In this tongue-in-cheek narrative of the development of his sexuality, gay erotica author Steve Nugent leads readers through the maze of time and place to the ultimate realization that beginnings hold all the clues to the outcome.
Nook
,
0 pages
Published
August 22nd 2011
by JMS Books LLC
(first published August 21st 2011)
I found this is a challenging review to write because I didn’t feel there was enough to get my teeth into as a reader. It’s difficult to decide whether to call it either a story – in that it’s written as an entertainment though classified as a non-fiction memoir – or a booklet because of its very short length.
I like this author’s fiction writing style a lot and the same craft and skill is illustrated here. There’s wit
I found this is a challenging review to write because I didn’t feel there was enough to get my teeth into as a reader. It’s difficult to decide whether to call it either a story – in that it’s written as an entertainment though classified as a non-fiction memoir – or a booklet because of its very short length.
I like this author’s fiction writing style a lot and the same craft and skill is illustrated here. There’s wit and self-deprecation and a sharp, perceptive view of human nature and the world around us. He invites us into tiny snippets of life, events and thoughts that have shaped him from the specific point of view of his developing sexuality.
In a panic I leaped from my seat and went rather than came, running to the back of the cinema where I sat trembling and wondering what had happened to me.
The excerpt on the publisher’s site is a good example of the way the book is set out. The chapters are many but short, and don’t necessarily follow each other in theme or chronological terms. There’s a certain sales-pitch style to it – the “tell them it’s coming, tell them it’s here, tell them what just went down”. The words are often clipped, the endings abrupt and offering challenge, sometimes inviting it. Some of the events could be seen as disturbing, particularly several involving men in religious orders, yet are delivered in the same staccato, “ta-da” manner.
I would have welcomed more of it, both for the author’s style and to draw more of an impression of him and his life. The personality glimpsed is a strong and possibly charismatic one, but is presented in what feels like a series of flashfic – very short snapshots of life, passing thoughts and vignettes of personal history. It bordered too much on self-indulgence for me to relax into the read – though I appreciate an autobiography is the most justifiable place to find that!
Just to note, the publisher’s opening blurb – possibly a generic one – describes it as a work of fiction, but the site categorises it as non-fiction memoir. Obviously some licence is taken in publishing it in this slightly once-removed style but it does make me wary as a reader, how much to invest in the narrator.
I was intrigued by the format and as I say, I like the author’s style in his fiction. I didn’t feel this title gave me enough to grasp either a clear view of his personality or sufficient context to enjoy or empathise with the scenes described. For that reason alone, I rate it C.