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Rating: 
Summary: I am stunned
Review: Before heading down to the beach for Memorial Day weekend, I ordered some books. "Camping in the Backyard." Maybe 30 pages into it I had to get on the phone and call a friend just to read him a page out of the book. I am stunned that this book was published. After reading two excellent books with believable dialogue, the stilted language in this book made me laugh out loud - no one talks like this. I'm frustrated because I think the bare bones of the plot would make a good book. Someone should come in and just go page by page and rewrite the dialogue between the characters. I ended up skipping the rest of the book and reading the last maybe 5 pages or so just so I would know how it finished. And I can honestly say I've NEVER done that before. And please don't think I'm being petty or mean like some of the reviewers that I've read in the past. I might have not even written a review and just chalked it up to experience until I came back online and saw #1. How much I paid for this book and #2. the glowing review that made me buy the book in the first place.
Rating: 
Summary: SAVE YOUR MONEY
Review: Camping in the Backyard is the story of Jonathan and Michael, two wonderful young gay men. This is the type of novel that just pulls one into the story. It's both steamy and exciting.
This is a well-written, heartwarming story of young love in 1960. It is both a coming-of-age yarn and a partial coming-out one as well. The charming countryside of rural New York State is the novel's main location, while the other is Manhattan with its streets, parks, churches, attractions and skyscrapers. Readers will identify with Michael and Jonathan and want to spend their time with them. This is a real romantic page-turner. I could not put it down.This is one hot, coming-out story. It full of sexual tension, but provides the much needed erotic description of the activities young sailors are engaged in so that all can understand the passion they are experiencing. They feel intense desire to share each other physically and emotionally. And they do. The author tells us specifically what they are doing and thinking throughout the novel. This is not a mild book with sparklers going off to describe a sexual climax. The influence that the the Roman Catholic Church had on Michael and Jonathan is shared with the reader; it is miraculous that they were so both so well-adjusted. This is probably the best family saga I have ever read. I hope a sequel is forthcoming.
Rating: 
Summary: A JOYFUL FANTASY
Review: I must admit that at first I found the world created by this book very hard to swallow. Having grown up in the sixties, it was difficult to believe the incredibly gay friendly environment that permeates this story. However, as I continued to read this novel I discovered that the true nature of the piece was not about realism in any way, but more a joyful fantasy meant to spread a feeling of hope for wonderful possibilities, a wish for all things positive. Although not nearly as graphically erotic, it strikes me that this work by Mr. Zatti owes a great deal to the novels of Gordon Merrick. Both authors present a pre-Stonewall past where two men could find each other and fall in love and have a compassionate relationship despite societies road blocks. I for one, think that if gay men and women are to commit to the possibilities of unrestricted happiness in the future then it is important to believe in the romantic possibilities of the past. This book provides a glimpse of that past.
Rating:
Summary: Poorly written sappy romance
Review: I'm all for the light gay coming of age novel, but this was just not up to the task. The book was poorly written with tons of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes -- at the very least the book was rushed to press without any editoral consideration. Many times during the telling of the story the author was telling the story from the wrong character's perspective. A paragraph would start with one character's name as the narrator and then switch mid-sentance to the voice of a character that was not even in the scene. It became very distracting. The prose was overly dramatic and squishy. All the conversations between two people was always prefaced with the characters name. For example, "Michael, would you like to go for a walk?" Johnathan asked. Michael said, "Johnathan, I'd love to." Yikes! It got tiring quickly. I'd definitely recommend against this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Young Sailors Exploring Passion
Review: It was a joy to read this well-written, heartwarming story of young love in 1960. It is both a coming-of-age yarn and a partial coming-out one as well. The charming countryside of rural New York State is the novel's main location, while the other is Manhattan with its streets, parks, churches, attractions and skyscrapers. Readers will identify with Michael and Jonathan and want to spend their time with them as the consumate their love and come to terms with their homosexuality while home on leave from Navy boot camp. This is a real romantic page-turer that I could not put down.
Rating:
Summary: Relax and Enjoy!
Review: The author has very successfully brought the reader to Mellon, New York to share in this remarkable story. A story of people we'd all like to know. For the year 1960, the diction for the dialogue of the characters was clear and effective. This love story was beautifully expressed by the fluent discussions between the young men in appropriate lexicon of a rural young guy and a slightly more polished vocabulary of a well-educated NYC young man. The young men are that, young. It is 1960, and neither of them has been dulled by a surfeit of sexual experience. Their verbal communications are simple and sincere and this may cause the reader to smile, maybe even laugh at the purity of their lives and the cleanliness of the venues that encompass the novel. This book is extremely well-written and will be enjoyed by particularly everyone, except those supercilious individuals who want their reading materials to be dark and complicated. Sit back and enjoy the story!
Rating:
Summary: There's always another [writer]...
Review: This novel is a truly beautiful love story. A story about the first love and the first sexual adverture of two young people, who happen in this story to be gorgeous young sailors. This is the perfect book for anyone who thinks he has fallen in love with a member of the same sex. This is a novel of exploration and fulfillment, of understanding and tenderness, and most of all, caring! Enjoy spending some time with the Manganaros and the Taylors. Buy the book!
Rating:
Summary: Time waster
Review: This romantic story of two sailors on leave at times made me smile and other times made me wince a little. I think the book has some good elements and I see there's a sequel and I'd be curious to read that. The writing varies in too many places.
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