Martin and John: A Novel [Hardcover]

Dale Peck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1993

John flees to Kansas with his lover, Martin, who is sick with AIDS, and after Martin dies two years later, John begins to keep a journal through which he examines his life in the face of his own impending demise. A first novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With this poetic, tightly compressed novel, Peck makes a head-turning debut on the literary scene. It is composed of a feverish sequence of vignettes, which the reader gradually learns are the reminiscences of John, a gay man, as he tries to come to terms with the death of his lover, Martin, from AIDS. Some episodes straightforwardly recount John's life: abused by his hostile father, he escapes to New York and survives by becoming a hustler; he falls in love with Martin, and moves with him to Kansas, where Martin dies. Alternating with this account are "stories" written by John, in each of which different, spiritual versions of the narrator (named John) and of a chameleonic character named Martin work their way through states of need, surrender and bereavement. Subtle but highly charged, the fragments carry the reader continually deeper into human mystery, and what we at first hear as a fugue on the destructive powers of sexual desire evolves rapidly into a lay psalm that proclaims both the necessity of love and its inevitable loss. Peck's operatic intensity and lyric grief come tumbling out in these pages; this is very much a young man's novel, but its flaws are also emblems of its power. Though the symbolism is often obvious, and the writing so pitched that it would seem excessive in less talented hands, the narrative plunges forward on a wildly romantic course.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

John, our 19-year-old narrator, escapes from an abusive family to New York and meets Martin. They fall in love. Martin develops AIDS, they move to Kansas, and Martin dies. Throughout the narrative are stories written by John after Martin's death about a couple that is always named Martin and John, though they are different characters. This kind of structural complexity would be enough to sink most novels, but Peck writes so splendidly that it is a pleasure just to keep on reading. By themselves, some of these stories are among the most powerful representations of gay life written. Together, these tales of sexual and emotional abuse, antigay violence, and AIDS read too much like a litany of the sorrows of gay men; at times, the elegiac tone is overblown. Yet this remains an exciting first novel by a 24-year-old author. Recommended for public libraries, particularly with strong gay and lesbian collections.
- Brian Kenney, Brooklyn P.L.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 227 pages
• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T); 1st edition (February 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374203113
• ISBN-13: 978-0374203115
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,734,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A heart-rending story of love through pain, May 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Martin and John: A Novel (Paperback)

This debut novel finds its essence in a postmodern distortion of time, space and characterization. The title characters, Martin and John, appear as different people in different situations in each chapter of the book, forcing the reader to re-evaluate his/her notions of personal identity. In one chapter, Martin and John may be a happy, newly-established couple living fabulously in New York City; in another, they remain together tenuously while struggling with life in a small desert town. There is an underlying continuity, however, and the end result is a compelling statement about human character and the myriad facets of our personalities. Peck's brutal honesty and perfectly-crafted descriptions can make the reader wince with empathy and well with emotion. This is a triumphant book, to be read and shared as widely as possible.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Martin and John: A Familiar but Hidden World, December 15, 1999

By 

Arda Arikan (State College, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martin and John: A Novel (Paperback)

Some books you start reading remind you of something lost, something hidden or the worst, something unspoken. Martin and John crosses your pathway in the world of reading by bringing back your memories to your mind. Dale Peck is a great artist, as I can say. His greatness is not only in writing but he is great because he reflects the pasts of millions without naming each of them; touching their souls with a delicate word. As I started reading the novel in English, that is my second language, flashbacks from my own past started marching in front of my eyes. In the Chapter titled Given This And Everything he says: '...without measuring things how can you say what you've lost?'. Start thinking as you wish...I am sure that just this simple question will tell a lot about what you have forgotten. It is a journey. Reading Martin and John. It is a bridge not only between the world of Peck's and yours but a bridge between your mind and your self. It is a bridge that all should pass through.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Peck-tacular Debut!", March 23, 2000

By 

Irishlad "irishlad" (Fergus, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martin and John: A Novel (Paperback)

Like a lone wolf that slips into your room in the dark of night, so too did Dale Peck. Here is an author, whose first effort written while still in his twenties, possesses the gift of prose and delicate insight into the plight not only of those afflicted and affected by the ravages of AIDS, but also of evoking those parts of your past that everyone wants to shut a door on, hits the mark every time! I loved this book with a passion that resulted in my copying sentences and paragraphs for later reference. It has followed me for over a year and every time I come across it on my bookshelf, I have to open it and savour one of those many favourite passages. If you want something aside of the usual pulp fiction out there, and are willing to lose your heart and soul, Dale Peck is the place to start.