Boulevard

This book was a great accurate portrait of New Orleans French Quarter of the 70s. Good story that takes you right there.

Jim Grimsley's story of a young man's coming of age is a spectacular journey though the culture of the French Quarter of New Orleans. The story looks at the main character's insecurities, hopes, dreams, and fortitude in living out reality. His self-awareness develops in the midst of evolving stories of people around him who are seeking out their own experiences of authentic life. Like other readers, I, too, am impressed by the author's gifted manipulation of language that oozes and steams throughout the storytelling. While some have seen the story within a story as a challenge, others may join me in enjoying lush and gorgeous language in setting up a great setting and wonderful life-celebrating story of awakening.

Grimsley is a beautifully gifted writer. This novel, Boulevard, lacks his previous explorations on the quiet desperation of true love. It does, however, keep the wonderfully constructed portraits of characters and the interesting plotline. The story traces an awkward, somewhat cliche, coming-of-age of a country boy who comes to the Big Easy. By the end of the novel, one is not sure if the boy has really changed, or if he has just become more 'experienced' in terms of cultural exchange/experience, etc. But perhaps Grimsley's finer point is made on that assumption: escape allows you to experience something new...but escaping will not change who or what you are.His power lies in his vocabulary and the languid, melancholy descriptions of heartache. The twisted characters he introduces and the interesting plot twists are not to be missed. Ironically, it is one of the minor characters (who actually gets more presence than most minor characters would) that charmed me the most. An aging drag queen comments on the lives of the characters around her, on her own life, and the quiet damnation of being an older transgendered man. Emotionally, I do not cling to this novel as I did Comfort and Joy, Winter Birds, and Dream Boy, but it did not seek out to make the reader cling to it. It is an expertly told story.

I could not put this book down. Great story and even better characters. Explores life in New Orleans during the late 70s and it is quite the bizarre.. full of sensous moments and characters that are deeper than their appearance, I highly recommend this book.

This novel tells the stories of a circa 1976 New Orleans, Newell, a somewhat naïve country boy who moves there from Alabama, and the various people he encounters after his arrival. Reading this book, you'll visit a New Orleans that will never exist again and meet a cast of vivid characters that you will never forget. The story begins as Newell arrives in New Orleans on a one-way bus ticket with just enough cash to live on for a few weeks until he finds a job. (If you can call eating cold canned soup living.) Luckily, his innocence (and probably his boyish charm) finds him a place to live, gets him a job as a bus boy, loses his job as a bus boy and finds him yet another job in a porno bookstore where he is allowed to thrive, develop and meet the other characters populating the boulevard of New Orleans.And what characters they are -- you'll love some and hate others, find some with stories that almost make you cry and others that are just unforgettable. Actually, some of the characters are so totally developed they could be the center of a book of their own.This novel is the first thing I've read by Jim Grimsley and I discovered very quickly that he is a first class writer. Naturally that makes BOULEVARD a first class book, and probably the best I've read this year! If you are like me and haven't read Jim Grimsley before, get this book now! You won't be sorry.

After reading Jim Grimsley's four other previous brilliant novels; WINTER BIRDS, DREAM BOY, COMFORT & JOY, and MY DROWNING; I was thrilled to hear his fifth novel, BOULEVARD, was out. Here's a writer who can grab your attention by weaving a story that is so interesting it is impossible to put down. This is the story of a naïve pretty, gay boy, Newell, who leaves his hometown of Pastel, Alabama for the big city, in this case, the French Quarter of New Orleans. It's the late 70's, an era of sexual excesses, drugs, partying and discos. This small town boy looses his innocence in short order. He finds an apartment, gets a job in a restaurant, gets fired right away for not putting out for the owner, and then by a stoke of luck, or is it, finds a new job working in a seedy adult bookstore. Here he finds his niche, quickly improves the business for the owner, and transforms himself from a shy country boy to an experienced, handsome, gay Narcissus, who uses his new found sexual appeal to his full advantage. Grimsley vividly develops all the other characters in the story, feeding our imaginations with many colorful characters. There is; Miss Sophie, a wise ugly and old transsexual; Mark, Newell's new drugged out boyfriend; Jack, a sadist who preys on Newell; and Mac, the big fat, ugly manager of the adult bookstore. And, of course, Louise, Newell's landlady, who's having an illegal affair with......well, you will find out. She knows it is wrong and has a hard time putting an end to the affair.The descriptions and details of the New Orleans French Quarter, which include the street life, the bars, the parties and the people, and the events that unfold, are laid out in beautiful, poetic detail. I believe Jim Grimsley to be the true literary genius of the Southern gay fiction story. Some readers may be offended by details of Newell's sexual liaisons, and erotic, darker side of his steamy affairs, but it is just a reflection of that era and what it was really like in late 70's. This story is both frightening and titillating at the same time, with a real surprising twist. Do Not Miss This One. It will bring Grimsley many new fans. Highly Recommended!!! I look forward to reviewing his sixth novel. Joe Hanssen