gay (*snap* sometimes)" after another. Not a lot of detail around his college life - it seems a little forced after so much examination of his childhood. It just rang false for me. One other annoying detail (and my time clock could be off)but some of the pop culture references Bottom line - I think most people would be greatful for such a nurturing, loving upbringing. The fight to get away pulled me into that whole " be yourself, realize yourself" kind of mentality. I mena the parents embraced the kids differences, even separate amicably (if emotionally)...I guess in some ways the story just comes off as kind of selfish. What is good here, though, is great. And I highly reccommend this for what is good. The other stuff ... maybe it's just me.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful Family Drama -- Amazing Character Psychology
Review: It's remarkable how this book places the reader directly into the mind of the narrator, Josh. Reading it is like seeing a complicated situation through someone else's eyes; I don't know that, in the same scenarios, I would have interpreted things or been impacted by them in the same way that Josh is, but this novel set me in his shoes with astonishing effectiveness. The relationships between the members of the Royalton family are rendered with the sort of humor and carefully nuanced emotion that made them feel as real as my own family. There seems to be a lot of focus in other reader-reviews about this being a "gay novel". I don't get it. This is just a terrific, engrossing family story, along the lines of books by Jane Hamilton, Michael Chabon, and Pat Conroy (Though much less melodramatic than Conroy!). A real small-press gem.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Debut for Gladstone
Review: Jim Gladstone's The Big Book of Misunderstanding achieves what is nearly impossible in the twenty-first century - - it provides a fresh take on the American Family. In passages filled with humor and nuanced insights, we are introduced to the uniquely flawed, yet sympathetic, members of the Royalton family. At the center of the story is Josh, an awkward, thoughtful boy who stumbles through a painful growing up process. Although Josh is gay, this is only a minor element of his intriguing journey to adulthood. More central is Josh's struggle to maintain independence from an unconventional father who is so thoroughly controlling that he alienates the entire family. This conflict leads to a powerful scene in which Josh must decide the course of his future. Universal themes and smooth, masterful prose make this wise, engrossing novel a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Debut for Gladstone
Review: Jim Gladstone's The Big Book of Misunderstanding achieves what is nearly impossible in the twenty-first century - - it provides a fresh take on the American Family. In passages filled with humor and nuanced insights, we are introduced to the uniquely flawed, yet sympathetic, members of the Royalton family. At the center of the story is Josh, an awkward, thoughtful boy who stumbles through a painful growing up process. Although Josh is gay, this is only a minor element of his intriguing journey to adulthood. More central is Josh's struggle to maintain independence from an unconventional father who is so thoroughly controlling that he alienates the entire family. This conflict leads to a powerful scene in which Josh must decide the course of his future. Universal themes and smooth, masterful prose make this wise, engrossing novel a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: TheBig Book of Misunderstanding
Review: Joshua Royalton, the main character of The Big Book of Misunderstanding, is a character that you will bond with regardless of whether you are gay or straight. The story of his life is told so well that you will be able to identify with all the events of his past. Through Josh, Jim Gladstone is able to chart the emotions and stages of childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood that we all experience in one form or another. The life of Josh can be universally understood. I highly recommend this book to people of all ages and backgrounds. Read it and you'll understand!
Rating:
Summary: not the average "gay book"
Review: TBBOM is very good for a debut novel. By focusing more on family than on homosexuality, this story, unlike many in the "gay literature" genre, is intriguing even to the person who has never questioned his or her sexual preference. Everyone can find something to love and identify with in one or more of the huge variety of characters as they travel through the years that many of us look back on so fondly. The only weakness that I found in GLADSTONE's writing was that there were, perhaps, too many characters. Because the story is more episodic than anything else, each section of the narrator's life introduces more and more characters. With so many, it is impossible to completely flesh out each and every personality, leaving some rather easily forgotten. This would not be a problem if they were encountered only one time; however, many are revisited at later points in the story, forcing the reader to go back and refresh his or her memory. GLADSTONE's style thoroughly redeems itself, however, in the author's sharp wit. Ever moment, even the more serious ones, is so enchanting that they leave the book with no stopping points. Not a novel to be read in spurts before going to bed or while waiting in the doctor's office, this one is best read in one sitting. Though not exactly suspenseful, TBBOM is one of those novels you just can't put down. A very strong first showing by GLADSTONE.
Rating:
Summary: not the average "gay book"
Review: TBBOM is very good for a debut novel. By focusing more on family than on homosexuality, this story, unlike many in the "gay literature" genre, is intriguing even to the person who has never questioned his or her sexual preference. Everyone can find something to love and identify with in one or more of the huge variety of characters as they travel through the years that many of us look back on so fondly. The only weakness that I found in GLADSTONE's writing was that there were, perhaps, too many characters. Because the story is more episodic than anything else, each section of the narrator's life introduces more and more characters. With so many, it is impossible to completely flesh out each and every personality, leaving some rather easily forgotten. This would not be a problem if they were encountered only one time; however, many are revisited at later points in the story, forcing the reader to go back and refresh his or her memory. GLADSTONE's style thoroughly redeems itself, however, in the author's sharp wit. Ever moment, even the more serious ones, is so enchanting that they leave the book with no stopping points. Not a novel to be read in spurts before going to bed or while waiting in the doctor's office, this one is best read in one sitting. Though not exactly suspenseful, TBBOM is one of those novels you just can't put down. A very strong first showing by GLADSTONE.
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