<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Its fascination endures
Review: Butterflies in Heat ranks with Gore Vidal's CITY AND THE PILLAR as a text that has helped to define the gay spirit of America since 1968. It was written when Porter was only 19, and it continues to sell, year after year, coming in and out of fashion as new generations of gay men recognize its appeal. As late as 1998-9, it was the number one best-selling gay novel in New York City, according to a poll conducted by New York's LGNY magazine. Writers as diverse as James Kirkwood (original author of CHORUS LINE), James Leo Herlihy (author of the novel MIDNIGHT COWBOY on which the movie was eventually based) and Tennessee Williams have praised it for its unique insights into the world and value system of a male "blond god" hustler (Numie Chase) whose spiritual and phallic forces are sapped by the insatiable demands of four flamboyant clients. They include a black drag queen, an aging and imperious fashion designer, a "conventionally alienated" gay male ... , and a dull but "nice girl" looking for love. They, along with a host of vividly colorful secondary players, are among American literature's most exotic, fascinating, and bizarre characters ever created. Each competes recklessly for a piece of Numie's flesh. BUTTERFLIES IN HEAT is the gay world's equivalent of SUNSET BOULEVARD or ALL ABOUT EVE--with legions of fans who appreciate that someone had the insight to write about the sex-and-barter (and "negotiated love") dynamics that inevitably affect all of us, and unless we're very smart, can sometimes permeate or even pollute the quality of our long-term relationships. As BESTSELLERS once wrote, "BUTTERFLIES IN HEAT is a hotbed of morbid fascination for readers, evolving into a massive melee of melevolence, vendetta, and e-v-i-l, stunningly absorbing alone for its sheer and unrelenting exploration of the lower depths." Those words are as true today as they were in the past. I grew up with this book, and I came out of the closet partly based on the images it contains. Because of the huge effect it has had on me as an adult gay male, it occupies a place of honor on my bookshelves. I plan to re-read it every decade. At least.
Rating:
Summary: Its fascination endures
Review: Butterflies in Heat ranks with Gore Vidal's CITY AND THE PILLAR as a text that has helped to define the gay spirit of America since 1968. It was written when Porter was only 19, and it continues to sell, year after year, coming in and out of fashion as new generations of gay men recognize its appeal. As late as 1998-9, it was the number one best-selling gay novel in New York City, according to a poll conducted by New York's LGNY magazine. Writers as diverse as James Kirkwood (original author of CHORUS LINE), James Leo Herlihy (author of the novel MIDNIGHT COWBOY on which the movie was eventually based) and Tennessee Williams have praised it for its unique insights into the world and value system of a male "blond god" hustler (Numie Chase) whose spiritual and phallic forces are sapped by the insatiable demands of four flamboyant clients. They include a black drag queen, an aging and imperious fashion designer, a "conventionally alienated" gay male ... , and a dull but "nice girl" looking for love. They, along with a host of vividly colorful secondary players, are among American literature's most exotic, fascinating, and bizarre characters ever created. Each competes recklessly for a piece of Numie's flesh. BUTTERFLIES IN HEAT is the gay world's equivalent of SUNSET BOULEVARD or ALL ABOUT EVE--with legions of fans who appreciate that someone had the insight to write about the sex-and-barter (and "negotiated love") dynamics that inevitably affect all of us, and unless we're very smart, can sometimes permeate or even pollute the quality of our long-term relationships. As BESTSELLERS once wrote, "BUTTERFLIES IN HEAT is a hotbed of morbid fascination for readers, evolving into a massive melee of melevolence, vendetta, and e-v-i-l, stunningly absorbing alone for its sheer and unrelenting exploration of the lower depths." Those words are as true today as they were in the past. I grew up with this book, and I came out of the closet partly based on the images it contains. Because of the huge effect it has had on me as an adult gay male, it occupies a place of honor on my bookshelves. I plan to re-read it every decade. At least.
Rating:
Summary: FABULOUSNESS AND DECADENCE TOO LONG GONE FROM GAY LIFE
Review: Darwin Porter's uninhibited novel theough set in the 1950s brings back the great era when gay men and gay writers were not afraid to recount melodramas of sexual and emotional desires acted out by "abnormal" characters. Without the self pity or mock empathy shown by Tennessee Williams or any "tragic" moral ending, Porter tells the picaresque tale of the hung but psychologically-absent hustler Numie caught between at least four powerful desiring lovers: a black drag queen, an aging fashion designer (no doubt based on D.V.), a gay kinsey type on a "sex trip," and a straight woman looking for true love. Numie (the Hustler) wants true love too...the only problem is that all the love objects he fantasises about saving him are narcissistic egomaniacs on a tolstoyan scale. Almodovar, Genet and Fassbinder watch out! This book is a wonderful and unapologatic look at the lives that we (gay men)led before the homogenous normalized gay identity of the 80s was formed. It is of great sociological interest, fantastically witty and absorbing, and intensely moving. Before we were liberated we WERE fabulous!
Rating: 
Summary: Nowheresville
Review: This was one of the worst books I ever read. I found the novel utterly depressing and vapid, where the characters never learn from their mistakes or progress in any fashion. All the other characters use Numie, the protagonist, and he lets them do so. If a nasty, bitchy "Dynasty"/"Melrose Place" sort of book is your thing, then this is for you. I am amazed I actually finished it.
<< 1 >>
| 
