Everbody Loves You [Paperback]

Ethan Mordden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1989

A gay ghost, a talking dog, and a street kid who thinks he's an elf-child join our narrator Bud, best friend Dennis Savage, eternally young Little Kiwi, devastating hunk Carlo, and the other characters from I've a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore and Buddies in this final volume in Mordden's trilogy on gay life in the big city.

And there's trouble in paradise: Dennis Savage is suffering midlife crisisl; his lover little Kiwi who uses sex as a weapon, threatens to tear apart the delicate fabric of this gay family of buddies, lovers, and brothers and the AIDS crisis may bring an end to this whole world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The subtitle of this witty collection of stories, the conclusion of a trilogy begun with I've a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore and continued in Buddies , is slightly misleading: the "adventures" are really no more than a series of parties, dinners and moonlit conversations, and their world extends beyond Manhattan to Woodstock, Fire Island and London. The narrator is Bud, a middle-aged gay writer who mediates the emotional traumas of his best friend Dennis Savage, Dennis's flighty, frenetic lover Little Kiwi and Cosgrove, an unschooled, manipulative teenager whom the older men take in. With passion and wit, Mordden depicts their quest to maintain pride in the face of prejudice, and hope in the age of AIDS. Some readers will quarrel with the unduly insular portrayal of homosexuality as a world of artifice and theatricality, and with the author's assertion that "all gays are born actors, selecting the role they feel most secure in." But the finest of these stories break away from those cliches to create touching portraits of men in conflict and conciliation with an often hostile world.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The final volume of Mordden's trilogy (I've a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Buddies) is a delight. Narrator "Bud Mordden's" continuing chronicle of gay life in New York City ends on a poignant note. "Little Kiwi," the playful man-child lover of Mordden's irascible sidekick Dennis Savage, grows up; Carlo, the devastating Hunk, shows a caring side; and a neglected adolescent is taken in by Mordden's extended family of gay men and begins the long road to maturity. Mordden maintains his sharp social commentary throughout; but the pace is more subdued, the tone more philosophical, and the result more powerful as Mordden attempts to explain the complex ways in which men relate to one another as brothers, lovers, and friends. Highly recommended. Kevin M. Roddy, Oakland P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (August 15, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312033346
• ISBN-13: 978-0312033347
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #379,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Continuation Of the Buddy Series, March 27, 2008

By 

Brett Benner (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Everbody Loves You (Paperback)

It's fascinating reading this book twenty years after it's been written, just to see how gay culture has changed over the last two decades, while many aspects, the pursuit of love and companionship for example, are exactly the same. Mordden is a wonderfully talented writer whose prose takes a bit getting used to at the start, as if you're reading Austin, Forster or Dickens. He also creates fiercely intelligent, witty, and culturally educated characters, so every chapter seems to be spouting off either a literary or operatic reference, or a musical playing on Broadway at the time. All this lends itself to a perfect time piece about being gay, growing older, and living life. Or as one character defends his argument to write it all down: "If we write about what we did, and how we felt, who we were... we will leave something behind."

5.0 out of 5 stars Everybody will love this book, March 10, 2004

By 

Ventura Angelo (Brescia, Lombardia Italy) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Everbody Loves You (Paperback)

I recommend this book (and the whole Buddies quadrilogy) to any reader who searches really good books. The writing style is superb, an exquisite mix of wit, irony, wisdom and poignant melancholy; the stories sparkle whit Mordden's superb narrative style. The comic, the insightful and the dramatic mix in an unique, original way. One of my favourite examples of this is "The Boffer", when Dennis Savage is debating whit Bud wether to attend a college reunion with his straight classmates, and the emotional and social factors entailed, while Little Kiwi displays, as a comical counterpoint, his very meagre skills as a trick magician. The characters are very finely detailed and lovely, the dialogue is worthy of the better Noel Coward. Read this and the entire series: Ethan Mordden is a very great writer,his stories New York's companion to St. Francisco's Tales of the City of Armistead Maupin.

4.0 out of 5 stars Further tales of Manhattan, June 4, 2001

By 

Todd E. Keeler (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everbody Loves You (Paperback)

Mordden develops the characters of the "Buddies" series even further in this book, which is a more connected, novel-like volume than the previous volume. The familiar faces are joined by a new one, Cosgrove, and while sometimes the actions surrounding this somewhat unbelievable character seem unbelievable in themselves, they lend the entire story a sense of humor and depth that has its roots in the relationship webs of the first two books. A definite must-read of gay fiction fans; of course, anyone who read the first two volumes could not abstain from reading this one to continue the story of the characters the reader has come to know and feel close to in the course of the previous two books.