Customer Reviews

Boston Boys Club

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Hi, I really hate to write a negative review but it's really necessary in this case. This is one of the worst books I've ever read. The main thing about it is the bizarre "brand-name-dropping" style in which it is written. I guess it's the author's effort to seem current, but it's really distracting. I'm not sure why it's written this way; maybe it's a comment on our advertising-drunk culture. The fact that a lot of the references are competing brands tells me that it's not paid product-placement.

As I sit on my Pottery Barn couch, resting my Reebok running shoes on my Ethan Allen coffee table, I read this terrible book. The bubbles from my Coca Cola tickle my nose and I accidentally spill some onto my J. Crew shirt, so I quickly grab a Bounty paper towel. ...you get the idea

I got so bored reading this story that I used a highlighter pen to pick out all the brand name references. My book is now very colorful; they are on almost every page.

I read this entire book a couple months ago and have no recollection of the plot or characters, only of Coca Cola, American Eagle, and Gatorade.

Tomas "Tommy" Perez is 29 year old Cuban-American who recently relocated from his native Miami to Boston, to take a job as a reporter for a newspaper there. He misses his family, friends and the Cuban community back in Florida, but is slowly becoming more comfortable with Boston, as he checks out the local gay bars with Rico, a hunky Italian who has taken Tommy under his wing. When Tommy meets Mikey, Rico cautions him that Mikey seems to have a drinking problem, but Tommy is already falling in love with Mikey and doesn't heed his friend's advice.

But Tommy doesn't hesitate to give advice to Rico, when he sees that Rico seems to be afraid of developing anything more than a no-strings sexual relationship with any of the various cute guys he meets at the bar. Rico has been hurt in the past, as has Tommy, but Rico seems to have built a wall around himself emotionally, to avoid being hurt again, not realizing that would block him from true fulfillment as a loving person.

The book also deals with Kyle, a superficial and self-centered 23 year old gay boy who is trying to use his "15 minutes of fame" as a cast member on the "Real Life" show to jump start a modeling/acting career that isn't going so well. The surprise result of an HIV test brings him a lot closer to "reality" than he wants to be.

The author's bio seems to mirror Tommy's to some extent, which makes one wonder how much of this is autobiographical. Diaz's first novel is a narrative that is told alternately by the three leads, as well as Tommy's boyfriend Mikey. That allows the reader to get a better insight into the characters, and also to see one know what parts of his life and dreams he isn't sharing with his friends. It's a well-written, relatively light "beach read", and recommended as such. Four stars out of five.

I've lived in Boston most of my life and have spent many evenings at Club Cafe'. If I were Tommy or Rico or any of these characters, I would have jumped off the Tobin Bridge years ago. Diaz's writing is juvenile, especially for someone who makes a living by writing and getting through this book was very difficult.

Although one character, Kyle (KY), is meant to be shallow, they're all shallow in their own way. Diaz keeps mentioning the brand of clothing they wear, like Aberzombie & Fitch, Gap, Old Navy...If I were wearing Gap, I wouldn't be bragging about it. Tommy gets a new condo and has Pergo flooring installed...why do we care? I understand that authors need to change some things, but if you're going to use the real name of the bar...Club Cafe'...then you should use the real nickname...Club So Gay, not So Gay Cafe'. And the only high point in these guys lives is to go to CC EVERY THURSDAY?!?!? Get a life!

[...]

I had high hopes for this book; being a south florida -- boston transplant myself, but I found this book to be tedious and predictable. I am a fan of Johnny Diaz' writing for the globe but this novel lacked humor, wit, and any real character development. All three; Tommy, Rico, and Kyle lacked any depth what-so-ever. All the pop culture references: names, dates, song lyrics, even repeated multiple times, became obnoxious and annoying. The stereotypes, (jockish men at the gym, "ripped bodies" cher lyrics, A&F tanks, rollerblading on the charles, etc.) and constant spanish-english translation (i think we know what familia means) made me skim through paragraphs just to be done with them. Tommy wasd supposed to be our affable character, but he just came off as a googly-eyed goodie-two-shoes. Attempts at humor just came out corny, Never made me laugh.

Would I get the next Johnny Diaz book?

Probably, but he needs to step it up for me to finish it

Boston Boys Club delivers a fun, punchy, and entertaining story about three friends/frenemies -- Tommy, Kyle, Rico-- living la vida loca in Boston. Johnny Diaz has created a great read which gives readers a fun view of LGBT life in Boston, as well as a chance to think about issues that affect all our communities -- drinking, fame, dealing with after-fame, and romantic relationships.

And since this West Coast boy has never been to Boston, it was nice reading about all the exciting places in New England that are important to the people there. An entertaining book! I'm looking forward to more novels from Johnny Diaz!
fs

I have never read Johnny Diaz before, but the description was interesting, so I figured why not? It turned out to be quite engaging once you get familiar with the characters. I finished this one in about a week because I read to and from the way to work and was always curious to see what would happen next. The characters are very believable and develop nicely throughout the course of the story, each going though "life lessons" (one character which I didn't particularly care for had a life-changing experience, which redeemed his character in my opinion). I found myself identifying with Tommy and his views on friendship and love. I think most people will find a little bit of themselves in one or more of the characters.I would definitely recommend this book. I would also like to see a sequel (or two!) as these are characters you will get to know and love.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this witty, romantic and very entertaining novel about gay life in Boston. It was possible to shed a tear, burst out laughing and creep into the lives of these people in their daily lives from working to entertaining to being entertained. I definitely recommend this book.

I really wanted to give this book one star, but based on Mr. Diaz's talent from reading his blog I decided to give it another star. I wanted to like the book based on the premise and quickly ordered it. However, once I started to read it I struggled through it. The characters are one-dimensional - no depth or any qualities that make you want to care for them. The storylines are basic and have been used numerous times in other pulpy, soapy novels trying to depict life in the urban gay jungle. The dialogue was stodgy; and everyone sounded the same. However, the most annoying part of the novel was the pop cultural references. Either Mr. Diaz thinks we're culturally challenged or he was paid to mention annoying details over and over and over and over. So, overall, I was disappointed. Will I read Mr. Diaz's next novel? Yes, because I sense some real talent in him. And it's really scary when reading these reviews that people can relate to the characters or know someone like them in their lives. It makes a good argument for not meeting people.

For better substance and characters with depth, I would highly recommend the novels of Michael Thomas Ford. Or, if you're like me and like to read non-stereotypical gay men in extreme and action-like stories then I suggest the novels of James Robert Baker. Otherwise, if you're into typical gay ghetto drama with cardboard stereotypes then go for it and buy this book.

I ORDERED BOSTON BOYS CLUB, AS IT LOOKED LIKE A GOOD WEEKEND READ. I ENJOYED IT SO MUCH LAST YEAR, THAT I JUST FINISHED READING IT FOR THE SECOND TIME. THE MAIN CHARACTORS, THREE GUYS, ARE ALL LIKE GUYS I'VE KNOWN. TOMMY IS THE MAIN CHARACTOR THE GUY NEXT DOOR TYPE, RICO HIS HUNKY GREEN-EYED ITALIAN FRIEND, AND KYLE THE YOUNGER, SOMETIMES SHALLOW FORMER REALITY TV STAR. THEY HAVE BECOME FRIENDS, AND PATRONS OF CLUB CAFE IN SOUTH BOSTON. THE STORY COVERS A YEAR OF THE CHARACTORS LIVES, AND WITH TOMMY FINALLY FALLING IN LOVE WITH A A BLUE EYED SCHOOL EMPLOYEE THAT DOESN'T KNOW WHEN TO STOP POURING CORONAS DOWN HIS THROAT. HE DOESN'T SEE THE TRAIN WRECK COMING. TOMMY IS ONLY SEEING THE GOOD SIDE OF MIKEY. HE'S WAITED A LONG TIME TO FALL IN LOVE. RICO HAS AVOIDED RELATIONSHIPS, EXCEPT FOR THE 3 HOUR KIND. HE STARTS HAVING FEELINGS FOR DAVID, ONE OF HIS 3 HOUR RELATIONSHIPS. DAVID LIVES ON HIS BOAT, IN BOSTON HARBOR. KYLE, SPENDS MOST OF HIS TIME TRYING TO IMPRESS EVERYONE, UNTIL HE HAS A LIFECHANGING HEALTH DIAGNOSIS. IT WAS INTERESTING TO SEE THE WAY HE HANDLED HIS SITUATION. THESE GUYS SOON FELT LIKE FRIENDS OF MINE. WHEN I FINISHED THE BOOK, I MISSED HAVING THEM AROUND. I LIKED AUTHOR JOHNNY DIAZ WAY OF WRITING SO MUCH, THAT I PREORDERED AND HAVE FINISHED MIAMI MANHUNT. I'M NOW AWAITING BOOK NUMBER 3.

As I sat reading the book "Boston Boys Club" by Johnny Diaz, I kept asking myself, is this what we have come to; or rather, is this what our society harnesses? A book about commercialism, pop culture references, and alcoholism is supposed to represent "the Boston gay community". It's supposed to represent me?

It could be possible that I am placing too much credit in the hands of Mr. Diaz on what inevitably might be an insurmountable undertaking. It became clear after 4 pages in that English is not his first language. The writing is repetitive, juvenile, messy, and depends on the reader's knowledge of pop culture references to progress the story along. As with most immigrants who come to this country, Mr. Diaz seems to cling to some of the "American" things that he encountered upon first arriving. Most of his music and fashion choices for his characters were dated severely prior to the 2007 timeline here (i.e. "Top Gun", "Nautica", "Gloria Estefan"), and he tends to use dates to remind us of this fact. More so, was there ever a timeline in this story? One short chapter (it's definitely for the reader who gets exhausted after 8 pages and has to put the book down to take a rest) has the characters bemoaning snow, and then the next thing you know it's a beautiful spring day! One minute, we're in Providence or Miami and then, with the turn of the page, we're back in Boston.

The 3 storytellers (Tommy, Kyle & Rico) are two-dimensional, sex driven, vain, and highly commercial. "Why do you love me?" "Porn. Porn. Porn" and "Boo-yah" are actual lines in the dialogue. The three characters move in and around the city of Miami and "Spanglish" so often, I am almost confused as to who is narrating at times and why their story is relevant. The main character, Tommy, is supposed to be an introduction to this culture for his friends. But Rico & Kyle seem to have basic Spanish down pat.

I feel as if I am missing something. Oh that's right! I'm missing the time I could have had reading something other than this piece of garbage Johnny Diaz is touting as fiction. It's an embarrassment to the Boston gay community that this even would sell, let alone garner positive reviews from William J Mann (who is a far superior writer, I might add). It's no wonder his next book is being set in Miami. Mr. Diaz doesn't appear to know how to get out of his comfort level with his dialogue, much less establish much a plot that lasts longer than a Living/Arts article for the newspaper. Extremely disappointing!