Customer Reviews

Foolish Fire

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

 

 

The definitive Coming Of Age Novel? Perhaps.

A major triumph of angst, and I am looking forward to the next book. But what a shame Guy's teen years pass so fast. I wanted so much more time with him.

Is he gay? Will he get the guy? Will he get the girl? I'm not going to give a thing away, but the book keeps being unexpected.

Now I want a sequel, or a set of sequels. From the viewpoint of some of the other characters. Especially from Mark's viewpoint.

This has been one of the best books I have read that involves Gay characters. Guy Willard takes you back to when he first realizes he's gay, in his 7th grade PE class, and brings his trials and tribulations in realizing that he is a gay man. The book's so steamy and it keeps you reading on and on, and the ending is just so startling, that it makes you really sad that it's over. It's one of those books where you had wished you were the character in the book. I think this book was very nostalgic to me, because as I kept reading the book, I kept looking back on my own life. And there were so many similarities, and things that I wouldn't admit to myself that Guy willard was admitting in this book. And I'm Still 17, and Guy's character is 18 by the time the book finishes, and in a way, i saw my own future too. It's a really good book, and I recommend it for anyone gay or straight. But it's definitely a gay must-read.

It was with an unusual mixture of voyeurism on my part and incredibly lush first-person writing on the author's part that riveted me to Foolish Fire. From page one, I became absolutely fascinated watching Guy (the main character) develop as an adolescent, albeit with a terribly skewed view of himself. I couldn't pull myself out of this tale although, as the story progresses, he becomes a tragic gay anti-hero...something I don't normally like reading about.

The notion that being gay would eventually 'go away' causes Guy to become incredibly narcissistic and has him spinning highly erotic fantasies throughout the novel. This story isn't about him wallowing in feeling of guilt or remorse while this all plays out (religious guilt plays not one iota in this tale), but rather about him plunging into his own psycho-sexual development at the hormonal speed of a teenager, while actively squelching his true feelings.

Tom Boggs, the author of this story (Guy Willard is a pen name), proves what great writing is all about. He very accurately captures the first pangs of the denial about growing up gay, then embellishes them to create a wonderfully tragic character that I'll remember for a good long time.

BTW, the second book in this series is called 'The Mirrors of Narcissus', and is even better than this story!

I have always loved reading books like this, coming out stories. It was a quick read for me-hours, but I enjoyed it so much and can't wait to start the rest of them, especially when he goes into the Navy. I just wished he gave more body descriptions as that kind of thing always help me get into the characters.

"Guy Willard is your All-American Boy, a popular teenager, but with a hidden secret - a flaming desire for other boys. At Freedom High School he inches his way out of the closet through a series of humorous and poignant episodes." - From Gay Men's Press-Millivres

It's a coming out book. Thats just it, a coming out book. I thought there was more but it kept me hanging... "So what happens next!" The build up of the story was great giving all sides of the main character and the other people influencing, but at times it becomes repetitive and it became anti climactic in the end. Good thing there is the sequel, I just hope it doesnt finishes on the same note as this one.