Customer Reviews

Closet Case: A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The last time a book made me laugh out loud it was "Fag Hag," also by Rodi! This guy has a real nack for turning the sad into the hilarious! Who cares if the character is so pathetic that you just want to slap him, his contiuous misadventures amuse! This book deserves to be read in one sitting! Give it a chance and try not to take it to heart! Rodi helps us laugh at ourselves and the limits we go to in order to avoid revealing who we really are, just to discover it's all pointless and actually viewed upon as a 'joke' by those "in the know." Just buy it, read it, do it!

If you are looking to deconstruct this book in a gay studies class, I can assure you that you will leave the class very frustrated and with a skewed understanding of gay culture. On the other hand, if you want a good read which will make you laugh and read on, then this might be the book for you. Rodi's protagonist, Lionel, reminds me of the Bertie Wooster of P.G. Wodehouse. The craziness inherent within the scheming and plotting of the characters in such a farce is part of the fun. Coincidences too wild to imagine are perfect for such a book. Good readers, pick up this book and enjoy some plain nonsense.

I give it 4 not 5 only because I have to admit that Rodi's books are pretty silly. You have an ad exec firmly in the closet, his flamboyant hairdresser, his conservative, gossipy coworkers, his army dad, his fundamentalist Christian sister, and his downstairs Latina neighbor and her 'gay straight man' boyfriend. Not to mention the guy from Transylvania...

I could totally see this being made into a movie. Very much a French farce feel to it (think The Birdcage or The Closet). I just read it again for about the seventh time, and all my friends have borrowed it. A fun read.

This novel's great. It's easy to read and with the right combination of humor, stress, sex and romance.

I went on a Rodi binge a few years ago and read FAG HAG, KEPT BOY, and CLOSET CASE in the space of a couple weeks. Now that I'm enjoying Rodi's first major foray into comic books (writing the creator-owned spy genre sendup, CODENAME: KNOCKOUT), I decided to revisit the books I've read to see how they held up with me.

I can't say that this book works very well as the farce/social commentary that it is so very hard trying to be. Rodi tries very hard to wax clever about the "gay corporate closet," corporate life in general, the men's movement, etc. but it falls flat.

While other reviewers are going to nitpick about certain minor details and deny Mr. Rodi some artistic license in regard to the main character, I can say that I do indeed know guys like Lionel, even though I live in Gay Ground Zero (i.e., San Francisco). He's just ever-so-slightly on the verge of becoming comfortable with himself and his sexual orientation, but for every step forward he takes two backward. For that reason, he is as realistic a character can be in a comical novel. The rest of the novel is populated with one-note characters.

My main problem with this book is Rodi's plotting and writing style. The book seems to spend 4/5 of its time in the setup with very little to prod it along until Rodi realizes this thing has to get wrapped up somehow and tries to cram too much in the last fifth. His plotting also relies on coincidences to the point where it's tiresome.

As far as his writing style, I find it ineffective for this sort of novel. It's very visual, especially in terms of sight gags, and I found myself thinking that perhaps his writing is better served in the comics medium (as he is wonderfully demonstrating with his adult-oriented comic book series) or screenwriting.

All in all, there are some truly amusing moments throughout the book, but they're not enough to sustain it and make it a fantastic read.

OK - It's my turn!! Here I was stuck for a month in some ridiculous backwater business assignment so I took a chance and bought all the Rodi books to keep me company. The GayMuse of Entertainment was watching over me! This guy is literate, amusing, profound, and definitely has the ear of his audience. I could go on and on about all his books: comparing & contrasting & up-thumbing and down-thumbing... but the bottom line is that this man WRITES with a wit and wisdom that is oh! so rare in Gay Fiction today. Now do a little 'search' here at amazon.com on 'rodi' and pluck up anything that pops up. I guarantee you that you will be pleased... if not just a little bit moved!

...at this crazy tilt-a-whirlish novel until my face turned red, hoping the mayhem would continue. Robert Rodi creates the most remarkable characters, each with their own little quirks and little bits that everyone can relate to and adore. He is definitely one of the best modern comedic authors I've ever read, with this novel heading up a list of hysterical works and hopefully more to come!!!

I just re-read this book (just as good the second time). For the best 5 Star Review please read the review titled, "Just Do It" (or maybe it's "Just Read it"). When I first read this book I was in the hospital with the flu. However, I could not stop reading this book and I'm just writing this review today because soon after getting out of the hospital (back in the 90's) I was promptly fired for "not informing my boss I was gay" when I was interviewed for the position a year earlier (hospital records my be confidential but in small town Indiana obviously not what I was reading!).

Not the best review I've written....however, this book and Robert Rodi's others are great (and should be read in one sitting). Reading this book gave me the courage to tell my former boss where he could go (I'll leave out the exact language of that "conversation") and helped me with the courage to step far, happily & proudly out of the closet forever!

Closet Case is the term use in the gay world for someone who has not "come out." He decides to hide his homosexuality from everyone.

Rodi has created a great case. You have an ad exec firmly in the closet, his flamboyant hairdresser, his conservative, gossipy coworkers, his army dad, his fundamentalist Christian sister, and his downstairs Latina neighbor and her 'gay straight man' boyfriend. Not to mention the guy from Transylvania...

And it all happens in the Chicago scene. Being from Chocago I enjoyed the book even more.

This book takes some time to get into. The first half is rather boring with the occaisonal funny circumstantial humor. Lionel is in the closet at work and everywhere else, except to his downstairs neighbor. Most of the book naturally revolves around the crazy things that come up as Lionel tries desperately to keep it that way. The book picks up halfway through and the wacky ending helps it to redeem itself. The story is very predictable, but you find yourself almost glad that things are turning out the way they do. Good for a fun light read.