The Book of Lies

Rating:
Summary: Surprising Fun
Review: After having read Picano's "Like People In History," I was very interested in seeing what his followup would be like. Not being as well versed in [this type of] literature, I know that a good chunk of the insider notes that were part of the story went past my head, but it did not affect my enjoyment. The book starts out as a straightforward story, but soon digresses into a multilayered story viewing people and events from several sets of different eyes amongst a group of friends/lovers/writers. Of course, as in most good literature, nothing is really as it seems, from the characters that are met along the journey to the narrator himself. Not all is great - some of the surrounding storylines involving the university and closeted students try to flesh things out but never really have their chance to gell into something useful. Not a book for someone who is just looking to pick up some light reading - unless your idea of light reading is talk about cataloging archives and the creative process. But through it all you have a good tale of love and how it fits into these men's lives. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: Too much maligned novel
Review: Forgive us for not respecting history, Mr Picano. At least reading the other reviews of THE BOOK OF LIES would indicate that this tome of thinly disguised literary history would seem to indicate that Picano has failed to meet his own high standard. Read this book again, as an insight into why the Violet Quill Club remains important in American genre writing, accept the sometimes repetitious meanderings of his folk and their adventures. Once past the quibbling about the content, sit back and revel in the sheer beauty of Picano's prose. He is a wordsmith who can talk about most any subject and make it better than many others can even suppose. Again, go back again.

Rating:
Summary: A LOT OF TRUTH IN THE BOOK OF LIES
Review: I just finished THE BOOK OF LIES, and I've got to tell you, it is quite possibly the most intelligent novel I have ever read. I was absolutely blown away by this book. It is so unique compared to other works of gay fiction that I have read. The book concerns a young man working on his doctoral thesis about a group of writers known as the Purple Circle. I imagine that Picano's own involvement with the legendary Violet Quill Club provided some inspiration. I do not want to say too much, as this book is an incredible, thought provoking literary mystery, one that can truly only be solved by each reader. The time frame (by what I could figure out in the writing) seems to be 2006 or there abouts, thus providing some distance between the narrator's reality and ours the reader's. Anyway, I highly recommend it...

Rating:
Summary: Stunning Writing Overcomes Ending
Review: Part literary mystery, part history lesson, Felice Picano's The Book of Lies, turned out to be a surprisingly engrossing read. Ross Ohrenstedt is a young, ambitious academic, teaching a summer literature course at UCLA while cataloging the papers and manuscripts of famous Purple Circle author, Damon Van Slyke. Van Slyke and his group of writer friends were the founders of modern gay literature, and, as such, subjects of much study. While sorting the papers, Ross runs across a mysterious manuscript written by an unknown writer. He sees an opportunity to make his name with his doctoral thesis, and begins to investigate the manuscript. As he talks to the surviving Purple Circle authors and the others' survivors, he finds more tantalizing fragments that seem to point to one man, forgotten by history, who may have been intimately linked to every Circle member. Who was that man? And who is attempting to keep Ross from finding the truth?

Picano, author of 20 books, is in reality one of the founding members of modern gay literature. He was one of the members of the real-life gay literary salon, the Lavender Quill, a group that includes Andrew Holleran, Robert Ferro, Edmund White, and George Whitmore. Much of The Book of Lies was roughly based on his experiences in the Lavender Quill. Picano is a master at creating fascinating characters. Even secondary characters come complete with richly-detailed histories. His attention to detail serves especially well in recreating the gay society of the 60's and 70's in which members of the fictional Purple Circle (and assumedly, the real members of the Lavender Quill) lived and moved. Full of wit and humor, the dark tone of the ending caught me by surprise and, I have to admit, disappointed me somewhat. While it seemed to come from nowhere, he has laid the groundwork for his shocking dénouement all along if you know what to look for. Despite feeling somewhat cheated by the ending, I still admire the whole of the book and how masterfully Picano weaves the pieces together. He uses words powerfully, and I was especially moved by a section in a later chapter where one of the characters speaks with great eloquence about loss. I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting plot for its type
Review: Ross Ohrenstadt is a graduate student going to UCLA to teach a summer course in gay literature and assist Professor Damon von Slyke is putting together research on the Purple Circle, a group of gay writers who fictionally influenced gay literature of the 70's and 80's. On the way Ross finds pieces of literature which seems to have been written by someone else. He hopes to discover the author and make a significant contribution to this study, thereby receiving his PHD and a position. The title of the novel should warn readers about what to believe. Picano develops some nice plot twists and keeps the pacing fast enough so the reader won't develop boredom concerning the topic. However, the ending is not satisfactory. First of all, one of the final scenes leaves the reader wondering what actually happened and secondly the denouement calls for more explanation. While everyone sort of lives happily ever after, at least as happily as this group of characters could live, one may wonder why one read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Thick web of intrigue
Review: Ross Ohrenstedt finds himself playing literary detective when he finds an unknown document among those by famous author Damon Von Slyke, one of the Purple Circle. As he sifts through the information to find the author of the unknown piece, he finds himself in an ever-tightening web of mystery that threatens to snap before he can find out whether an unknown writer heavily influenced the major works of the Purple Circle. Drawing from his history with the Violet Quill, Picano has woven a clever and amazing book that soars as much as it bewilders the reader. The mesmerizing plot drew me further and further into the book, and yet the ending seemed out of place, leaving me unfulfilled. I love the parts about the fictional authors and history especially. This book is most recommended to anyone interested in gay literature's history (even though it's not non-fiction), but be warned that the title is "The Book of Lies", and it lives up to it.

Rating:
Summary: Men with Words
Review: Ross Ohrenstedt is a literary scholar whose interest in the Purple Circle (fictionalization of Picano's Violet Quill Club) borders on obsession. He methodically searches out the widowers of the group's members and the few members who remain alive in search of a mysterious man who was rumored to be associated with the group. Amidst his literary finds we are given glimpses of his personal life, aspirations as a scholar and his ambiguous sexuality. This is a book of mysteries layered upon mysteries and the reader ultimately has to draw his own conclusions about what actually happened within this group. The lush prose and biting dialogue lead to a triumphant climax where the ground beneath your feet is obliterated.

The mysteries of this book are only a costume for the real problems it is working to unravel. It is a quest to understand the male identity and how we negotiate sexual relations. Its most pressing issue probes the meaning of a self-defined gay literature which the group claims didn't exist before they established it. The need for a category of gay literature extends to sociological issues, but the primary focus of this novel is to explore the impact of this literature upon the general population. By unearthing the multifaceted expressions of homosexuality it celebrates both love and the problems which inspire the need for a defined gay "community". Ross's primary search is for scholarly achievement, but his desire is to find an understanding of himself which can encompass a fluid sexuality. This is an involving tale and a deep meditation on gay writing itself.