Rating: 
Summary: Fun read
Review: Tommy's Tale is the first novel by renaissance man Alam Cumming, whom you may know from The Anniversary Party, Cabaret, or X-Men 2.
Cumming himself is a rather impish character, and the narrator (Tommy) in Tommy's Tale sounds a lot like the persona Cumming eminates.
I enjoyed Tommy's Tale - written in the manner of a memoir. The free-loving Tommy is an engaging character, even as he makes terrible life choices, we can't help but like him and want to ruffle his hair.
Cumming is very clever, not just in characterization and plot but also in the form of the novel. It felt to me a little like a cross between Nick Hornby and Augusten Burroughs. Very funny, yet with lots of emotions under the surface.
All in all, a very enjoyable read - unless you have issues with drug use, lots of sex, lots of drug use during sex, descriptions of bodily functions, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: Written for a selected few...
Review: Tommy's Tale was simply amazing, for lack of a better word. Many would complain that Cumming's style (rather erratic and jumpy) becomes annoying fairly quickly. The novel is written in a journal-like fashion, with there really being no distinct plot line and no real purpose save the story of the life of the main character, Tommy.
That, I believe, was the entire point. I truly do not think that this book was meant to be like a regular story. Only those with an open mind can truly understand the deeper emotions hidden behind the words.
If you are looking for a regular beginning, rise, climax, fall, end story, this is not the book for you. However, if you're looking for something comepletely different, unique, deliciously addictive and a little sex, drugs, and more sex thrown into the mix, then you need to get this book as soon as possible.
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