The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin
ISBN: 006093090X
368 pages
published in 2000.
So, I have seen the movie “The Night Listener” before, and didn’t realize until later on that it was based on a book. My friend Arpad invited me to watch the film once, and it thoroughly creeped me out, so once I found out there was a book, I wanted to read it straight away. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like spending the cash on a new book, so I waited for a used copy to turn up. A professor friend of mine just gave me a copy, though, and I read it straight through in a couple of days. It WAS as good as I expected it to be.
Anyway, the story is really eerie. A radio and fiction writer, Gabriel Noone, has just had his long-term partner move out and as a result, he’s having some trouble writing. He’s depressed, confused, having problems with his father. One day, however, he gets a manuscript of a book written by a young boy about the experiences he suffered growing up being sold as a sex toy by his parents and eventually becoming infected with HIV. Gabriel finds himself caring deeply for the boy and speaks with him on the phone frequently, as well as his adoptive mother. After a while though, Gabriel realizes that no one has ever actually MET this boy, and his voice and the voice of his mother sound strangely similar…
Posted: February 10th, 2009
at 11:02pm by Wombat
Categories: Books,Fiction: Gay & Lesbian
Comments: No comments
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
ISBN: 0307388921
304 pages
published in 2001.
I am super busy tonight, which is actually why I’ve been doing less reading lately. So I’m going to be lazy with this entry and post part of a synopsis from Wikipedia. I know, I know.
Choke follows Victor Mancini and his friend Denny through a few months of their lives with frequent flashbacks to the days when Victor was a child. Victor grew up while going from one foster home to another. Victor’s mother was found to be unfit to raise Victor. Several times throughout his childhood his mother would kidnap him from his various foster parents. They would eventually be caught and he would again be remanded over to the government child welfare agency.
In the present day setting of the book, Victor is now a man in his mid-twenties who left medical school in order to find work to support his feeble mother who is now in a nursing home. He cannot afford the care that his mother is receiving so he resorts to being a con man. He consistently goes to various restaurants and purposely causes himself to choke mid-way through his meal, luring a “good Samaritan” into saving his life. He keeps a detailed list of everyone who saves him and sends them frequent letters about fictional bills he is unable to pay. The people feel so sorry for him that they send him cards and letters asking him about how he’s doing and even continue to send him money to help him with the bills.
While growing up, Victor’s mother taught him numerous conspiracy theories and obscure medical facts which both confused and frightened him. This and his constant moves from one home to another have left Victor unable to form lasting and stable relationships with women. Victor therefore finds himself getting sexual gratification from women in sexual addiction support groups.
The narrative is episodic, and is presented out of chronological order.
Posted: February 5th, 2009
at 9:28pm by Wombat
Categories: Books,Fiction: General
Comments: No comments
