Gossip [Mass Market Paperback]

Christopher Bram (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1998

Ralph Eckhart meets "Thersites" on the Internet. The manager of a Greenwich Village bookstore and politically to the left, Ralph agrees to an F2F (face-to-face) meeting with Thersites in Washington, D.C., where his friend Nancy writes speeches for a popular woman senator. With his penchant for Shakespearean drama, Ralph should have seen the elements gathering for tragedy...or farce. Thersites proves to be a young, attractive, and enthusiastic lover. He is also Republican, in the closet, right-wing, and the author of a tell-all book that spreads gossip about several Washington women, including a footnote about a lesbian affair between a speechwriter and a "happily married" senator. In a town where rumors can kill a career, such words may be fatal. And despite his passion, Ralph is disturbed by his new lover's politics...and then stunned at being charged with his murder. Christopher Bram joins dark satire with chilling suspense as Ralph is arrested for first-degree homicide and becomes a "cause" in the gay community.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Christopher Bram is one of the most praised writers of gay fiction, and Gossip is perhaps his best book to date. An incisive, savvy political thriller, Gossip tells the story of Ralph Eckhart, a denizen of the gay East Village and ACT UP member, who meets and starts an affair with Bill O'Connor, a closeted gay Republican journalist. After Ralph dumps Bill with an angry phone call (that has been taped), and O'Connor is soon found murdered, the police think they know who did it. Beautifully plotted and written, Christopher Bram has written a novel of contemporary gay politics that is as complex and exhilarating as our lives. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Bram recovers from the disappointing Father of Frankenstein (1995) with his most absorbing book ever. Visiting his friend Nancy in Washington, New Yorker Ralph Eckhart honors a date with a previously cyberspace-only buddy, Bill. The two click sexually and start a long-distance relationship. But Ralph discovers conservative journalist Bill is about to publish a book trashing liberal women in Washington and, in a footnote, alleging a lesbian affair between a speechwriter and a senator--a pair that could only be Nancy and her boss. Ralph tells Bill off, Bill tries to make amends by coming out on national TV, and suddenly Bill is murdered, leaving behind a recorded denunciation by Ralph on his phone answerer. What follows is the stuff of high melodrama, as Ralph becomes an unknowing pawn in nasty political games in which, Ralph learns, gay liberal friends have used him even more callously than have evil conservatives. With a cast full of credibly conflicted characters and his smoothest writing to date, Bram's ethical thriller is a powerful, compelling performance. Ray Olson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Plume (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452273382
• ISBN-13: 978-0452273382
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #579,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy this book for what it is..... a very good read!, July 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Gossip (Mass Market Paperback)

OK, it's not a great classic or anything, but taken on its own terms, it's highly enjoyable. The premise (gay liberal male gets involved with gay conservative male) is just a variation of the Carville/Matlin phenomenon, but Bram gives it the humor and odd twists which are required to keep your interest.

As for the second half, the so-called "mystery", readers would be well-advised to take that on Bram's terms, too; he's not really trying to make a big socially significant point, but he's not just settling for a frothy Robert Rodi-type novel, either. (No offense to Rodi, whose novels I always enjoy).

In some respects, Bram's style reminds me of Peter Cameron or Nick Hornby. These authors clearly care about their characters, but in a somewhat detached way which may not appeal to everyone.

Don't mistake this detachment for disinterest or lack of conviction; it's all there, it's just that Bram is evoking the era a bit more effectively than we may be comfortable acknowledging. No, the loose ends are not all neatly wrapped up at the end, but when does that ever happen in real life anyway?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Strange bedfellows indeed ..., January 23, 2007

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Gossip (Mass Market Paperback)

When I first picked up this book, I did not realize that it was gay fiction. Once into the book, I couldn't stop reading it though. It was suspenseful and interesting enough to keep reading, though I will admit that it left me even more confused at the end. It ends up being a book about morals and ethics ... which is really interesting.

Ralph Eckert is a young man who lives in NYC, quietly gay and content with his life as a bookseller in a bookstore. He travels to D.C. to visit a friend from college and before heading home, he met up with one of his computer friends to have a face to face meeting. That short affair led to diastrous results and a murder which Ralph was framed for. The young man who was murdered was a promising writer who was on the threshold of publishing a tell-all book about lesbians in D.C., in hopes to shatter careers. It was a bitterly written book and it was the reason why Ralph broke things off with him. Then Ralph finds himself in the center of a storm between the religious right and the gay activists who want to fight for their rights. Ralph was stuck smack in the middle of it and there doesn't seem a way out of the mess.

This book talks about choices and how choices make a mess of other people's lives ~~ how people can miscontrue other people's desires and wishes, how people can take off with a simple matter and see it explode into something out of their control and innocent people are left to pick up the pieces afterwards. It is interesting to see how all this ties in together ~~ and it was confusing in some parts. It is a book that explores human nature at its finest and at its worst and how people aren't what they seem to be. Very intriguing reading.

1-23-07

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A political thrilling murder mystery of gay life in the 90s, November 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Gossip (Mass Market Paperback)

GOSSIP, by Christoper Bram, was the most exciting book I have ever read. It always kept me at the edge of my seat and in the end it blew me away. The book is about a gay man named Ralph Eckhart, who gets caught up in political life and in trouble with the law when he has an affair with Bill O'Connor, a closeted republican and journalist. Even though I don't pay much attention to politics or homosexual men, GOSSIP was a book that kept me wanting more and no other book has ever done that for me. Although I'm not much of a reader, the way Christopher Bram told the story made me love his book. It seemed as if everything in the book somehow had a connection to the other and it all falls together in the end. I loved the book and I'm sure you will too, so if you see the book GOSSIP in the bookstores pick it up and give it a try.