An honest, often hilarious and occasionally sluggish tale of a man who loves sex too much.
The fictional account of a self-confessed sexaholic reviewing the path that led to his addiction.
After attending a meeting of Sex Addicts Anonymous, young Dash reflects upon his extensive sexual history. At 15, a coming-of-age visit to a brothel, underwritten by friend Troy’s military father, introduced both teenagers to the pleasures of the flesh. Now, in his ongoing quest for female companionship, Dash is often accompanied by impulsive, devil-may-care buddy Ted, who introduces Dash to AAMP (Asian Massage Parlors), where a request for ‘full service’ gets you more than a deep-tissue rubdown. After Ted makes a hasty exit, Dash falls in with redheaded Fergus, a colorful Irishman with a ravenous libido and money to burn. As Dash beds hundreds of women, he must decide whether to limit his palate to one-night stands or open himself to love and intimacy. For Dash and compatriots, a “hobbyist”—someone keen on prostitutes—is but one of a host of insider terms, many of which are code for ladies of the evening and “the act,” in all its variations. Although Dash, who’s funny as hell and generous to a fault, usually pays for sex, he makes an earnest effort to please his partner, even if she doesn’t excel at her job. As a narrator, Dash isn’t preachy, and mercifully, his story is more confession than cautionary tale. Dialogue is sharp and the narrative witty, although at times the pacing lags. A caveat for the easily offended: Although Dash isn’t misogynistic, some of his acquaintances may be construed as such; e.g., good-time Ted refers to the services of an Asian beauty as “Bang-Bang Chicken.” The book has no profound theme, no impressive story arc, no big takeaway; yet the ending is surprisingly touching. Adult females may delight in discovering what certain men really think and feel about women, in and out of bed.
An honest, often hilarious and occasionally sluggish tale of a man who loves sex too much.Pub Date: March 13, 2013
ISBN: 978-0615746524
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Bexley Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 20, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.
Passion, friendship, heartbreak, and forgiveness ring true in Lovering's debut, the tale of a young woman's obsession with a man who's "good at being charming."
Long Island native Lucy Albright, starts her freshman year at Baird College in Southern California, intending to study English and journalism and become a travel writer. Stephen DeMarco, an upperclassman, is a political science major who plans to become a lawyer. Soon after they meet, Lucy tells Stephen an intensely personal story about the Unforgivable Thing, a betrayal that turned Lucy against her mother. Stephen pretends to listen to Lucy's painful disclosure, but all his thoughts are about her exposed black bra strap and her nipples pressing against her thin cotton T-shirt. It doesn't take Lucy long to realize Stephen's a "manipulative jerk" and she is "beyond pathetic" in her desire for him, but their lives are now intertwined. Their story takes seven years to unfold, but it's a fast-paced ride through hookups, breakups, and infidelities fueled by alcohol and cocaine and with oodles of sizzling sexual tension. "Lucy was an itch, a song stuck in your head or a movie you need to rewatch or a food you suddenly crave," Stephen says in one of his point-of-view chapters, which alternate with Lucy's. The ending is perfect, as Lucy figures out the dark secret Stephen has kept hidden and learns the difference between lustful addiction and mature love.
There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6964-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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