From Publishers Weekly
Memoirist Kilmer-Purcell (
I Am Not Myself These Days) tells the sad tale of wannabe TV star Jayson Blocher, a suburban high school student in the 1980s Midwest. After writing and starring in his home-shot, gay coming-of-age soap,
Dallasty! Jayson sets his sights on Hollywood. A rogue
Dallasty! screening sets off pandemonium, so Jayson's alcoholic mother sends Jayson to his father, which leads to a seamy romp through the gay semicelebrity scene of New York and L.A as AIDS emerges. And when Jayson actually does get his big Hollywood break, it is no surprise that his connection to his mother deteriorates further. Kilmer-Purcell certainly has interesting and tough-minded things to say about being young, gay and celebrity-obsessed in the 1980s, but the characters aren't strong enough to withstand the rollicking plot.
(June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
“A balls-out joyride through eighties pop culture that enlightens as much as it exhilarates. As always, Kilmer-Purcell’s astringent wit is nicely tempered by his obvious sympathy for human frailty.” (Armistead Maupin, New York Times bestselling author of Michael Tolliver Lives )
“Josh Kilmer-Purcell is funny funny funny, one of the funniest young writers in America. In Candy Everybody Wants, he trains his insightfully sardonic eye on the world of 80’s pop culture, showing the roots that made us a nation of Britneys, American Idols, and Obamamaniacs.” (James Frey, author of Bright Shiny Morning )
“Josh Kilmer-Purcell has created rich and memorable characters that emerge from the tumultuous landscape of the 1970’s. Jayson Blocher is the Holden Caufield for a new generation who is thrust in to a Little Miss Sunshine family in the early 1980’s.” (Dr. Drew Pinsky, author of The Mirror Effect )
“A genuine comic novel filled with big laughs, Candy Everybody Wants is entertainingly out-of-left-field yet remains rooted in reality. With his second book, Kilmer-Purcell has avoided the dreaded sophomore slump. We can’t wait to see what he’ll come up with next.” (Myspace.com )
