The Night Listener: A Spoken Word Serial

Rating:
Summary: Excellent novel with some difficult aspects
Review: I purchased a copy of this for my partner for Christmas, and soon got a "how dare you buy a book like this for me!" I was then instructed to sit down and read it. A very good thing to be made to do.

Make no mistake: this book will not be a comfortable read to all. As it indicates in the blurb (which I didn't read first), one of the characters in the book was sexually abused by his father starting at age four. Now, the details of this are not examined closely, but we are never allowed to forget how Pete was abused. It's not in our faces, but it's never too far below the surface.

Having said that, the book is a triumph. Mixing fiction and autobiography together, Armistead Maupin sets out a book which is about the way in which fiction is created. The book is the fictionalised account of Gabriel Noone's failing relationship, his long-distance meeting with a young survivor of sexual abuse, and how the two help each other forward, and all the trials and tribulations associated with that progress.

But don't get comfortable: 'The Night Listener' turns your expectations on their heads on several occasions.

Mr. Maupin also remembers his long time fans: there are several nods to the 'Tales of the City' series and its characters. If you haven't read those books, I don't think that this book would suffer, but if you have, you get a few little bonuses.

As good a book as I have read in a long time.

Rating:
Summary: MAUPIN FINDS HIS DARK SIDE
Review: It's a cliche to say that there are books 'you just can't put down' - it sounds like the kind of 'blurb' the main protangonist of The Night Listener is called upon to contribute to the book that sets the chain of events in this story into motion; but in this case I stand by the cliche. When I got to the final page, the midnight oil had been well and truly burned and I felt as though I'd finished 10 rounds in a ring with Tyson. And so here I am, emotionally bruised and battered by probably the most uplifting and at the same time depressing piece of literature I have ever read. It would be so easy to ruin the plot for other readers - but I won't; suffice to say Jess' conversation with Gabriel halfway through the book, after his phonecall to Wysong left me feeling chilled and clammy at the same time. Tonight, after work I'm going to read the last few pages of this masterpiece again - hopefully this time without crying. But don't let the prospect of tears put you off. The Night Listener is definetely a journey and one I was honoured to make with the turn of each page.

Rating:
Summary: I speaks to universal themes, in an unusual package
Review: This book was startlingly good. Not that I would ever think that Armistead Maupin could write a book I wouldn't like (he could write a book about paint drying and it would be interesting in some way), but I was wondering if I'd find the story as interesting as the TOTC series.

After reading a couple of chapters, thinking I'd finish it upon returning home, I was hooked. Before I knew it I had read 1/2 the book. I finished it the next night. When I was done, I was in shock. I have read many books, but NONE have ever made me feel the emotions I felt reading this book. No book ever made me actually cry, and for an extended period of time too.

People should read this book even if they think its subject matter (gay relationships, child abuse, famous authors, etc.) would not appeal to them.

I'm not gay, I don't know anyone who has been abused like Pete Lomax was as a child, and I am not a published author, and yet I found this book and the emotions and feelings it described were universal themes relevant to my own life and things I was going through at the time I bought the book and previously. It was a very moving experience .

Rating:
Summary: Angst and self discover along with a great story!
Review: This novel by Amistead Maupin is one of those books that I just couldn't put down. It's written as if it were an autobiography and it draws the reader in to a story which becomes more complex as it moves along. It's about Gabriel Noone, a successful writer in his fifties, whose late-night radio stories have brought him a wide audience. He's in the midst of a breakup with his younger longtime companion and is grappling with its realities, when a publisher sends him a manuscript written by 13-year old boy, Pete Lomax, now dying of AIDS, who has been horribly abused.

Gradually, a telephone relationship develops between the narrator and the boy who helps the aging writer gain insights into his own life. The plot thickens, however, when some troubling questions arise about who the boy actually is and Gabriel Noone is set on a whirlwind trip of discovery which leads him from San Francisco to the heartland of Wisconsin and then to his own boyhood home in Charleston, South Carolina. The reader is gently brought to understand the man and his way of life completely, sharing his discoveries and his angst along the way. There's fine writing here, an intriguing story and a conclusion that will leave you thinking for a long time. Recommended.

As an afterthought, I must mention that the graphic design of the hardcover edition is one of the most original I have ever seen.

Rating:
Summary: incredible
Review: This was just an excellent book, so different from what else is out there to read. I recommend this book to anyone (unless you have a real problem with homosexuality). If so, it wouldn't be your cup of tea. I enjoy reading about people's lives that are different than mine.
I intend to read everything he's written.