Customer Reviews

Kingdom Come

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It's clear from Dobry's art he uses a projector to produce what is on the canvas. When it comes to writing he can't do this. His writing is very trite and old hat. Don't waste your money. Dobry is neither Bukowski or Miller.

I fell asleep trying to read this so called book. Think of the trees who died for what? Gary Dobry's vanity?

Gary Dobry is certainly a boxer. He also seems to have a gift for convincing people that he writes on par with Bukowski or Miller, when the truth is that he pales in comparison. A visit to his website shows that he trained Danny Bonaduce for the 'Celebrity Boxing Match' show on Fox a while back. How can someone write about artistic integrity and living the 'Continental Lifestyle' while nonetheless perpetuating CELEBRITY BOXING? Don't be fooled by the pseudo-artistic posturing. The fact is, Dobry's writing reflects his lack of originality. This book is dry, boring, and unoriginal.

Kingdom Come has all the drama of getting a root canal, along with all the pain that accompanies it.
No one writes read-into-the-night stuff like Jay Marvin. I have devoured "The Committe" by this talented man at least 100 times. Reads like a scandal ripped from today's headlines.

I believe Mr. Dobry began as a boxer and evolved into a writer. There are times when evolution shouldn't take place. Kingdom Come isn't all bad. It does motivate one to want to elevate themselves above someone like Gary Dobry and his purbling, sterile writings. And it is inspiring to know that just about anyone can get a book published.

What really amazes me is the humbleness of Jay Marvin. Here's a man whose clearly a superior writer, artist, and poet when compared to Mr. Dobry, but yet he remains a man of mystery. I suppose that is why he's so popular.

I am not saying that people should not purchase Mr. Dobry's books.....what I am saying is, your money might be better spent on purchasing some of Mr. Marvins art work, or buying his book (which is a classic in every sense of the word) entitled "Punk Blood".

When it comes to writing, poetry, and art, Jay Marvin does everything right and Gary Dobry does everything wrong.

Have a Great Day, everyone.

This book could have been a three star. Looks as if the author is "pumping" his own book by giving himself two five star ratings. Typical in this type of authoring and this forced me to give only two stars although it could be a three star. What I found interesting about the book, other than its ranking on Amazon which I think is low, is the graphic depiction of a man who is in the "closet" and wants the reader to feel his captiveness. I did. He portrays sex with men as sex with women. His sexual positions even depict his lust for young men possibly even older boys. Still, he is trapped and unable to express himself fully in the "straight" world. He finds shelter in "his" macho world but wants nothing more than to tell the world he is trapped as a female in a male body. At the end he sort of admits being homosexual is ok but not disclosable to the reader except for one or two paragraphs.

The author is not bad. He seems to be too hung up on boy-boy sex acts in some doorway and not driven enough to tell the reader why he is the way he is. "I am in the closet as a gay man because...." Did he have a poor childhood? What? If he would have answered this question and maybe several more in his writing I would have had greater respect for this piece as an art form and him as a writer. I came away feeling like sex with a man while being a man needs to be cursed by the gods. Not so.

Maybe the next book the author pens will include a different view as a gay man who is out. High heels and a sharp pen.

A copy of this review will be posted on PlanetOUT.

I remember Dobry from the All-Elvis Art Show at the old World Tattoo Gallery in Chicago. I remember he was playing blues with Bumblee-Bee Bob back then. Seeing him on television brought back memories of the good old days. Good to see him still painting and ripping it up. It looks like he's still pumping-iron too! We used to think he was the bouncer until we saw him play.

I saw Dobry on TV. He certainly can paint and his work is simply marvelous. I bought the book because of the TV show and the book was as every bit as good as his paintings. I ordered his other book too.

The author is a painter, and a very good one, and his prose seems like it was painted, written, in the violent strokes and drips of an abstract expressionist. This seems appropriate since Dobry was a boxer as well. Death is always omnipresent in Kingdom Come. It seems to be always hovering in the "jaundice sky" beneath the "purple cumulus clouds", it's in Chicago's "gray landscape of concrete and elevated rails" and it is certainly within the confines of the Parisian cemetery, "Pere Lachaise". Most effectively, it is in the ring. The Bullfight ring, as well as the boxing ring. "Vultures" are "perched" on the rings of the rope. They smell death. His cut-man, who the book is dedicated too, is his guardian angel who is there for him in his corner helping him to win his biggest fight. This was a great read. I hope Dobry puts down the brushes long enough to write another.

I saw Gary on TV and went out and bought his books. I liked In Good Faith better of the two because it evoked all kinds of emotions in me. Kingdom Come is more "literary", for lack of a better word. I just wanted to review it because after I read some of these reviews I got the feeling they know nothing about Dobry at all. The TV documentary filmed him creating one of his paintings. He explained his "old school" approach to painting. There were no "projectors" or nothing like that. What left the biggest impression on me was this big, muscular boxer painting such delicate details. It was very impressive, and so is his writing. Can't wait for his next one.

I met Gary at his art opening in DC earlier this year. His paintings were beautiful and he was a very sweet, and MUSCULAR, guy! It's amazing a guy with arms as big as his could write a book that is so lyrical, poetic and hauntingly beautiful. I can't say enough about this book or Gary. Just go and buy this book, you'll love it!