The Concrete Sky

I am weary of stories about gay men that feature teens "coming of age," or rejects from 1970's Fire Island, or fashion designers ... etc. I want real people I can relate to. Like "Liquor" by Poppy Z. Brite (whose quote led me to it), "The Concrete Sky" is a book about interesting adult characters who happen to be gay, not hot-pink rainbow-flagged GAY CHARACTERS. Chad and Jonathan came alive for me, and while their adventures may be a little far-fetched, it's fiction - it's supposed to involve flights of fancy. An enjoyable book. I await Moore's next, er, outing.

It is so refreshing to read a gay themed novel that doesn't immediately dive into erotica or stereotypes. The characters are multi-faceted and true to life, which seems to be lacking in most gay literature (Jamie O'neil and David Leavitt notwithstanding). The book rushes along taking the reader on a fast-paced thrill ride. The dialog is fresh and honest, The plot twists and turns, and Mr. Marshall is an auther of great insight and talent. I can't wait for his next offering!

Marshall Moore's debut novel is a sexy fun-filled romp where the main character, Chad, finds himself in a pych unti after his demented browbeat of a brother declares him menatlly unstable. While waiting for the doctors to to release him, Chad meets a sexy, saucy young man named Jonathon, as the patients' mysterious death tole increases.I loved the fact that these two characters find romance in, of all places, a mental institution. It is refreshing to read a book where the two gay characters find love outside of the drug-fueled bars, the parks and the bath houses. It is a testiment to Moore's creativity and accurate sense of the present, where gay men are, quite simply, everywhere, and not just found in the ghettos of metropolises. But having them meet in such a place also sets the tone for the playfull, and sometimes dark, insanity that is to come. The most delightful aspect of the book is both the classic and pop references that is brought up in the dialogue between the characters. Everything from Sartre, to the movie Heathers, to the Narnia Chronicles is nonchalantly brought up in the dialogue, which reveals the history and world that the characters were brought up in. Here's the thing about the intelligence of this novel: It's very effortless. There is never a sense that Moore is not trying to be clever. He just happens to be clever. And his acerbic and often quotable lines remind the reader that not all writers are created equally. As Ebert would say: "One very enthusiastic thumb up!!!"

I got this book because I thought it'd make a great beach read. How wrong I was.I was so engrossed with the breakneck twists and turns of the plot, the deceptively dry voice of Chad, the narrator, which sizzles with witty venom, and the very sexy game of cat-and-mouse between Chad and Jonathan--the boy who may or may not be a mad killer, may or may not be the man of Chad's dreams--that I read the whole book in one sitting. If I'd done this at the beach, I would have washed out with high tide.I don't want to go into too much detail about why I loved this book or why I think Marshall Moore is a wit so caustic and laugh-out-loud brilliant that he deserves his own cable show on Bravo (and he does!). Why not? Because I'm certain to give away the story.And the many mysteries within The Concrete Sky are what make this book so engrossing: a surprise stay in a madhouse that leads to steamy encounters with a dangerous inmate; a stalker who's a Marine with an evil mission and a worse secret still; death by pepper flakes; a tight-lipped mother trapped in her own secrets and a double-wide trailer filled with cats and litter boxes; a gruesome death that is either the supreme act of poetic justice or derangement.And all of it told in Moore's signature style: a low-key voice with a great eye for detail and dialogue and wit so acidic it could take flesh right off the bone.Now the next mystery I want Marshall Moore to solve is when his next book will be coming out!

The author is the child Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Parker never had together. I haven't read anything this witty in years. THE CONCRETE SKY made me laugh, it made me mad, it made me think, it got under my skin. I was rooting for Chad and Jonathan and I wanted to slap them both too. I couldn't put this one down. It made me late for work because I stayed up late reading. This is a debut novel? What's he going to write next?