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Darkness: Where light is not.
Light: Brightness or illumination from a particular source.
Absolute brightness: The mystery of Leonard Pelkey.
This is the story of a luminous force of nature: a boy who encounters evil and whose magic isn't truly felt until he disappears.
James Lecesne is an author, actor, and activist, whose film Trevor received an Academy Award for best short film. James cofounded the Trevor Helpline, a 24-hour suicide-prevention hotline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning teens. He lives in New York City.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too,
By TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Absolute Brightness (Hardcover)
Leonard Pelkey doesn't fit in anywhere. His mother has died, leaving him with Phoebe's uncle, now his legal guardian. But Uncle Mike has plans to go to Mexico to invest in cattle. So Phoebe's mom, Ellen, arranges for Leonard to come and live with them in Neptune, New Jersey. But Neptune isn't ready for Leonard. Saying Leonard is a bit outrageous is being optimistic. Phoebe and her sister, Deirdre, treat Leonard as an unwelcome house guest, going so far as creating a living space for Leonard in the basement surrounded by filled cardboard boxes.
But this doesn't stop Leonard from going full-steam-ahead with his life in Neptune. He infuses himself into Ellen's beauty shop business, and slowly, the old ladies that frequent the shop start to subtly change under his tutelage. Phoebe's mom finally starts taking an interest in her appearance again. He even gets Deirdre to drastically change her style. But Phoebe feels left out. Leonard is showing an interest in making over everyone but her. Why does he not bother offering her tips? Then again, Phoebe has done nothing but give him a hard time ever since he moved in. But one night, everything changes. One day he doesn't return from Drama Camp. With the help of Detective Chuck, Phoebe and her family begin a long journey to find out what happened to Leonard. During the days of the investigation, Phoebe begins to acknowledge to herself that she misses Leonard and regrets all that happened between then. As the story reaches its climax with the revelation of Leonard's disappearance, the main characters reveal secret that have been festering within Phoebe's family for years. Mr. Lecesne writes a harrowing story of how a community can react to someone who comes off as different. Leonard infuses joy in all he does, and only too late does Phoebe realize the effort that Leonard put into showing the world such a positive face. The story is heavy, but very moving. I did feel that there were a couple of plot lines that were put in that were left dangling. But none of them were vital to the outcome of the story. Mr. Lecesne leaves the reader guessing as to Leonard's sexual preference throughout the entire book. But the reader doesn't have to know one way or the other, because there is more to the story than the issue of sexual orientation. ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS brings to mind the story of What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci. But Mr. Lecesne brings his story to a definite conclusion, unlike Ms. Plum-Ucci's story, which leaves the reader guessing at the end. Reviewed by: Jaglvr
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Barely gets past the first click on a 3 way wattage lamp,
This review is from: Absolute Brightness (Hardcover)
In absolute Brightness, Leonard Pelkey is portrayed as a savior to an almost ghost town filled with aging women who don't have much else to live for except the visits to the beauty parlor or the funerals of their friends and relatives. He is an outcast with a capital O, knows it, and lives life as though he doesn't care. Then, suddenly, Leonard is gone without much of a trace. There is a great deal of banter about the people in the town itself, and the identity of the person behind Leonard's demise is no surprise (nor is the reasoning) and ultimately comes so long after revelations of the main characters, you're just about left not caring what happened to Leonard anyway. It's kind of like watching a so-so show on TV for a whole season and then being forced to sit through a cliffhanger that's supposed to lure you back next season, only, you've had enough and never want to watch the show again, no matter who they threaten with how many guns. I give the book 3 stars mainly because although unnecessarily long, it is very well written and the characters are very well developed. But as for ever reading it again, I'd say no, and that's too bad because with such well rounded characters and a decent premise at the outset, Absolute Brightness could indeed have been blinding, but only comes off as mildly illuminating.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't be fooled,
By Terry Kelley "Terry K." (Mountain West) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Absolute Brightness (Hardcover)
Don't be fooled! Absolute Brightness is a disaster.
First off, its far too long for the amount of story being told. I'm certain the author was going for an "epic" feel but there just wasn't anything there. The only remotely believable character is Leonard who is only in the story for the first 100 pages and is so stereotypically, unbelievably swishy as to send a drag queen go running for the testosterone. Additionally, what little there is of Leonard is over shadowed by the meaningless meanderings and self centered sulking of 'hag in training', Phoebe. In short, the characters are shallow and cliched, the plot virtually non-existent and the theme so cluttered by irrelevant digression as to be all but unrecognizable in the end. To his credit, the author does attempt numerous plot twists and turns, none of which are effective ... I knew the identity of the killer before there was a killing. Kudos to Mr. Lecesne for the creation of Trevor and his work on the Trevor project but past accomplishments aside, this one is a complete stinker.
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