Customer Reviews

Men Who Love Men

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

 

 

A gay man mourns the fact that he's single before eventually "re-evaluating" his possibilities and choosing a man he previously thought was too old.

I usually agree with Paul Minifri's reviews, but I don't entirely agree with him on this one. Mann is clearly an incredibly talented writer; his characterizations in this novel are good, it's just that the major characters are all flawed. And in this novel, all the flaws come out all over the place. Henry IS clearly a whiner ("why can't I find someone who loves me?" we've all wondered that, unless/until finding one's own partner). Jeff is a slut (though he actually shows some strength of character in this one). Lloyd is too preachy (and has his own slut hidden inside). Still, except that Henry's whines get to the reader at times, they're reasonably likeable protagonists and this reader rooted for them to get it all together. Paul's comment that Henry's self-realization came too quickly IS accurate and is the main reason that I gave the book four stars instead of five (that and I got tired of Henry's whines late in the book).

I've read the first two volumes of this series and enjoyed them to a point, but this time around, eh, not so much. The lead character at times grew extremely irritating, I kind of wanted to reach through the book and slap him as he seemed to whine whine and whine through numerous pages. A person like that you reach a point with and just have had enough and don't care anymore. I finished the book at least, which isn't saying a whole lot.

I had read the first two installments of the P-Town Trilogy, "Men from the Boys" and "Where the Boys Are". Unfortunately, the first two titles of the series far surpassed this new title. Mann is one of the better writers of this genre, and I would love to see him get back to the writing he did on his initial efforts. I am glad that I read this one as it continues the saga of the characters, Jeff, Lloyd, Henry etc. They are well written characters as well. However, this story was not one of my favorites. If you have previously read the other novels that are a part of the trilogy, go ahead and read this one, but you'll be somewhat disappointed. However, if you haven't read the previous novels, don't bother with this one as it doesn't stand on it's own merit. The hottest thing about this one was the cover photo.

because this book, the third in a series featuring the same characters in a Provincetown setting, is terrible! The main character is a whining bore and there are many hackneyed "philisophical" conversations on love, relationships, life, etc. Characters in their 30's are worried about getting "old". Henry is so dumb he can't see the obvious "secrets" of Gale, a man he is trying to date, and of JR--a nephew of Henry's friend--who is afraid to admit he's straight. "I promise I'll try to be gay," says the nephew! Stupid! Scenes from the marriage of Jeff and Lloyd interspersed with lyrics from the song "When I fall in love, it will be forever.." are laughingly trite and made me want to gag. I couldn't believe this actually made it into print. It was like a very bad movie. And of course, JR, the kid, suddenly changes his mind and agrees to be ring bearer for the wedding of Jeff and Lloyd at just the right moment! A big disappointment.

While William J. Mann can write, he is at times a bit verbose. This book is a classic example: many long, deep conversations between characters without a whole lot of action besides the talking. Other reviewers have noted that the main character, Weiner, is appropriately named and I would tend to agree with that. Overall, a bit of a disappointment.

Sequel to "Men From the Boys" and "Where the Boys Are". We find Jeff and Lloyd own a guesthouse (Nirvana) in Provincetown which is run by their old friend Henry. Jeff and Lloyd are planning on getting married. This sends their friend Henry into a deep depression. Unfortunately we (the readers) have to deal with over 300+ pages of Henry whining nonstop about being single and alone.

OK--first off I love the first two books. Quick, well-written and entertaining. However everything goes wrong in this installment. Henry's only 33, living in PTown, running a gay guesthouse--and he acts like his life is over! Anyone thinking that their life is over at 33 while running a guesthouse in PTown is just downright pathetic. Also his constant whining about it gets old really fast. Only 50 pages in I just felt like slapping Henry around and telling him to get over himself!

We also are introduced to some new characters--Luke is a hot little houseboy who seems very mysterious and Gale is a hot guy who's interested in Henry. Luke is little more than Anthony from the second book and Gale's character is pointless. Why is Henry moaning about being alone when Gale finds him so attractive? The only thing that kept me reading was Mann's writing but I was more than fed up with all the characters only halfway through. It leads to a ridiculously happy ending that I didn't buy for one second. After about 280 pages of Henry complaining he suddenly comes to realize that he's not alone and over the hill? I didn't buy it for one second. One of the few good things Mann did is he told us what happened to Eduardo (Eddie) from the first book.

This seems to end the story of Jeff and Lloyd and all their friends. Too bad it's done in such a tiresome and annoying way.

"Men Who Love Men," William J. Mann's third installment of his Provincetown series, is a slight improvement over the second book ("Where the Boys Are") but not quite as good as his first ("The Men From the Boys").

This story is told from Henry's perspective, a guy Jeff met in the second book on the Circuit scene. Henry, now 33 (and scared to death of being "old" in this book), helps run a guest house in Provincetown with Jeff's boyfriend, Lloyd. I would say that Jeff is less annoying in this tale based on the sole fact that he's not the focus, but, really, when he appears in the book, he's about as annoying as ever. I guess it just depends on what your cup of tea is, but I haven't found Jeff all that likeable throughout the series. Now he and Lloyd are finally getting married, which leaves Henry evaluating his own life, friends, lack of a steady boyfriend, etc.

The funny thing is, Jeff and Lloyd's relationship is presented as really special, as if it's something to emulate and long for. Yet, I think the author fails at showing any real reason as to why these guys finally end up together with plans of marriage. He often describes how everyone around them can see how they're meant for each other, and throws in some details like their pet names for each other ("Cat" and "Dog"), how they like to sleep in the "breathing position," etc, but, throughout the three books, rather than show us why these two guys are together, the author simply tells us that they are. I just didn't see the depth of the relationship that everyone in the story sees.

A big theme in this story deals with gays and the family they create, whether it be through friends or helping out with nieces or nephews. I like the idea, but I think the author relies too much on cliches and never delves very deep into this. His placement of Jeff's sister with her kid living in P-town with the guys felt a little off and too convenient. We get to see another side to Jeff as he plays father figure, but, again, the situations given are pretty trite and cliche. By the end of the book, I felt the subplot with Jeff's 9-yr-old nephew was far too hokey to be at all believable. While it was less Lifetime-TV-Movie-of-The-Week than the ridiculous storylines of side characters Eva and Anthony in the second book, it was still pretty bad (and cringe-inducing).

As for Henry, the narrator, well, I found him less annoying than other readers. I did have a hard time believing he's supposed to be 33, however. He seems pretty dim and immature for a man of that age. I guess they exist, but I often had to remind myself that this character was supposed to be significantly older than he comes across in the story. As he deals with new love interests, once again, we're given some pretty unrealistic situations (trust me, you'll laugh out loud at what happens with Gale - something I saw coming almost as soon as he was introduced).

After finishing Mann's trilogy, I wonder if his biographies might be a better fit for his writing talents. His fiction doesn't work that well for me, although, in each book, there are passages that show his talent. Overall, I can't say I'd recommend this series to friends.

I agree with a number of the other reviewers in that while this third instalment did tend to get a bit wordy and at times trite, overall it wasn't bad as a summer read.

The story holds your interest; it's set in P'town in the late summer; and the characters are familiar (if you read his prior works). I personally find quick happy resolutions unrealistic myself, and sometimes the novel worked too hard to have current trends referenced (such as camo shorts and Abercrombie, etc.) -- that will date the novel in my opinion. But those are small shortcomings.

So few novels and authors in this genre have proven to be strong storylines or writers, and I still believe William Mann has strong potential. If you have read his earlier novels, by all means read this one too. A. Burroughs, Michael Thomas Ford, and Mann are three pretty good authors. I've recently read some of Jay Quinn's work too, and liked it. As an older man (Henry Weiner would call me old at least) it's refreshing to find works that don't deal with "coming of age" stories or are just simple sex 'n fluff confections.

Keep up the good work William. I was in Provincetown this summer, wish I would have ran into you!

While I enjoyed Mann's earlier novels, I found this one extremely flat. The ending almost seemed like a rush job. Maybe I just found the lead charcter unappealing this go round, but I don't rate this very high among some of Mann's other writing.