Rating: 
Summary: Borrowed time.
Review: An unnamed gay man is diagnosed as HIV-positive. This allows him (causes him?) to take a new look (mostly through the bottom of a glass of alcohol) at his life and the part of the gay scene in which he lives most of that life.And it turns out to be a very ascerbic as well as darkly humerous look. I thought that the book ended up as being a pretty condemnatory account of the shallow and transitory nature of gay life. Rather, since all gay life doesn't comply with stereotypical modes, it's damning of a particular section of gay California. The essential short-termism of that gay scene, in which relationships are at best brief and are honoured more in the breach, is re-emphasised throughout the novel by the fact that the main character is living on borrowed time, very conscious of his own mortality. The darkness of this novel will not be to everyone's taste. There's not a great deal of optimism in it - could there be, given the main character's predicament? I should think some gay people will read the novel and recognise its messages whilst believing it does not necessarily depict their everyday lives. Others might be severely discomforted by it because it might be "too close to home". I don't know for sure. Nevertheless I enjoyed the novel because of its darkness rather than despite it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Page-Turning Triumph!
Review: Fabulous Hell is , without a doubt, one of the most honest, humorous, and insightful books I have had the pleasure to read. You know how sometimes people say "Oh-it's one of those books you can't put down"?...and seldom mean it? Well, this one is an absolute 100% page-turner.I could not put it down. I received it at noon, and by 4:00 I had read every last juicy page. The story is fast, honest, and takes a look at what it really feels like to live with a terminal disease. Craig is a fantastic writer, completely forthright with his life, his emotions, and how alone something like this can really make a person feel. But he tells it with humor,in a very candid-like manor, and trust me, you never want it to end. A Fabulous first novel for Mr. Curtis! I can't wait for the next one!
Rating: 
Summary: $350 Used? Don't Waste Your Time
Review: I am the author of Fabulous Hell. Needless to say, I was shocked to find copies of the book available at $350.00! Unless it's for charity, I suggest you find this tome at the local library.
Fab Hell was an incredibly tough book to write. I'm giving the reader a "Life," as it where, on paper. I lived it, and I am not so much proud of my experience, as I am the fact that I had something to say and said it. It is a caustic story of survival in a time when people were dying daily. Plus there's the overarching story of child neglect, etc, that always seems a plus, these days.
This is my life folks. As ugly and sarcastic as it may seem, I lived it. It's real, and I hope, funny in it's pathos.
Take it from the author: This is a good book, but hardly worth a bunch of money for a paper-back.
Rating:
Summary: $350 Used? Don't Waste Your Time
Review: I am the author of Fabulous Hell. Needless to say, I was shocked to find copies of the book available at $350.00! Unless it's for charity, I suggest you find this tome at the local library.
Fab Hell was an incredibly tough book to write. I'm giving the reader a "Life," as it where, on paper. I lived it, and I am not so much proud of my experience, as I am the fact that I had something to say and said it. It is a caustic story of survival in a time when people were dying daily. Plus there's the overarching story of child neglect, etc, that always seems a plus, these days.
This is my life folks. As ugly and sarcastic as it may seem, I lived it. It's real, and I hope, funny in it's pathos.
Take it from the author: This is a good book, but hardly worth a bunch of money for a paper-back.
Rating:
Summary: Yesss! Five Stars for "Fabulous Hell"
Review: I havn't read a whole lot of books lately. Unless I find some kind of real life relevance or it grabs my heart for some reason.This book did both. I'm a recent transplant from Seattle to Palm Springs. My partner is a book fiend and has piles of Gay genre books laying around the house. We just went to Gay Pride Palm Springs and had a blast. They had a Authors court where we met Craig in real life. He is cuter than in the picture on the back of the book. He was nice enough to read out of the last chapter about what Seattle was really like for him as a transplant from California. It was really funny to listen to him read and he was searingly honest about alot of things. It must have been tough for him to write about some of the stuff he has been through. We just bought the book Saturday. I started it this morning (Sunday), went to the Pride fest again and then came home and finished it. His chapters are put together like a well built sandwich. Small portions with lots of flavor and when combined...MMM ...MMM..MMMM. Its nice to have a book you can read and finish. So often I stare at a book half open, laying on the floor by the bed...I read this one straight through. While at pride on Saturday my partner had a good talk with him while I talked with another book author.I talked with him too but I wish I could talk to him again. When we were getting ready to go I got the warmest hug from him. I'm sure it means alot to him to read his book. Actually I know it does because I just got done reading it and I know alot more about him now than I did on Sat..Now I'm babbling...Anyway..It was a good book so BUY IT!
Rating:
Summary: FABULOUS? WELL, NOT QUITE.
Review: I really don't want to give credence to Quentin Crisp's back cover blurb calling this novel a wonderful, remarkable portrait of modern gay life. It is an extremely interesting story, but if FABULOUS HELL represents gay life today, I want to call it quits! But then, that's what the unnamed narrator of this tale tries to do throughout the novel. He's a very likable character who could probably succeed at anything he ever tried, if he only put in the effort. But he seems determined to fail in all jobs and relationships because of the ghosts that haunt his life - childhood sexual abuse, a wicked stepfather, a hands-off mother and an HIV infection -- all good excuses in his opinion to speed up his end with excess drink and drugs. Being a firm believer in the Scarlet O'Hara way of life, I kept hoping for him to get out of the gutter and get on with life. And maybe he does or doesn't; that's something for each individual reader to decide at the end of the story. I enjoyed the book, and I encourage everyone to give it a try. However, I have one complaint with the author. You see, I'm from Missouri, and the author/narrator seems to have an extremely a low opinion of the intelligence and taste of people from Missouri. I just want to let him know that not all the queers from here are dazzled by Vegas glitz. Actually, Nebraska or Iowa would be a better state to use.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Indeed
Review: Just like the powder of so many glassine baggies, the one-liners pile up & blow the reader away with a manic intensity. The novel's theme of a search for connection, for meaning, is hauntingly familiar. I want to be chums with this guy.
Rating:
Summary: "Faggots" for the 21st Century
Review: This is a groundbreaking novel! One of the first novels in decades to look at gay, male lifestyles and the HIV culture with brave and forthright vision. I rarely read so-called "gay novels" anymore because they pander to fantastic, consumerist values that reflect publishers' attitudes of gay male lifestyles rather than the raw, day-to-day realities. Curtis takes a hard, cold, true look at life in its raw ambition, and success or failure. He delivers a true, fresh and sweeping portrait of family abuse, adolecent peer abuse and self-abuse, but his prose transcends such victimization to capture a heart that yearns, a psyche that delves and a soul that aches, breaks and re-creates. This novel is the most groundbreaking work I have read since Larry Kramer's "Faggots." For the new generation of gay men, struggling with media's seduction of the gay lifestyle which is in disaccord with our culture's mainstream treatment of actual, lived lifestyles, this is every bit as groundbreaking and remarkable. Larry Kramer's book I read and threw across the room. Years later, I knew why I did that (I was being groomed to live it!). I hope many young gay men today, and young gay HIV+ men, throw this book across the room! We learn from being uncomfortable, from acommodating hard lessons. Curtis's talent is in not allowing his readers to assimilate easy lessons.
Rating:
Summary: "Faggots" for the 21st Century
Review: This is a groundbreaking novel! One of the first novels in decades to look at gay, male lifestyles and the HIV culture with brave and forthright vision. I rarely read so-called "gay novels" anymore because they pander to fantastic, consumerist values that reflect publishers' attitudes of gay male lifestyles rather than the raw, day-to-day realities. Curtis takes a hard, cold, true look at life in its raw ambition, and success or failure. He delivers a true, fresh and sweeping portrait of family abuse, adolecent peer abuse and self-abuse, but his prose transcends such victimization to capture a heart that yearns, a psyche that delves and a soul that aches, breaks and re-creates. This novel is the most groundbreaking work I have read since Larry Kramer's "Faggots." For the new generation of gay men, struggling with media's seduction of the gay lifestyle which is in disaccord with our culture's mainstream treatment of actual, lived lifestyles, this is every bit as groundbreaking and remarkable. Larry Kramer's book I read and threw across the room. Years later, I knew why I did that (I was being groomed to live it!). I hope many young gay men today, and young gay HIV+ men, throw this book across the room! We learn from being uncomfortable, from acommodating hard lessons. Curtis's talent is in not allowing his readers to assimilate easy lessons.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Hell Written So Well!
Review: With its sinful comicbook-like cover, Fabulous Hell is definitely one of those books that you pick up to take a peek inside and hope no one finds you looking! You can sift through any page reading it inside your mind, and Craig Curtis' narrative will quickly draw you in. It's even more fun to read out loud to yourself or to others! The one-liners in this book were meant to be jotted down in your journal and recited during those unsober moments when everyone needs a laugh! Curtis weaves a nasty little tale with "who cares" attitude that leaves you rolling your eyes and laughing out loud. You'll be thinking, "bitter...party of one...your table is ready," but by the time you finish this book you'll want to join that party and have a great time! It's definitely a quick and fun read for anyone who has ever said, "been there, done that!"
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