Customer Reviews

Drag Queen

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

 

 

Well, I bought this book because I never read any gay literature before and I thougt it was about time that I did so. "Drag Queen" is actually a good book. It's not a heartwarming novel or anything like that, but it's worth getting if you just want something to pass the time.

The characters are sometimes difficult to understand. I found myself asking, "Why are they doing this?" But that just adds to the confusion felt by the main character. The characters are well developed yet still retain some quality of superficiality, a common characteristic found even in "real" people in the gay scene.

The book did take on homophobia within the gay community and how some people band together to fight it when it comes from the outside while others turn the other cheek and try to ignore the truth.

However, this is not an activism book by any stretch. It a fun book that made me laugh and didn't take up a lot of my time. I would compare this book to films such as "Never Been Kissed" and "She's All That". Cute little films that do nothing more than entertain. I loved those films and this book was very good.

It's trite and cliche- and really boring- one thing Rodi's books rarely are. While it seems the author is attempting to let us inside the heads of the gay brothers seperated at birth, one never really gets it nor likes them and while the end is supposed to be sweet and funny, it just felt flat and silly.

While I'm not certain Mr. Rodi will ever top his hilarious and wonderfully inciteful first novel "Fag Hag" this book makes a good go at it. The story of brothers separated at birth, one is an uptight corporate closeted man who recoils in horror at the thought that his sibling might in fact be a drag queen. A funny story that avoids the typical "Tragic Hero" status that many overly PC books give to Drag Queens. In this book she comes off as a fairly real person with some insecurities and a fabulous wardrobe.

While I don't know if Rodi can ever top the hilarious and surprisingly inciteful "Fag Hag" he is in full flower in this book. This book doesn't fall into the typical stereo type of the all knowing drag queen who is somehow more brave and in touch with herself than those of us poor mortals who won't put on a dress blah blah blah....This book is about two characters with a surprising resemblence who realize that they might be brothers. One is a drag queen and she is written incredibly realistically, normal apartment, normal fears ect... the other works in an ad agency, is also gay, very much a stick in the mud and is horrified that he might be related to the other. Let the games begin.

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!

Meet Mitchell Sayer, successful lawyer at a prestigious Chicago law firm, who is openly gay. He's also, anal retentive with a routine for everything.

Enter his eccentric mother, Bettina Varney, who drops unannounced with a bomb: not only is she joining a cult, but Mitchell has a twin brother. He was adopted and his twin is somewhere out there.

Mitchell hires an PI and finds his brother--this long lost, separated sibling--but he is hard to take. Whereas his Illinois driver license reads Donald Sweet, he is better known in Chicago's gay world as Kitten Kaboodle, the gloriously gowned, fabulous stiletto-heeled star of the Tam Ram Club all girl revue.

After recovering from the shock of meeting his twin brother, Mitchell takes on as his mission to haul Donald out of the pom-poms and into the real world.

However, Kitten thinks it is Mitchell who needs superego surgery, and she's just the girl to do it.

When the dust clears, it's the feather boa versus the button down collar, fought out against a chaotic commingling of identities, genders, and wardrobes.

The book is a light easy read, full of camp and gay stereotypes nevertheless it is a lot of fun.

I'm a big fan of R. Rodi's and I love the mixed feelings I get when reading his books. He combines hilarious moments with those that get to you and tell you about hope, love and forgiveness.

i found this one to be weak. boring characters and no pizzaz. until the last bit where the book gets an adrenaline shot and oozes with farce like an almodovar film.