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Summary: Review by co-author of It Had to Be You (Timothy James Beck)
Review: ....everything a good Queen loves to be! :) LOL While the book is definitely a fun read...also check out the author's BLIND ITEMS. A much funnier piece not as soaked with sex as this book is.
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Summary: Interesting Read...
Review: A cute little book. While it's not earth-shattering or life altering, it promises to be a very fun, entertaining book. Written in a very interesting and fresh point of view, this book is very different from most fun books I have read.
Rating: 
Summary: Shallow Characters, Snarky Remarks
Review: I did not care about the people in this book. It seems to want be a romance story but fails. The writer sacrifices any chance of eliciting real feelings from his readers in favor of making sarcastic remarks disguised as cogent observations. One particularly icky description of a first sexual encounter, supposedly recounted by an elderly character, does not have the ring of words being spoken and instead comes off as nothing but cheesy erotica writing. Additionally an entire scene at a shotgun wedding in the sticks replete with bitter, bulging bride and fluffy lavender bridesmaid gowns (a scenario that's been done to death) is nothing but a bad excuse to take cliched potshots at the straight world. I bought this based on a rave review from the NY Times that appeared on the cover. I do not know how this book received such a review. The writing style is snappy and shows promise, if only the author chooses to tackle a story with a bit more depth. Otherwise, this book offers nothing more than a couple of brief moments of humor, that is all.
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Summary: Entertaining and well written fun.
Review: I did'nt know how this book was gonna be, but based on the back I thought I'd give it a try, IT WAS GREAT. Matthew clearly has talent as an author, his sarcastic humor leaves nothing to be desired. The Plot: A male prostitute who is strictly 'top' with his customers, has a attraction towards his husky roomate Andrew, and who in turn is admired by his other twink-like roomy Joe. Sounds like a catastrophe waiting to happen...
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Summary: Review of Boy Culture
Review: I didn't find Boy Culture to be screamingly funny as I think it's advertised. However, not that I would know firsthand, it appeared to be an intelligent rendering of the psyche of a male prostitute conditioned to protect himself from love. The central love triangle is written well enough to give the book some tension. If you're looking for a "fun" or "witty" gay novel, I'd sooner suggest Christian McLaughlin or Joe Keenan. If you're interested in reading a novel about a male prostitute, with the possible exception of Rent Boy by Gary Indiana, I'd say this book among the most literary I've read.
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Summary: Couldn't make it past chapter 4 though friends liked it
Review: I had the same experience with this as I did with one of Rettenmund's other books (Blind Items). Several friends recommended it, it seemed like a good and fun topic, and yet I could not make it past chapter 4. Rettenmund's writing style reminds me of the articles you read in the Sunday magazine section of your newspaper: The articles go on for pages and pages to say something that could be said in two paragraphs. If you like this writing style, Rettenmund's books may be for you. Personally it drove me crazy.
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Summary: Wonderfully Insightful
Review: I started this book expecting the same tired old writing: passable, bland. The main character is a hustler, so perhaps that's what led me to expect blandness. Instead, I was treated to well written humor, subtle and less subtle, and a great deal of depth. The self-analysis of the main character gave me much food for thought about my own outlook on life, and about the often mindless aspects of "gay culture", which far too often consists of night after night of prowling bars for one night stands. I find it very refreshing to see that there are others who find that particular lifestyle empty and devoid of any real satisfaction. An excellent book... I will be looking for more from Rettenmund.
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Summary: A deliciously bitchy, yet layered and insightful, read
Review: I'm not normally a big fan of queer literature: too obsessed with coming out, too fixated on camp, too focused on gay pride, little emphasis on the "non-scene" elements of gay life. Yet Rettenmund's novel possesses two of these qualities (strong emphasis on coming out and a lead character with a very major thing for Madonna) and I still found it immensely entertaining. (Not to mention erotic; I can't even recall the last time I was rendered so tumescent by mere words.) The protagonist, X, is an unapologetic (for the most part) male hustler who discovers after a decade of tricking that, lo and behold, he isn't an emotionless automaton after all. The result is a quick plummet into a love rectangle involving both a minor and an octogenarian. (In other words, prudes beware.)No, the novel isn't perfect -- the younger-teen characters speak with the eloquence of the kids on "Dawson's Creek" (as if they were 35, in other words), and X's attraction to! an eightysomething guy still seems farfetched even given the man's considerable charm -- but overall it's an engaging and thought-provoking work.
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Summary: Really awful
Review: If you like reading about a self-absorbed painfully unfunny character (even though the author apparently thinks that there is humor here), you will love this book. Nothing new, here.
Rating:
Summary: Almost Compelling but not quite there....
Review: Obviously you don't pick up a book like this looking for a masterpeice - but if you want a good quick read that provides entertainment more than literary pondering - this book is for you! The charecters are somewhat interesting and diverse in their approach to life. The problem is that they are somewhat predictable in actions and reactions to the situations posed in the book....but hey, it was a fun read, that is all that truly matters right?
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