Testosterone: A Novel [Paperback]

James Robert Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

"A tour de force, part noirish suspense novel and part grim satire of compulsive gay male sexuality,as despondent as a Jim Thompson yarn in which the narrator is killed on the last page. It is as compelling as good Thompson too."-Booklist

A satirical, hysterical, horicic rocked fueled trek around LA in pursuit of the most unlucky ex-lover in history. Or maybe hes a psychotic. Or maybe the narrator is. Either way, someone is going to die.

James Robert Baker is the author of five other novels: Testosterone, Boy Wonder, Fuel Injected Dreams, Adrenaline and Right Wing (published on the Internet). Baker was a filmmaker whose underground film Mouse Klub Konfidential, about a Mouseketeer turned gay-bondage filmmaker, is credited with driving Michael Medved away from filmmaking. On November 5, 1997, he committed suicide.

Also Available by James Robert Baker:

Adrenaline

TP 11.95, 1-55583-565-1 CUSA

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Dean Seagrave is a crazed L.A. artist with a vendetta. His heart has been broken and his house burned down--all his books and art, even the only manuscript of his new graphic novel, Testosterone, destroyed, along with his good nature and his sense of restraint. Now he's careening through Los Angeles on the trail of his loser ex-boyfriend, Pablo Ortega, who had promised fidelity but turned out to be a "sleazy little scumbag beaner tearoom queen," an "emotional serial killer" who simply chose Dean as his latest victim. In one hand, Dean holds the tape recorder into which he recounts events as they occur, a sort of "living novel" of his search for vengeance. The final book from the author of Tim and Pete (Baker, who suffered from depression, killed himself in 1997), Testosterone is a wild ride--dark, funny, and satiric--and a testament to the savage side of love. --Regina Marler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Controversial gay cult author/filmmaker Baker (Tim & Pete) committed suicide in 1997, but left behind this previously unpublished novel, an amalgam of inner torment, sexual addiction, lost love and angry retribution. Revised, edited and updated for prime time, the novel consists of the transcripts of tapes dictated by harried protagonist Dean Seagrave describing a tumultuous, frenetic Los Angeles odyssey. In the middle of the night, Seagrave's house is set on fire, sending him on a quest to find the guilty party. But he already suspects the culprit is his missing lover, Pablo, who went out for cigarettes one day and never returned. Hopped up on drugs and rage, and carrying a Glock, Seagrave embarks on a hunt to find (and murder) his errant boyfriend, starting with random visits to mutual friends. His search turns violent when he happens first upon Pablo's best friend, Calvin, a wheelchair-bound AIDS victim, and then upon Pablo's terrified mother, and attempts to physically shake answers out of each of them. As his search progresses, Seagrave finds a series of sinister clues to Pablo's mysterious past: a home video of a missing, mutilated pet; a secret apartment stocked with bondage equipment; and evidence that Pablo has ties to a demonic cult. Still, it's never clear quite what is true and what isn't, and by the time the tale builds up to its ultra-violent, surrealistic conclusion, Seagrave has proved himself a wholly untrustworthy narrator. Baker is adept at generating suspense, and he exhibits a sharp wit when ruminating on gay culture. But the tape-transcript device is tired, and reading Baker's high-strung prose style is often like eavesdropping on an overcaffeinated cell-phone conversation. Still, this is a fitting if flawed valedictory effort. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Alyson Books (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155583714X
• ISBN-13: 978-1555837143
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,045,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Learning the value of self-reliance and a machete., November 2, 2000

By 

Eric Leventhal (Bflo, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Testosterone: A Novel (Hardcover)

Testosterone is a transcript of the tapes made by graphic novelist Dean Seagrave about how he tracked down his ex-boyfriend, Pablo, an "emotional serial killer," and what happened later at a Taco Bell. It is a posthumous work by the fierce and original queer film maker-novelist-scriptwright James Robert Baker

Baker's literary conceit, the real-time spoken memoir, gives the book its strengths and its drawbacks. When the story goes, it really goes. You are there. Caught up in Dean's adrenaline rush as he tries record everything that is happening, or has just happened. On the other hand you are reading spoken words and that makes the text awkward and occasionally dull. Dean explains, justifies, rationalizes and then repeats the process again just as a nervous speaker does. The other problem with the narrative style is it confuses the time line.

A gay narrator driving around LA for 24 hours on a violence-tinged adventure is also the makings of Baker's Tim and Pete (1992). That novel, although sex-filled and death obsessed is, I think, better. It has some startlingly original characters, a wicked sense of fun and a kooky kind of innocence (Tim and Pete do end up back together). All that is gone here. There is no redemption, only victims and none of them are innocent.

Baker's need to assign the roles of victim and villain was a weakness in Tim and Pete. In Testosterone, he has moved on only slightly. Now AIDS sufferers are not victims of Ronald Reagan and the Republicans. They are the victims of American society, American Christian society in particular. I didn't think the hypothesis was helpful in 1992 and I don't think it holds up now. There is no empowerment in victimhood. And it strikes me as strange that Baker tries to make his point through fierce, thoughtful, take-charge characters. These guys just aren't victims. "A fag with a gun who needs a chainsaw" as Dean describes himself (pg. 137) is no victim. A man like that knows the virtue of self-reliance (and a machete).

The AIDS epidemic will always be a touchstone of queer culture, but Baker's voice-of-doom speaking from ground zero of the plague feels pretty dated in 2000.

There is a lot to admire in Testosterone. It is a good story well unfolded. It captures a fascinating environment and puts it vividly on the page. That the narrator sometimes gets in the way of these strengths may be just a quibble. I did expect a book with so much power to come with an equally powerful message. Testosterone is a disappointing final word from an artist with so much talent and so many strengths.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Driven Mad by Love, March 25, 2007

By 

Reading Is Fundamental - See all my reviews

This review is from: Testosterone: A Novel (Paperback)

I bought this book, because of the movie version. The movie is soooo bad that I couldn't believe the book was that poorly written, developed, etc., and it's not. The book is sharp, witty and expertly describes a man driven mad by the power of love.

Dean and Pablo are lovers. When Pablo leaves Dean without any indication that there's anything wrong, Dean must find Pablo to fix whatever drove him away. However, in his quest to find Pablo, he learns that he is one of many (ex)lovers discarded by Pablo, like trash. It seems Pablo not only leaves a lover, but he destroys them emotionally. Story after story of how Pablo ruined lives takes it toll on Dean, and he sinks into murderous revenge. But, I was baffled and bewildered by this book (this does not excuse the bad movie, it's bad on so many levels). I didn't know what to believe, was Pablo an "emotional serial killer" or was Dean just nuts to begin with!!!! In the end it didn't matter, James Robert Baker gave me satisfaction. I throughly enjoyed this book for its suspense, story-telling (Dean telling a story via tapes to James is priceless), and the over-the-top ending for Dean. I hope he never gets out!!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down, July 12, 2004

By 

bowery boy (seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Testosterone: A Novel (Hardcover)

Testosterone burns with a frantic energy that is difficult to explain. Told through a series of audio tapes instead of chapters, the story burns rubber from page one and skids to a frightening, abrupt stop at the end, the smoke still burning from my fingertips.

The narrative, as told through the voice of Dean Seagrave as he drives through LA in search of Pablo Ortega, has a stream of consciousness feel as if I was reading a lunatic's rant, and I possibly may have. It's remains a bit unclear by the close of the novel. At first I started off sympathizing with Dean, I mean who hasn't been uncremoniously dumped? Then as event by disturbing event unfolds I began to question Dean's motives. Does he really have to kill Pablo? Is Pablo really involved in palo mayombe? Does Dean have to take such drastic actions to get answers? By the end I was unsure if should hate Dean, feel sorry for him or if everything that he told me was just an overactive fever dream of a drugged up obsessive mind. That's what makes this such a brilliant novel. I couldn't put it down.

Other reviews have cited the narrative as told through audio tapes as a gimmick that wears thin which, at times, is difficult to follow. I found it compelling, as if Dean was telling me the story through his tapes. Every time he stops the tape and then continues his narrative minutes or sometimes hours after he left off, there was this edge of your seat sense of anticipation that I felt. I think expecting anything more than pure entertainment from Testosterone, like some underlying message about homosexuality or obsession or something like that, is a huge mistake. This is pure entertainment.

Definitely one of the bleakest of Baker's novels,possibly influenced by Baker's state of mind when he wrote this but it 's also one of his best as well.

P.S. steer clear of the awful movie adaptation.