Customer Reviews

Hornito: My Lie Life

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

 

 

One of the best books I've read in a long time -- much better than Me Talk Pretty -- but Albo writes in an entirely different style. While Sedaris recounts humourous events, Albo recognizes the humor in what being single, gay, and in NY really is about. I'm giving this to everyone I date from now on -- with the words "If this ain't you move along!" Albo, whether he thinks so or not, has it all figured out. My only complaint is I read it in one night and there's nothing left -- where's book two?

I haven't laughed this hard in years. I haven't had greater insight into the passion and sadness and speedy joy of being in my twenties. The main character in this book basically just gets it - his loneliness and efforts to find love are so amazingly similar to mine. And they're also hilarious. But Hornito not a "humor" book like Art Buchwald or Steve Martin: it's a genuine, truthful tour of the insanity of being single and the most unspoken parts the heart. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS! People compare Albo to David Sedaris, but Albo is SOOO much better!! This book is INCREDIBLE.

Mike Albo has talent to burn. This adroitly written diary/memoir/fantasia of the past and current struggles of a young man to establish a meaningful relationship in a world that is centered on transience is at once humorous (even hilarious) and soulful (even sad). Albo cleverly writes as though this were an autobiogrphical confession, so much so that it is difficult not to buy in to every bizarre recall and projection. How much of this is fantasy, how much reportage? To this reader there is no discerning that line. Much of main character Mike's recounting of his childhood sexual fantasies and acting out sound like terrific stand-up comedian material, but since they are so carefully woven into the fabric of his young adult escapades as the novel speeds along, they gain credence, and in making all of this story credible, Albo forces us to examine the sociology of the last quarter of the 20th Century. There is a lot of stern observation about our status as social beings. And I think this is the test of a really fine humorist: Make 'em laugh like crazy until they go home and, in solitude, think and even cry a bit. A solid Bravo for Hornito!

Mike Albo can spot a funny moment and can describe it deftly. This novel, Hornito, is full of these small moments that add up to a light and easy read. The characters are never developed but that could be because the main character never really connects with anyone but it does leave a film of shallowness over the entire surface of the novel. This may work better as a series of monologues but does not entirely hold together as a novel. The territory covered in this book has been covered before by other gay authors. The humour helps create the illusion of originality but it does feel, at times, that one has been here before.

The novel, though, does come together nicely toward the end. There are no big revelations but the small discoveries are handled in a sweetly touching manner that does ring true to the character and to life. It is not a bad read but neither is it a great read. It is a light novel that will fill some time with its humour and then dissappear forever.

I tried, I really did. I read and read and read this book, waiting to feel that Mike Albo had "talent to burn," like another reviewer said. This is a story about growing up gay, which might seem well-trod but which is always interesting and can be clever.

However, I struggled mightily to follow this book. To me it read like a first draft. There are numerous ill-placed flashbacks that drag an already-thick narrative even further down so that it's very hard to follow. Sure, there are mentions of things that will remind you of the times, but it's not enough. You have to care about the narrator and care where he goes in life.

The humor here is somewhat subtle and dry, but nowhere near David Sedaris' level. When the attempt at a writing style gets in the way of the writing, it doesn't work.

I spent a thoroughly delightful afternoon with this book and a series of mugs of beer, and I can fully agree with other interviewers that it is an absolute treasure. Relationship problems? You don't know from relationship problems, but Mike Albo does. Literary talent? Doesn't get much better. Making people remember what childhood and adolescence was like for a gay person in America? Oh, yeah. I can't use this book to put down Sedaris, who in my view is also hilarious, in a different way -- "Santaland Diaries", for example, must not be read while eating, because spitting up with laughter is a distinct possibility. I can put up both hands to recommend both Sedaris and Albo. I hope both of them continue to write more and more and more.

This book kicks ass. I'm not really an avid reader or
anything so maybe I'm simply not getting something
about David Sedaris that everybody seems to be crazy
about -- but to me comparing Mike Albo to David
Sedaris is like comparing Kurt Cobain to Ricky
Martin...it's almost rude...I think Mike Albo is SO
much better. This author won't attempt to tickle and
grope you into some quirky-cute-NPR humour the way
Sedaris does. Mike Albo really just wants to tell you
a good story -- and he just HAPPENS to make you burst
into hysteric fits of viscious laughter along the
way...I really admire this author's restraint and
humility...And this book isn't just about humour,
either -- HORNITO will also make you chuckle, cry,
rage, sneer, sigh, sympathize and muse -- and the
author has this crazy talent of effortlessly drawing
out all these contradicting sentiments from situations
using light, simple strokes -- it's like acrobatic
prose -- this in itself is extremely entertaining and
pleasing.

And, sure...on top of all this HORNITO also reads as
BRILLIANT social commentary -- but the coolest part
about this book really is that when you finish it the
first thoughts you have AREN'T likely to be
metaphysics (like "what is the meaning of
love/relationships?" "what does it mean to be gay in
Amercia?" "what is go-go dancing...???" etc. etc.) --
instead, you are much more likely to close this book
and think to yourself: "Gee, I wonder how fat +
bloated Todd Flamadio (the bully/jock) is by
now...???" or, "I should totally google Jason Hazer
(the main character's high school crush)..." I'm not
gay -- or even American -- but the characters and
situations and emotions in this book still felt so
identifiable and familiar and real to me -- when I
finished I felt this incredible nostalgia and longing
for these times and places that Mike Albo created. I
really liked this book.

This book deserves a much higher average rating. It is a well-written, moving, honest and funny story about one guy's determination to find true love despite his talent for being attracted to the wrong people. I highly recommend this novel.

In the 1975 documentary "Grey Gardens", Little Edie says, "It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present", and that is exemplified in Albo's novel. The main character, also named Mike Albo, comes home for Labor Day weekend to the suburban town where he grew up. This gives him cause to get away from the city and his latest heartbreak, and to reflect upon his past. This book could easily have become a dull listing of sexual conquests and "why doesn't he like me?" whining, but Albo's humor and writing talent prevent the protagonist's musings from becoming too self indulgent.

Albo can create a mood and an era, whether he's talking about the late 90s New York scene, or early 80s suburbia. He gets so many details right (with maybe a few anachronisms - the Challenger is mentioned as exploding in 1987) that I felt like I was there in crummy Lower East Side apartments or a tract home. I enjoyed this so much that I immediately went to my local library to find the other book he'd written.

Great read for any time of year.

Albo writes an easy to read story about a young gay man. The book fluctuates between his current city life and his childhood. His book is easy to identify with, for a gay man growing up in small town U.S.A. His description of "retro" products helps set the scenes and provide realism.
The book is not a painting of misery. Things weren't always fun; but by and large he has a cheery outlook on life. That is such a change from so many biographies of gay men.