Reviews

Where the Boys Are by William J. Mann

sireno8's review

4.0

I really like what this book is about-- the family that we chose for ourselves and how (like biological family) its struggles are intencse--and the impact of grief, how people deal or don't deal with it, individually and collectively. I also liked reading about both sides of the whole circuit party thing, the fact that nobody talks about AIDS anymore and the internalzied and external (of course) effects of homophobia. I like that this is all percolated into what is essentially a romance novel and seen through the eyes of complex mulitlayered characters who are believable and interesting. I like the three interconnected storylines that keep you turning the pages. Mann is a really good story teller and though this time I was a little ahead of him, he really knows when to release information and keep suspense going. What's really needed here is a red pencil. It's about 50-75 pages too long which could be remedied if the characters didn't talk about their feelings quite so much and the "look--no, you look" structure of many of the scenes was more varied. The emotional investment of the author adds weight and truth to the story and keeps it from melodrama, but at times is feels repetitive and borderline corny. And does everyone have to cry quite so much? Still, I remain a fan of Mann's writing -- both fiction and non-fiction--and am happy to have (re)discovered another gifted gay writer. (PS. I would love to be his editor!)