Customer Reviews

Drama Queers!

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

 

 

Travel back to the crazy 1980s with Frank Anthony Polito's new book, Drama Queers! If you read the author's first book, Band Fags!, you already know the narrator to this story, Mr. Bradley Dayton, Drama Queer extraordinaire. Not exactly a sequel to the first book, this one serves as a kind of companion, filling us in on exactly what Brad was up to during the time he and his best friend were estranged during their senior year of high school. While it's not necessary to have read the first book to enjoy this one, I highly recommend both.

The main reason Jack and Brad, best friends since seventh grade, are estranged is because Brad is able to admit he's gay while Jack is not; however, after diving into the acting world, Brad hears from various sources that one cannot be openly gay and a successful actor, so, in a sense, he heads back into the closet. While he still hangs out at gay bars, his new decision to put his future career over his personal life causes lots of heartache and turmoil.

Brad, successful actor in high school, decides to audition for the prestigious Juilliard School in New York. His trip to the Big Apple is one of the funniest chapters in the book as we get to see the small, mid-western gay boy traipse across the big city for the first time. Throughout the book, Brad's mix of innocence and maturity makes for a very interesting, charming character.

While this book could be called a lot of things - a light, hilarious romp through the 1980s, or a coming of age tale for one gay boy in the suburbs of Michigan, I found the story to have a lot of heart that had me rooting for Brad throughout the story. If you were alive in the 80s, you'll especially appreciate the countless references to pop culture of the time. So yes, you should immediately pick up this book and join Brad as he navigates through his last year of high school and finds that being true to himself is harder than he ever expected.

I picked this book up as soon as I saw it listed here on Amazon. Polito's first book, Band Fags!, was wonderful so getting this one was a no-brainer. As with the first, the narrator's voice read like a 17yo boy. Brad is 4 years younger than me and I was born in a different suburb around Detroit, so getting the slang and attitudes right is a major plus - I was quite pleased.

At first I was leery that it was not a sequel but ran concurrently with the first story. I was afraid that it would just be a rehash. While the major events were the same, Brad and Jack were not hanging out together throughout most of this book, so the details were much different and very enjoyable. In the first book, Brad Dayton was written as a very confident, open young gay man. He almost seemed too open for his age and that time. In this novel it was obvious that he was just as unsure about being openly gay and full of the doubts and fears we all had back then - and still have when coming out.

In all, I liked the first book slightly better, but this one is very well written and very entertaining. I wanted to shake some sense into these kids at certain times and I wanted to hug them and protect them at others. All in all this is definitely worth a read.

Bradley Dayton is your typical outgoing, sarcastic 17 year old high school senior, circa 1987. He's also gay, a fact that he doesn't share with his friends for fear they won't understand, even though he is estranged from his former best friend (and first lover), Jack, simply because the other boy could not accept his own homosexuality. He keeps busy through his involvement with the school band, and especially with his involvement in the school drama program, with dreams of attending Julliard School in New York City to study acting.

We originally met Brad and Jack in Polito's "Band Fags!" ... although that novel centered on Jack's senior year, while Brad disappeared from its pages after they broke up. This second novel is not so much a sequel as it is an overlapping supplement to that first story, filling us in on what Bradley was doing during those last nine months of senior year. For both boys, it was a time of discovery and disappointment, making friends and losing others, experiences crushes that sometimes turned into relationships, and holding one's breath to see if their dreams for the rest of their lives prove to be attainable. While reading "Band Fags!" first would add to the enjoyment of this novel, it is not a must, as the author skillfully provides the background necessary to enjoy this story on its own.

Although a book about teens, it can be enjoyed equally by anyone who can relate to a feeling of feeling isolated in a crowded high school. It will especially resonate with those who came of age in the late 1980's, since each chapter is based on a phrase from a popular song from that era. "Drama Queers!" is a charming and witty light read, recommended to all. I give it five "pearl-clutching drama queen" stars out of five!

Drama Queers by Frank Anthony Polito is a follow-up to his premier publication Band Fags. In his first novel, Polito intruduces the characters Jack Paterno and Bradley Dayton, a best-friend pair coming of age in their hometown of Hazel Park, Michigan. The first book is told from Jack's point-of-view, but the sequel Drama Queers is written in the voice of Brad, and offers a much different perspective.

Bradley is a lovable, extroverted and popular member of his high school class. He is active in band and drama, and works as a waiter at a local restaurant. He becomes aware of his sexual orientation at an early age but struggles with his own fear of being exposed. Being an aspiring actor, he understands that if he were to be openly gay he would risk ostracization and rejection which could be detrimental to his career.

He wants more than anything to just crawl into the closet and hide. He just has to make it through high school and into Julliard where he hopes to put behind him his homosexual feelings and instead focus upon his lifelong dream of professional acting.

The only problem is that Bradley is in love. He's crazy about another boy named Richie and is painfully aware that the feeling is mutual. He cannot succumb to his desires, though, for it would ruin everything.

Drama Queers is an amazingly real story. Impressively told in a unique voice remarkably different than book one, the story paints a hilarious and touching portrait of 1980's teen life in suburban Michigan. This realistic dialogue is what sets author Polito apart from other writers within this genre. The down-to-earth and understandable vernacular is endearing and believable, as are the characters who are so skillfully and dynamically fleshed-out.

The central character Brad Dayton is lovable and charismatic; he almost immediately captures the heart of the reader and carries it all the way through to the last page. His self-effacing humor is deligthfully funny and also endearing. Most noteworthy, though, is his utter sincerity. There is not a bone of pretentiousness within his body (which actually is rather ironic being that he is an actor).

Perhaps this may sound odd, but there was one particular description in the 400+ page book which stuck with me. As I reflected upon it, I understood why I loved Brad so very much. He is 18 years old, preparing for the biggest date of his life, and this is how he describes his preparation: "I decided to invest in a new suit--nothing fancy, just a simple double-breasted beige job I bought at Oaktree in Oakland Mall. Ninety-nine bucks, what a bargain!"

Can it actually be true that there is a writer of gay fiction who is not an elitist snob? Yeah, I think it can. I think it's Frank Anthony Polito. He's awesome.

Let me start out by saying that I LOVED "Band Fags".

That being said, I was disappointed with "Drama Queers". I understand the story was written from the perspective of a teenager, but the writing itself didn't have to reflect that. I felt, at times, that I was reading a teenager's diary as opposed to a story abot a teenager's life; there were so many times that I wanted to scream, "Stop acting like a freaking child". For his age, Bradley is pretty childish and hopefully learned lessons from his experiences. I was glad to have read the story, but expected so much more after reading "Band Fags".


POSSIBLE SPOILER:: The story did have me in tears at one point because when I was in high school a co-worker was killed in an auto accident and it brought back all those memories.