Customer Reviews

Hunk House

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

 

 

Nothing is more painful than fluff or camp that can't even rise to the level of guilty pleasure. Tyler's novel suggest a pilot for a gay Aaron Spelling TV show written by a smug high school sophmore who thinks he's sophisticated because he knows how to curse. The "bitchy" humor (oh so knowing, if you've spent your life under a rock) makes you wince, and the characters are totally cardboard. If you want to give a fun camp novel for Xmas, skip this stinker and give one of the Patrick Dennis reissues, Little Me or The Joyous Season

As with a couple of the other reviewers, I read Mr. Tyler's first novel, "Tricks of the Trade" and actually enjoyed it.. it had a good premise and a character we were able to get to know.

"Hunk House" has a good premise, but as much as I hate to sound harsh, this book is a complete waste. I don't expect to be reading North & South when I pick up a book that has almost-naked men on the cover, but come on.. the TV show in the story is constantly on the brink of disaster, and so is this book.

I'm disappointed that the best this author could do with this story is regurgitate stereotypes, have HORRID, trite dialogue and story lines (i.e. characters who go from straight to gay in less than a paragraph) and an acid-tongued protagonist who lacks talent for anything other than swapping one-liners with the boss' daughter. Unfortunately, the only things that were even remotely endearing about any of the characters in this book were not revealed until near the end, and by that point I was completely uninterested. Skip this one..

"Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't you write a book that capitalizes on the popularity of those reality TV programs like Big Brother, but only use all gay guys. It doesn't have to be good because it's only for light summer reading. What have you got to lose?" Well, time for one thing. It's not that the concept was a total mistake from the start. It might have worked if the author had watched some of the reality TV shows and discovered that they're popular because of the interaction of the people who are on them. Then he might have developed his characters to make them interesting. Instead he centered his plot around the producer (Hamilton Peabody) and his attempt to develop a hit cable TV show that will propel him from his lowly programmer job in Dulcit City, Iowa back to Hollywood where he belongs.

I only read this book because I had read Ben Tyler's first novel Tricks Of The Trade. While I had liked some things and disliked others in that book, I thought the author had some potential. Unfortunately, he didn't realize or even show it with this novel. None of the characters win you over. And the plot seems hacked together. Actually, I thought the book could have ended twice before it finally did.

But my biggest complaints with the book are the author's choice of villains and his lack of technical expertise. Holy misogyny, does he have something against women? In both of his books so far the villain has been a woman who is so viscous, conniving, bitchy, whiney and deceitful that she would make Cruella De Vil with PMS look good. As to technical expertise, he should researched a TV station or video production house before he started this book. I doubt that even the smallest TV station in Podunkville would edit a TV show on VHS equipment, much less store the master tape on a VHS cassette.

Hopefully, the author will put a little more effort into his next novel, which is currently being written.

This book could have been such fun. It's upsetting then that it is actually very poorly written and unforgivably boring! The characters are less than one dimensional, if that's possible. And the plot twists make no sense at best, and at worst contradict previous events. For example, two men (Luke and Zeth) are shown on video naked together and exchanging I-Love-You's, and then later in the book, the same two characters have sex FOR THE FIRST TIME! Also, a character (Rocky) is referred to as being openly gay, and then later in the book denies sleeping with men, seemingly for no reason. The author also seems to be fascinated with the humor of urine, feces, and pain - but he can describe nothing with humor or grace. I identified with only one character, Cameron, in that I felt like a masochist because I forced myself to read the entire book. This book is a complete waste of time, money, paper, and a good idea for a plot.

After responding to Kensington Books' eye-catching marketing appeal for Ben Tyler's two books, I snapped up Tricks of the Trade and Hunk House at a bookstore. The sub-genre positioning of these two titles suggested that finally a gay "Jackie Collins" has arrived. I think that title should remain with Doug Guinan for now. Considering Ms. Collins' mastery of sensational fiction with style to burn, Mr. Tyler is not in this league. While 'Tricks' had some great fun that I plowed through quite enjoyably, the fun ended with Hunk House, his second book. This book was sloppily written with completely predictable characters and plot line. The idea for this book was brilliant, a take-off on the reality TV movement with a gay twist, but the author's characters cannot even hold up their end of the bargain, and the author fails as much as the Hunk House show; with almost-unreadable disjointed melodramatic dialogue (reminiscent of a bad B-movie), abrupt transitions, and a major lack of style. The chapter about the dungeon competition was a particular failure, completely boring despite my desire to read something that would make me wince and scream in delicious agony with the characters. The characters never get a chance to reveal who they are or expand themselves like a true reality show would compel them to do. The author gives us two pages of 'gut spilling' by Luke during his solo camera interview, but his story is like any other young, gay farm boy in the midwest; predictable and boring. We've read this all before in the pages of Freshmen Magazine, much of it better written than this book. ... I only expected entertainment value from Hunk House, but this book reeks of being churned out on a NY-LA flight as the result of a first-novel success ... I wish I could get a refund.

I don't usually buy hardcovers but I bought Ben Tyler's TRICKS OF THE TRADE last year and thought it was such a delicious and malicious hoot that I passed it around to all my friends last Summer. I pre-ordered this new novel and read it in two days. A half-dozen gay men fight it out under the sheets and under the watchful eye of cameras in this sexy and compelling gay spoof of "SURVIVOR" and "REAL WORLD." Lots of fast paced, sexy fun. ...

Not a great book, but an Ok one. Something you can read in a day. Reads like a gossip column or womans magazine. Not so profound, though there are two or three pieces in the book that provoke some thought, however the object of the book does not seem to be to do so. As the reviews say.... it is an airplane or beach read that will not take so long. You definitely need to be in the mood to read this though.

Ben Tyler is coming along very well. When His first book "Tricks of the Trade" came out, I bought it right away, and read it within 3 days-- lots of fun with humor, lots of sex, and just the best beach read. NOW he come out with "Hunk House." With the reality TV shows becoming a mainstream genre, Tyler put it in with six gay men. And what a ride it is! Just like his previous book, fun, humorous, and more sex than the last book. Tyler to me is a FUN read. I am now an advant fan of his writings, and look forward to more books from him. We all need some fun gay novels, and Ben Tyler is the one! Definitely get this one, and his previous book too. Fun, sex, humor-- what more would you want in a summer book? :-)

Not Shakespear, but if your looking for a fun raunchy book to take your mind off the stresses of daily life, this is the one.

This was a fun trashy book. Sexy and hot. The story was good too. This was the first fiction I have read in years. I read biographies and political books. I was glad I read it.