Book Club Report for January
Review By: John Marsh
Between Dances, by Erasmo Guerra had been a Lambda book award nominee, so that was a pretty good recommendation for us to put the novel on our reading list. When we started reading it, some of us were put off by the subject matter: a gay stripper. But it turned out to be very interesting, as the young protagonist, Marco, deals with living, loving, and losing in New York City. The author's own youth showed through his writing, we thought, and some of his style was marred by far-fetched similes and metaphors, but it's a very promising first novel, and we look forward to seeing how he matures in future works.
Members of the group gave the book 6's, 7's, and an 8 (out of 10), which is a pretty good showing. The characters are multi-dimensional, made up of strengths and weaknesses. The setting was well described and realistic. The ending left most of us unsatisfied. He's jogging along, determined to get to know his real self. But we wished him good luck, because he's gonna need it.