Customer Reviews

Living Upstairs

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

 

 

Approaching it with few expectations, but enticed by the cover, I found Living Upstairs to be a wonderful book, reminiscent of Maupin's Tales of the City and similar novels. It pulls the reader in, draws them along at a fast pace, positively demands that they read on to discover what happens next, and delivers more than adequately. It's a rare novel that's almost impossible to put down for any period of time.

Both the main and supporting characters are colorful and intriguing. Hansen's depiction of the members of this artistic community in 1940s Hollywood is extremely appealing-- sexy, even. I feel with the characters and for them. It is a rare book that manages to produce such a strong physical response in me with such little (yet obviously masterful) description.

Hansen is obviously extremely talented. My single problem is that the almost "cliffhanger" ending doesn't do the book justice. It is the device of cheaper, lower-quality series fiction. The dramatic tension the book builds up to deserves better resolution than the "until next time" attitude of the cliffhanger.

Despite the ending, however, the quality of the rest of the work ensures I will be first in line to recieve the next installment, should there be one. I highly recommend Living Upstairs to anyone seeking polished, sexy, high-quality literature with which to devote, as I did, many consecutive hours of their days.

Alright. You can read this book as "gay fiction". It is, and the author describes the hero's environment and relationships detailed and believeable. Or you can read it as a novel about growing up. Or about writing your first book and the struggles to get it published. Or to get to know more about the time during World War II.
Or you can just read "Living upstairs" as the wonderful novel it is, without searching for a cause. Hansen's style and language are better than ever and one has to love his sense of humour. The characters are well written and interesting, as is the plot. There's a lot of emotion and suspense and - typical for Hansen - even more social critisism, but without the author getting patronising. It's a very entertaining book that's well worth your time. You can read it as part of a series (first would be "Jack of Hearts" with "The Cutbank Path" as the third and final volume), but you don't have to because there are no important informations in the first book that you'd need for "Living upstairs".
Highly recommended!

Not too often are you able to pick up a gay novel without having to wade through an abundance of sex/erotic imagery only to get through a story, as opposed to getting into a story. Though I feel eroticism has it's points and purposes in any fiction, it was refreshing to read about a character that you were made to like before suggesting you lust after him (which comes after.) Nate, our protagonist in Living Upstairs and Jack of Hearts, is believeable, loveable, and painfully innocent. Never before had I felt so much for a fictional character. It was difficult to finish these books without feeling I was losing time with a friend, or simply losing the ability to spy on an infatuation.

Though this is far from the best gay novel, it is surely a worthy contrast to the coma-inducing sexual rants of Edmund White or the unbelievably pretentious worlds of Felice Picano. This novel gives up the goods with a gripping and emotional story mixed with subtle eroticism and all-too-familiar characters. A quick and fun read.

Following on from Jack of Hearts the story here picks up just a few years later when Nathan is twenty years old. He is living with Hoyt, six years his senior; they have been together for around three months and are deeply in love; they make a handsome pair. But although Nathan trusts him it seems that Hoyt has a few secrets. As the story unfolds we meet a variety of colourful and fascinating people, including an FBI agent as well as a one or two characters from Jack of Hearts, and gradually learn some of the secrets.

The two boys get into a few tight corners together, but usually manage to extricate themselves. Their seflessness and generosity in the face of their own hardships is quite touching.

Told in Hansen's typically economic prose, it is nonetheless brimming with detail. The relationship between Nathan and Hoyt is a very happy one, and Hansen's descriptions of their pleasures together are related with few words which yet provide much for the imagination to work on. Nathan is as adorable as ever, still somewhat niave, yet strong of character and resisting all other contenders for his intimate affections. Yet as we learn the darker secrets and can sense impending disaster, when it comes it is not what we expected, nor perhaps are the repsonses.

Living Upstairs is a delightful story; there is a sequel: The Cutbank Path.

I must admit I haven't read this book for over 10 years (and remember reading it twice in the '90s). At the moment I am re-reading its prequel, "Jack of Hearts", and will re-read this soon thereafter. I loved them both the first time around, but remember being intensely frustrated at the unresolved "cliffhanger" ending of this one. Despite having lived for many more years, and publishing other works, the author unfortunately never returned to this piece to finish the story line. So we are left perpetually frustrated. But it is a good read nonetheless.

i was a judge for the lambda literary awards in the poetry category during the year this book was nominated. not only was this novel not the best of the five nominees, none of the five nominees was the best book of the year. the best book of that year, and, perhaps, one of the best gay books of the decade, was SEA OF TRANQUILITY by paul russell. read that novel and leave this lightweight winner on the shelf.