Reviews

Martin and John by Dale Peck, Jim Lewis

mslaura's review against another edition

4.0

This is a very difficult book for me to review. My impressions were all over the place as I was reading it. I can't say I quite "enjoyed" it but I can certainly say I appreciated it. The prevailing tone of this book is quite somber and sordid, though there are some glimpses of beauty, and the sex is often a bit graphic for my admittedly middle-aged taste. The writing, however, is stellar from start to finish. I was having trouble grasping how all of the stories fit together, but in the final chapter it all gelled and made sense and was really very brilliant. On its literary merits this book probably deserves 5 stars, but I am settling on 4 stars as the most accurate reflection of my personal reading experience.

kuhrin's review against another edition

3.0

I confess, I only picked this book up because Jim Lewis wrote the introduction, and I love me some Jim Lewis. The format of the book threw me off slightly, but story each has it's own merit. Honestly, I think the stories would stand better on their own, theming them together pushed emotions a little over the top. Overall, the stories are sad and insightful.

torts's review against another edition

4.0

I was a little confused by the format at first. I promptly stopped being confused and started being impressed by the beautiful little first-person tragedies that kept unfurling.

mrshendricks's review against another edition

3.0

This book was tough to figure out at first. It's a collection of vignettes about two gay men and their lives together and apart.

noveldoll's review

4.0

Now I wonder, has this story liberated anything but my tears?

And now I want to read everything by this author

4.5