Customer Reviews

California Screaming: A Novel

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Not the most sympathetic character you'll ever meet, Kevin embodies all that is glitz and glam about the party boy scene. Materialistic, and not just a little shallow, our hero cuts a wide swath through the gay world of West Hollywood.

By turns truly hilarious and truly sad, Doug Guinan succeeds in winning the reader over, creating characters at once pathetically jaded and ultimately redeemable.

Spend a nice day at the beach, and while you are out there, read this book!

I've never read a book where I was laughing and wincing at the same time like this- the author's darts are so well placed. As a resident of the Wilshire Corridor and working in West Hollywood the thing I find most amazing is that Mr. Guinan's book is classified as fiction. It's all true!

I was jumping around my apartment after I read this book. I got that same feeling you get after you'vd just talked to your biggest crush on the phone. I tore through this novel and cancelled all my Saturday night plans to finish it. I hated and loved the characters. And I recognized them which was sort of terryfing but thrilling. This is top notch gay satire and more than just a beach read. It sort of fills you with hope too. I want another one.

A friend loaned me "California Screaming" with the comment that it was perfect "summer trash" reading, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it's actually quite wonderful, well-written, carefully crafted, and utterly accurate. The book reminds me a lot of Balzac's "Lost Illusions" in which a young, beautiful, dewy-eyed would-be poet is seduced by the big city, taken in by an older rake, but then... well, I don't want to spoil the ending; suffice it to say that these relationships existed in Paris in the 1830s just as they do today in Los Angeles. Guinan's worldview is of course less tragic than Balzac's and I was pleased to see the characters achieve some "growth" as the novel achieves "closure" (pardon the LA-speak). A wonderful novel that will have you reading late into the night.

I have mixed feelings about this book. While i found the writing style very easy to read and did enjoy the story (i finished the book in 2 days) i had alot of trouble with the message the book conveys. Im giving the book 4 stars because it was a fun and easy read. I know it's a work of fiction, but, unfortunately i know characters like this in real life (alot of them)..and i found that depressing. Every single character is very superficial and while i held out alot of hope for the ending i was sort of disappointed (i won't give anything away but just when i thought the main character would grow up he kinds of says to himself..."damn, he got fat?"). Anyway, it's still a good read.

I gave this a 10, not as in "the greatest novel of all time", but because it sure is great for the type of novel it is...a totally fun trashy romp. I couldn't put this book down and I've sent copies to friends so they could enjoy it. Sure, the jacket got lots of attention on the beach at Fire Island, but it's the writing that makes this a superb read. Doug Guinan is one heck of a story-teller and I can't wait to read whatever he writes next. This books moves and shakes and laughs out loud, and oddly enough, actually had me caring for some seemingly unlikeable characters. Read it...it will confirm what you always suspected lurked behind the captivating eyes of the oh-so manipulative super-beautiful and those that acquire them. I'd like to read the author's take on a New York story next as he's so excellently captured LA here!

I was entirely ready to disagree and despise any novel where beauty reigns, only to find myself drawn into the lives of the denizens of "California Screaming", and boy do they ever. The pains of the glamorous life have never been seen as so enviable , and empty as they do here in this absorbing , and still glib story of the reigning bottom dwellers of LA's glittery youthful gay set. Breezy and funny , this book managed to make me see myself in almost every character at some point while offering no easy outs for any of them , or us. Yes Virginia, you can tell a real sad story and not chase the readers away with grim self rightousness! The clever and hilarious writing style paints a vivid picture while the effortless humanity pulls one to the conclusion of this freshest of reads. If a gay novel can cross over and tell a simple and universal story , this one is it.

First of all.. Lets start with the book jacket What a picture, I'd like to meet that model. To me it kind of set the tone for this book; Very Hot and Sexy.

This book had me hooked from the moment I opened it. I couldn't put it down honestly, I read it at work, after the gym, in the hot tub at my apt building,in bed at nite (by myself) till wee hours of the night.

Mr. Guinan does a superb job interweaving the primary and secondary stories. The primary story being about Kevin's two lives; his past in NY and his present in LA. The secondary stories of Kevin's friends are realistic and don't take away from the main focus of the book... KEVIN, they actually they make it a better read. I loved these characters, it read like a great film script, that even Brad would have liked. We all know people like these characters in our lives.

To be honest I was a little sad at the end of the book.. I had hoped that the ending would be different, but at least they left it open for a reunion, we just didn't get to see it...Sequel Anyone??

This book was the best Gay Fiction Love story, I've ever read. I've tried to read many other gay books, but none had the romantic elements like Mr. Guinan's book did. Perhaps it's because I've secretly longed to live the high life Kevin did in this book. This book reads more like this fabulous gay fantasy that many of us in LA have dreamed of living, some have, many haven't. I haven't... at least not yet!

I enjoyed getting a peak into Kevin's world. Like his first time with his best friend in New York, and with Brad, talk about a "hard" read..Some parts of this book, were so hot.. I had to put it down and...well thats never happened before.

As a 28 year old Gay male, I HIGHLY recommend this book to all my friends as a must read. This is a perfect book to read at the beach or at the gym on a plane or where ever just as long as you read it, OK!

I REALLY hope Doug Guinan writes a sequel to this book. The people who read this book (specifically myself) would love to see how Kevin makes his "re-entry" into Brad's world and what happens then. Here's a sequel title, What do you think Mr. Guinan? CALIFORNIA SCREAMING II: WESTWARD HO! Just a suggestion.. but please write the sequel ASAP. : )

Having spent ten years of my life in gay Los Angeles in the 1990's, I could picture every character and plot line in this book and ate it up! Closeted rich gay producers, gym bunnies doing steroids, fabulous hollywood hills parties, trips to Hawaii and New York, a gay mafia connection...it's a page turner!

Not everything about this book was awful. There are a few funny, witty exchanges and some of the supporting characters are intesesting. However, the two prinicpal characters are dull and so self-absorbed that you never really care what happens to them. I didn't feel the author ever made their romance engaging or even believable.

Even though the novel was short, some scenes felt recycled as the story went forward (example: when he feels in someone's debt, Kevin "rewards" them with flashes of his superb naked body... at several points in the book. I smiled..... the first time.)

When I first saw this book at A Different Light bookstore, I thought, "that awesome torso on the cover must be compensating for a pretty weak novel". I wish I had listened to myself.