The City Kid (Gay Men's Fiction) [Paperback]

Paul Reidinger (Author)

Book Description

Series: Gay Men's Fiction | Publication Date: January 1, 2001

Fiction. Gay/Lesbian Studies. New to SPD. A second novel by Bay Area writer Paul Reidinger, whose first novel, The Best Man, was named one of the best novels of 1986 by the American Library Association. In THE CITY KID, he presents Guy Griffith -- gay, 40, and less than satisfied with the current state of his life. He comes to San Francisco like many before him - as a refugee from some intimacy gone disastrously wrong in the huge nation east of the bay. When he meets sixteen-year-old Doug Whitmore on a ridge overlooking a nude beach, he surrenders with pleasure to the boy's radiant adolescent energy. Guy doesn't yet understand how deeply rooted Doug's hurts and confusions are, nor how dangerous they might come to be, and he is not entirely willing to admit, even to himself, how susceptible he is to the fugitive attraction that he and Doug both feel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Forbidden romance is the theme of Reidinger's breezy, garrulous debut effort, which begins when 40-year-old Guy Griffith meets "bold, unpredictable" Doug, a plucky teenage boy, at a San Francisco gay beach. Adolescent Doug is wrestling with his newly emerging sexuality and family problems; Guy, single and lonely, is happy to be Doug's confidant. Though Guy is unwilling to acknowledge his feelings at first, eventually he softens, despite being aware of the dire complications and consequences. The pair's flirtatious maneuverings peak in an unexpected--if tame--sleepover. Elaborate plot devices (including a thinly veiled George Michael-like arrest in a park men's room) keep the story moving, but Reidinger seldom allows for a deeper view--only communicating light, fleeting impressions. Occasional brief appearances by Guy's reclusive roommate, Susannah, his muscle-bound friend, Will, and Doug's troubled parents add variety and the beginnings of substance. Reidinger's prosy style is engaging and practical when the narrative is in motion, but too often the story is stalled by needlessly overwritten passages and rambling platitudes. The author is notably adept when describing the lush Northern California backdrop, or when he sporadically affords his central character a humorous, witty voice, but the denouement lacks credible emotional impact, and the novel suffers from a frustrating weightlessness.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Guy Griffith has been in San Francisco some two years, living with a female friend after his lover terminated his and Guy's 10-year relationship. Now 40, he is just becoming satisfied with being single. One day he meets 16-year-old Doug Whitmore near a gay beach. They talk elliptically, and when Guy discovers his bike has a flat, Doug gives him a lift. Several weeks later, Doug contacts Guy, and they fall into a mentor relationship limited by the boy's caginess and Guy's wariness. Lightning strikes when Doug's father, Ross, is arrested for public indecency, which precipitates a divorce, Ross acknowledging his homosexuality, and--almost--Doug's exploration of his sexuality with Guy. The boy flees from Guy's apartment into the night, and Guy doesn't see him again until five years later, on the beach. After the rather soap-operatic Good Boys (1993), Reidinger's fourth novel is a welcome return to the moodier, more painful, more morally concerned atmosphere of The Best Man (1986) and Intimate Evil (1989). What's more, Ross Whitmore returns from The Best Man to justify that book's hero David Rice's hurt but helpless skepticism about Ross' marriage. Reidinger reflects on and generalizes from his characters' motives and actions much more than other contemporary novelists, yet his every interpretation rings true, none more than the downbeat ending's implicit endorsement of the adage, like father, like son. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Southern Tier Editions/Haworth Press; 1 edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560231696
• ISBN-13: 978-1560231691
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,316,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is Paul Reidinger the most underrated author in gay fiction?, September 19, 2001

By 

"krebago" (SAN DIEGO, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The City Kid (Hardcover)

I first discovered Paul Reidinger's work many years ago with his novel The Best Man. I was astonished by that book. Reidinger took as his subject a near universal experience of gay life which, paradoxically, had been largely ignored by the official gay litterati. Show me a gay man who hasn't experienced at least an infatuation (if not a full on romance) with a closeted guy determined to marry, father children, and pass for straight, and I'll show you a gay man who's only been out of the closet himself for about fifteen minutes. Reidinger's handling of that subject matter is scrupulously honest and at the same time beautifully told. In The City Kid, he once again treads ground multitudes of mature gay men have tread before him. The story of a middle aged gay man entangled in a bizarre relationship with a monumentally confused adolescent can't help but be messy and discomforting, but it's a realistic one. Reidinger doesn't so much create his characters as report the experiences of living, breathing human beings, flawed as they are and boring as they can occasionally be. He tells us the truth about people and relationships. He deals with issues and situations few authors will attempt to write about. They're not glamorous or particularly sexy, and they demand a degree of integrity in their portrayal which many writers simply won't bother to muster. This novel may not be the most entertaining one you'll ever read, but it will be one of the most thought provoking ones. And for fans of The Best Man, there's the additional treat of revisiting the main characters of that novel twenty some years later. If you don't like books that make you think, you probably won't like this one. But if fiction is more than brain candy for you, then you're making a mistake not reading this book.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wise Story of Mentoring!, July 27, 2001

By 

Joseph J. Hanssen "Joe" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The City Kid (Hardcover)

This fourth novel of Paul Reidinger is a return to the style of writing that he used in his first novel, THE BEST MAN, back in 1986. Even Ross Whitmore & David Rice make a welcome return in this story. Beautifully written, this novel is sexy, intelligent and told from the heart. Its the story of a gay man in his forties named Guy, and a sixteen- year- old boy, Doug, and the relationship that they develop when they meet one day at a beach in San Francisco unexpectedly. Both of there lives are changed for better or worse by this event. This is not a story of sex between a younger man and an older man. Its not a book of pornographic fantasy, but a coming of age story about a young man who is angry, confused, and just discovering sex. He is desperately seeking & reaching out for help from a father figure that he can trust, love and talk to about his feelings. It becomes a wise story of mentoring. And Guy is the perfect person for Doug to look up to. He is as decent & kind as one could ever wish & hope for. This is an intelligent and wise handling of the interaction between a man and boy, that can be a little erotic at times. Theres a lot of twists in this story that will keep you turning the pages as fast as you can. Dougs father, Ross, and the bad situation he creates for himself, and the effect it has on Doug and his mother, is a complete surprise. At the time Doug needs his real father the most hes not there for him.

I really enjoyed this new novel by Reidinger. Reidingers reflections on life, sex, and love, are much more advanced than other novelists, even, the ending was very unexpected, and could only come from a clever novelist like him. Its touching, wise, sexy, and heartbreaking at the same time. I hope there is a continuation of the story in the future. Highly recommended! If you enjoy this book be sure to check out another wonderful book about mentoring by Jay Quinn called THE MENTOR. This is a great memoir about friendship and gay identity.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flawed entertainment, October 9, 2001

By 

california-bookworm (California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The City Kid (Gay Men's Fiction) (Paperback)

"The City Kid" is a mostly well-written novel about Guy, a middle-aged gay man cut adrift by a break-up, and a 16-year old named Doug, who seeks Guy's company for uncertain reasons during a tumultuous time in his family's life. Reidinger has an intelligent prose style that can deftly evoke a place or a mood. Here is a wonderfully tight paragraph: "They drifted out of the park, up an adjoining street. Televisions flashed dimly in the bay windows of refurbished Victorian homes, doing the important work of holding the republic together. Guy had no idea where they were going, but Doug plainly did." Unfortunately, this conciseness is often lost amidst passages of overwriting (there are far too many clauses that begin "as if...") and precious language (one paragraph contains the following words: beckoning, perusing, trills, casement, and bestir). The same goes for the plot: on the one hand there is a genuinely compelling narrative about two men, one young, one older, who are wary about intimacy. Yet their story gets lost amidst endless narrative side-trips, flashbacks, and character sketches that do nothing to advance the story. In the end the main characters lack depth, and the final pages fizzle out. Still, Reidinger captures many aspects of contemporary life in San Francisco, and I was compelled enough by his affecting, sometimes sexy story to read on to the end.