My Worst Date

Rating:
Summary: Got interested because of its title...
Review: A few days ago I was walking in a bookshop in Amsterdam when I was taking a quick glance at the shelves with gay fiction. Looking for a book by one of my favorite authors.

(un)fortunately I didn't happen to see his latest book, so I kept on looking some more and then I saw a book with one of the most intrigueing titles I have seen in quite some time. The rest is history... After reading a few lines from the book I decided that I ought to buy it. Only one day later I finished the book.

One of the things I really liked about the book was the different insights, ideas and opinions because of the different points of view. It is not a book only told by its narrator, Hugo, because when that would be the case I think the book wouldn't have been quiet as interesting as it were now.

It's easy to feel sympathy for the main characters, even though they can be a bit annoying at times, especially when they think they are old enough to talk like grown-up people.

Overall I really enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to finding something more by this author in the bookshelves. Only hoping that he won't be a superfacial one day fly.

Rating:
Summary: A Miami View of Coming of Age Gay
Review: An enjoyable read looking in on the life of an intelligent sixteen year old boy, Hugo, who discovers his sexulality while living in the South Beach area of Miami. There are some very bizarre developments in the story, yet, none are morbid or impossible. Actually, while reading as comical, much of the book calls upon the reader to think through their personal points of view on various issues. Some good examination of the range of sexual orientation (goood examples of degrees of hetero and homosexuality concept.)Hugo and his friends are delightful. His mother is a wonderful role model of a single parent who is mom and dad to her son without hindering his freedom or being nosy or invasive. The most ambitiously sexual character in the story is one that I could love or hate -- at least I found myself running from one of those directions to the other throughout my reading. Avoids the morbidity of AIDS which (perhaps correctly) has weighted down much of contemporary gay fiction. The story doesn't avoid the issue either -- simply places it in the kind of perspective that is probably much like the place gay men put it in going about their daily lives.A fast, worthy and endearing read. Leddick should be commended for his character development. There's a range of everyone and everything on earth threaded in this story and the author makes each memorable. Go for it! P.S. The cover has nothing to do with the book.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, sexy, and too smart to be credible
Review: I found the characters sympathetic, the plot seemingly implausable (in reality, having worked in the bar/sex industry, I know that it is very possible), and the writing in need of a strong editor. I was hooked from the start and greatly enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: Vapid
Review: I found this book incredibly boring. While it is obvious that Leddick gets into his characters, I did not. I found them two-dimensional, hollow cliches lacking in authenticity. Mr. Leddick should do more research and try to imbue his characters with more dimensions and distinct voices. I would suggest that he write porn instead, but even the sex scenes in the book are unrewarding, unerotic and unarousing. On the plus side, the guy on the cover is quite tasty and fortunately legal. Someone should just put together a coffee table book of covers of gay novels. I am sure that it would be more stimulating than a great deal of the novels themselves.

Rating:
Summary: Not so hot
Review: If you're interested in this-- read the books from Christian McLaughlin, Robert Rodi and Doug Guinan before you read this. It's not very well written and the story isn't especially exciting... the others are much better examples of the "gay beach novel" genre...

Rating:
Summary: Not so hot
Review: In this book, our hero, a young and handsome boy named Hugo, seems to sort of flow from one situation to another. His mother is a former model, now a realestate agent who has given him handsomeness which he uses to begin dancing in a strip club, getting a part on a local TV show and to attract the attentions of a former gay pron star who starts dating his mother at the same time. A later twist comes when a sleasy porn director wants to use him in his films later turns out to be his long lost fater in desperate need of money. The book never really seemed to alight anywhere for too long and I never really developed an affinity for any of the characters. I thought it odd that nobody seemed to ever tell anybody anything. For instance, the boy loves his mother, yet when he finds out she is dating the same man he is, who he also just found out was a porn acter in the 70's he doesn't suggest that it might be a good idea for her to get an AIDS test. Not a horrible book but not one I would read again.

Rating:
Summary: Readable
Review: In this book, our hero, a young and handsome boy named Hugo, seems to sort of flow from one situation to another. His mother is a former model, now a realestate agent who has given him handsomeness which he uses to begin dancing in a strip club, getting a part on a local TV show and to attract the attentions of a former gay pron star who starts dating his mother at the same time. A later twist comes when a sleasy porn director wants to use him in his films later turns out to be his long lost fater in desperate need of money. The book never really seemed to alight anywhere for too long and I never really developed an affinity for any of the characters. I thought it odd that nobody seemed to ever tell anybody anything. For instance, the boy loves his mother, yet when he finds out she is dating the same man he is, who he also just found out was a porn acter in the 70's he doesn't suggest that it might be a good idea for her to get an AIDS test. Not a horrible book but not one I would read again.

Rating:
Summary: "My Worst Date" is one of my worst reads
Review: My biggest problem with this book is that the characters are just not likable. I found it extremely hard to relate to any of these guys, and didn't find any of their lives extremely interesting. I would hope that not too many young people just coming out really expect life to be like this. Every guy in this book is a beautiful, musclebound man who hops in and out of bed with different partners. *Yawn* The subplot with the mother and son (just coming out... and also a fabulous stripper) dating the same guy seems either ripped off or an homage to Gordon Merrick. Either way, it doesn't really work. The guy they both lust after is a creep of the highest degree. If the quality of the writing on this book were perhaps a bit higher, this plot may have been pulled off. Instead, this is a lifeless, dull and rather unsexy book that has not inspired me to check out any other books by this writer.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Story
Review: Reading this book was a difficult experience. Being gay I have expereicned the huge amount of narcisism that is prevelant in the gay community. This book is the embodiment of that and even pushes the envelope even further.

The story to me is entirely unbelievable. A man that is having sex with his mother's boyfriend? A boy that strips at 17? That get's picked up by a relative at the club? Please...

One chapter began with a sequence I had to read twice. It involved ctiricism of people that are fat -- "fatties" -- Ugh. It is literature like this that gives people the reason to think that gay people really are like this.

Avoid this book -- unless you are interested in soft erotica.

Rating:
Summary: Good superficial read
Review: This was the first gay novel I ever read - over two years ago and it was a good starter. The writing isn't extremely deep but the story is good and very entertaining. If that's what you're looking for in a book - good entertainment, but it. But if you're looking for a deep, meaningful read, try something by David Leavitt.