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Martin and John: A Novel Paperback – December 10, 1993

by Dale Peck (Author)

21 customer reviews

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In luminous prose and with a frankness about sexuality rarely seen in contemporary fiction, Dale Peck has written a haunting, daring, and heartrending debut novel that speaks of gay life in the nineties.

Martin and John: A Novel

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Product Details

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: HarpPeren; Reprint edition (December 10, 1993)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060975881
ISBN-13: 978-0060975883
Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,029,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #25279 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Gay
- #118562 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary
- #140553 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

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Customer Reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars

5 star		57%
4 star		9%
3 star		0%
2 star		5%
1 star		29%

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Top Customer Reviews

Martin and John: A Familiar but Hidden World

By Arda Arikan on December 15, 1999

Format: 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.

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A heart-rending story of love through pain

By A Customer on May 2, 1997

Format: 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.

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"Peck-tacular Debut!"

By Irishlad on March 23, 2000

Format: 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.

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Now I Understand Post-Modernism

By Joseph Rios on December 21, 2001

Format: Paperback

One of the very reasons I enjoyed this 'novel' of sorts stems from the very style in which it is written. I've reread it many times over since I bought it, and have found it as compelling the 50th time as the first. The way in which Peck gives life to Martin and John, and the parents (lovers, stepparents, exlovers, etc) Bea and Henry in successive stories, changing histories, including other pasts, and including his own life in the story telling, gave me a way to describe a post-modern story to my friends; one in which a non-linear story line could advance a set of characters as well as be self-aware of itself. This continues to be one of my favorite stories on my bookshelf, and I would lend it to anyone if I hadn't already loaned it to my friend.

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Too good to describe

By Amazon Customer on November 5, 2012

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

I'm still recovering from this book. The ruthless images, shocking scenarios and dysfunctional relationships engulf the reader in an ocean of emotions. Desolation, decay, violence seem to ooze from every page so while I initially tried to make sense of the stories and tried to see how they fit together, I completely stopped trying to stitch together the disparate tales and began to experience the anguish of Martin and John because they are the same everywhere. Meeting, loving and suffering; never quite able to hold on to happiness or even sanity.

This is an utterly beautiful book that may well drag you into depression or make you thankful that you living in a slightly less oppressive age.

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Moving

By Vicky Pang on January 12, 2000

Format: Paperback

The first time I came across this book was its chinese version, which I bought for its attractive book cover. It was difficult for me to follow the stories at first, because it isn't a conventional type of fiction, but a group of stories all with the characters named John and Martin.
But I was gripped as I read on. The stories are naturalistic and dark. I don't know how much they reflect the truth (I'm a girl, so what do I know?) but they feel real and it's really moving, esp. the part about lover dying of AIDS. I love this book, and I lent it to a friend (who is also a girl) and she liked it too.
Of course it is not sitcom, but it is not boring. Most of the book is about the not so happy parts of life, but the people are not feeling miserable about themselves.

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A Very Dark Book

By Alex Soong on June 8, 2011

Format: Paperback

This is a very dark book. The first chapter opens with a gruesome description of a boy finding his unconscious mother having miscarried in a pool of blood. This young mother is later sent to a nursing home with a degenerative nervous disease, never to return. In a following chapter, a boy drowns, another is kicked by a horse, another has his face sliced while a woman is beaten black and blue by her husband. In the next chapter, a father steps hard on his young son's hand at which point, I gave up reading the book. When there's totally no joy or humour in any page, what was the point?

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Cliched

Could not get into this. Towards middle started to like it a little more. Did not care about the characters. Did not finish

Published 1 month ago by Kevin Richards

Heartbreaking.

It took me a while to get used to the unconventional narrative shifts in this novel, but I was go glad I forged onward. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Amara H

Overrated

Sadly, this book was chosen by our book club at the recommendation of someone who had both not read the book and was absent from the discussion. Read more

Published on September 19, 2013 by DanGH

Excellent

I read this book two times. And I think I'ii read it again after some time. You fill sad and happy, and don't believe that it's ends.

Published on July 31, 2012 by kybbik

Realities in the Wake of AIDS

"In a debut novel, the realities of gay life in the wake of AIDS are examined through the story of John's life, and in the stories John writes in his journal after his lover's... Read more

Published on January 7, 2006 by Earl R. Sutton

A unique look at a relationship in the time of AIDS

This is an interesting love story about a couple battling against AIDS. John struggles to keep the relationship with the man he loves, Martin who is living with AIDS. Read more

Published on March 15, 2005 by gac1003

Hard to Follow

This book skips around a lot and I had a hard time figuring out what was going on. I had to actually back track to figure out who and what happened and how they got where they... Read more

Published on March 23, 2004

Not a genius

Dale Peck is not a genius. Not even close. Don't bother. Read any contemporary, who would be better.

Published on March 8, 2004

Dale Peck is one of the most important voices in literary US

Martin and John is an extraordinary novel. Thank god we have people like Dale Peck around. He is an honest and brilliant writer. Thank you Dale for saying what needs to be said.

Published on July 17, 2002