Customer Reviews

Dupont Circle: A Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Kafka-Gibbons's second novel is a gem. What a writer! Some passages are so exquisite, written with such poignance, that I had to stop reading and let the emotions subside. There are also some virtuoso performances, such as when a character carries on a conversation with adults while managing an importunate child, a scene that conveys the controlled chaos of parenting any father would recognize. The obvious skill and passion in this novel make the gay characters all the more disappointing. They are convincing as parents but devoid of any sexuality. It's not that the author doesn't know or can't convey eroticism. The May-September romance is powerfully sexual, but the author is trapped in a heterosexual imagination -- one that does justice to the politics of gay families without reaching the depths of same-sex desire.

I found this book by accident when looking for something else in the library, and I'm really glad I did. For all the issues it tackles--gay parenting, gay marriage, mental illness, relationships between older men and younger women and a few complicated legal issues thrown in for good measure--it's a light, enjoyable read. The only thing I didn't get were the references to clothing designers when describing someone's appearance. I have never seen that before in a novel and thought it was quirky.

I loved this novel. It's full of the kind of lively, witty and wonderfully human characters that you'd find in a classic screwball comedy from the 30s or in one of Wilde's best plays. But the novel's characters bump into each other in the very contemporary world of Washington's Dupont Circle-- where, as the novel's opening page tells us, "poor meets rich, old meets young, gay meets straight, native meets new arrival, and the peoples, styles, and languages all squish together to form America."

What really sets this novel apart are the intertwining love stories-- especially the wacky relationship between stately judge and young law student and the relationship between Jon and Peter-- a gay couple that takes on the challenges of parenting and finds them tougher than anything a reactionary government can throw at them. The novel's author, Paul Kafka, pulls off a tough trick-- he crafts an edgy novel with political sting, but also a novel that doesn't take itself too seriously. Yup, a homophobic government is the villain here, but it's the villain in a touching and light-hearted comedy. As one of Kafka's characters says, "The state has replaced the recalcitrant fathers of Shakespeare's comedies of love." Kafka's written a great little comedy that reminds us of how silly we all are.

This completely breezy novel takes on way more characters and issues than its length can handle, and yet for the most part emerges as a fun little beach or airplane read. The theme is solidly on marriage, as the book follows three sets of interrelated duos: May/December housemates who may or may not come together, two young law clerks of opposing manners and temperament who are very fiercely in love, and a gay couple who are raising one of the men's nieces. There are so many links between all the characters that it would take forever to explain them, not to mention the myriad of sub-characters who come on and off stage. All are linked, however, to Bailey, the aging patriarch of a wealthy D.C. family, who is also sits on the DC supreme court.

The author throws various obstacles, doubts, and trials in front of the various couples, so much so that the whole affair reminds one of something from Austen or Hardy. Indeed, the characters are all rolling in so much money that they don't have to deal with the mundane problems of average (that is to say, middle-class) people. Instead, the book presents a wagonload of modern issues, from mental illness to gay marriage, gay parenting, the modern May/December romance, and so forth. These are all wittily and ably handled, with some quite nice turns of phrase and banter, but one never ever feels the characters are real or even acting in a real world. The final fifth of the book bogs down in a legal case concerning recognition of gay marriage, and while the author has clearly done his research on the matter, his desire to wave the banner in defense of gay marriage kind of overwhelms all else.

I picked up this book 'cause it's set in my hometown in a neighborhood I know well. Kafka-Gibbons does sort of capture part of life around "Dupont", but only the white high life of cafes and bookshops. It's unfathomable to me that he could have omitted any mention of the bike couriers, chess players, homeless, and young gay hustlers who are the primary denizens of the circle. He does namecheck the city's establishments left and right (although I have to laugh at the notion of middle-aged people catching two sets of jazz at the Black Cat!), but there's none of the sense of what I consider to be the "real" DC of writers such as Edward Jones (check out his brilliant book "Lost In the City") or George Pelecanos.

Quibbles aside, it's a mostly fun and fast-paced light read.

Paul Kafka-Gibbons's Dupont Circle is a gentle ride through the intersections of love in all its many colors. The three relationships which Kafka-Gibbons highlights in his ever-shifting vignettes are between a much-older man and a younger woman; two men who tussle with parenthood and the difficulties thereof; and a wealthy, organized woman and the disorganized muddle of a boyfriend with whom she has become pregnant. The situations are painted realistically, yet both poignantly and humorously. Kafka-Gibbons's real strength, however, is in his pleasure with both argument and words, which playfully shine through the story and sometimes overshadow it.

One of the characters, for example, has a rare neurological condition, which causes her to utter malapropisms. This results in some funny moments. One of the through-lines of the story is the circle of reasoning around whether homosexuals should be allowed to marry. A judge and two clerks are preparing for a hearing in federal court; the judge's two gay sons naturally discuss the case, and everyone has an opinion, which must be explored through pages and pages of conversation about the issue.

Sometimes the cleverness of the words and the argument seem to take up too much of the story, but the dialogue is always realistic (if uber-intelligent) and Kafka-Gibbons just barely reigns in the urge to proselytize. The result is a story that is light and readable, yet challenges the reader to think.

I loved this novel. It's full of the kind of lively, witty and wonderfully human characters that you'd find in a classic screwball comedy from the 30s or in one of Wilde's best plays. But the novel's characters bump into each other in the very contemporary world of Washington's Dupont Circle-- where, as the novel's opening page tells us, "poor meets rich, old meets young, gay meets straight, native meets new arrival, and the peoples, styles, and languages all squish together to form America."

What really sets this novel apart are the intertwining love stories-- especially the wacky relationship between stately judge and young law student and the relationship between Jon and Peter-- a gay couple that takes on the challenges of parenting and finds them tougher than anything a reactionary government can throw at them. The novel's author, Paul Kafka, pulls off a tough trick-- he crafts an edgy novel with political bite that doesn't take itself too seriously. A homophobic government is the only real villain here, and it's the villain in a touching and light-hearted comedy. As one of Kafka's characters says, "The state has replaced the recalcitrant fathers of Shakespeare's comedies of love." Kafka's written a great little comedy that reminds us of how silly we all are.

Paul Kafka-Gibbons must be a happily married man. The nicest thing about this lovely novel is the evident joy that the author takes in coupling people together and making families. I got lost in the legal technicalities presented, and some of the myriad characters seem almost too good to be true. However, the message is that regardless of what the courts say, family life - whatever the configuration - is a fine thing. This sweet story is a good summer read, and will make you want to give your main squeezes a squeeze when you've finished.

This was just a really, really bad book. Sappy, predictable, lacking any depth or art. I bought it because I lived near Dupont Circle one summer, but I think sitting on the circle watching the grass grow would be a more productive use of time than reading this book.

Definitly a book with an agenda, and it makes no bones about that. In fact, by the fifth page or so the agenda has been so drilled into your head that you may be ready to give up, but perservere, and you will be rewarded.
Although all of the characters are intruiging for the most part and the three couples are all quite endearing I found that the fledgling relationship between the older lawyer and his much younger housemate struck the most resounding chord with me. Kafka-Gibbons has done a terrific job with this story although his political agenda makes it draggy at times and you will find yourself biting your nails along with them.

This book cries out for a sequel so that readers can find out what happened to all of the delightful characters that we met and left behind in DuPont Circle!

I read this book in just a few hours and was sorry to close the book. It was a fun read, a low-key comedy of manners, with many permutations on the words "couple" and "domesticity". The various parenting scenes were right on the mark no matter who the parent was.

While dealing with serious subjects like gay parenting, the author never preached. He let his characters do the talking and they did it so well!

I especially loved the banter between Eve and her fiancee. Those two characters had some of the best scenes in the book.

A light but clever look at all kinds of people who make up today's families.