Glamourpuss

The path to true love has always been rocky but it is only Christian McLaughlin who made a slob of a boyfriend be a memorable and major pothole in this endearing tale of an adulterous affair between Alex and Nick.An on-again, off-again closeted boytoy-starlet, a crazed stalker, militant gay activists and the bitchy world of TV soaps -- all these are funny route markers and interesting landmarks to the hopefully fairy-tale ending for our two boys that readers will be rooting for by the time you reach the final chapters. However it turns out, this book will have you reading "happily ever after."

Highly recommended-- excellent, hilarious, light "beach reading" ...a scream.

I am a huge fan of authors who can write a book without resorting to the same tired story lines we so often see in gay novels. This is an enjoyable book about an enjoyable guy. Alex Young, handsome a bit Naive and inspite of the fact that the object of his affection "Nick" is mired in a bad relationship an optomist. See, Alex move from Texas to L.A. Watch as he becomes a sucessful Soap Oprah Actor, Cringe as they discribe Nicks boyfriends wardrobe. Seriously though, the trials and tribulations that Alex goes through in his life make for fun sometimes laugh out loud reading. As a person I once lent this book said to me. "I was sad to put it down because I felt like good friends were leaving. So to the author I say, thank you for realizing some people like to laugh.

Not all books have to be plausible or loaded with heavy, hidden meaning, as some of the other reviewers indicate. I greatly enjoyed the story line, the characters, and the complexity of the situations Alex found himself in - not unlike problems most of us find ourselves in (at least to some degree, if not in Hollywood or on a national level). I was sorry to finish it; I also ordered the author's next novel.

Christian McLaughlins GLAMOURPUSS has a truly appalling jacket - a bronzed, headless beefcake drapes his privates in crimson satin. Its the sort of jacket you have to twist over and hide when youre reading on public transport. But thats just about my only criticism of this book, which is one of the funniest and most romantic novels Ive read for some time. The story revolves around the life and loves of the extremely likable Alex Young. McLaughlin charts Alexs life from his college days to early stardom on a daytime TV soap. The constant throughout this time is Alexs passion for Nick, who remains elusive through his steadfast commitment to loser Barney. With a light touch, McLaughlin pinpoints the experience of being gay in the nineties. It is good to find a contemporary gay novel that isnt constructed around AIDS. Nevertheless, the politics of being gay loom large when Alex is outed and has to struggle with the consequences to his private life and career. Above all, McLaughlin brilliantly conveys the dilemmas of looking for love in the nineties. Whilst written from a gay perspective, McLaughlins observations have a wider constituency. Male or female, straight or gay, weve all fallen for people like Nick who are everything we want ... except available. Equally, weve probably come across people like Trevor who although gorgeous is self-obsessed. Admittedly, this is compounded in Trevors case by his being gay and living in fear of being outed. There are some particular frustrations to the love-hunt when youre gay. McLaughlin cuts right to the chase in one scene when its Saturday night and Alex is walking past the bars and clubs of West Hollywood. In one block, I counted nine faces handsome enough to kiss with little or no personality-intelligence data available. Couldnt one of them be Mr Right, lonely, bored of smoky clubs and their empty-hearted poseurs, not to mention terrible house-music? How could you ever know? There needs to be shelves more gay fiction like this. Like its central character, GLAMOURPUSS is witty, clever and genuinely sexy. Its just a shame it looks like the sort of book you need to hide under your bed!