 As Hot As You Remember by Donovan Lee |
| Review Date: May 27, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Elisa, Italy |
I don't know Donovan Lee and on the net I found very few info, but after reading this anthology, I have the feeling to have met him. Obviously not all the story are autobiographical, but in all of them I feel a connection, I feel the real Donovan inside of them. The more obvious point of connection is that they are all setting in New Orleans, and most of them are cherished memories of a time lost, the beginning of the '80, when having sex was still a joyous thing and not a life danger. Plus I think the author, as many of his characters, probably is an average gay guy, who believes in true love and is always surprise when he realizes that true love can be nearer as expected.
Tied Even Closer: a young college student realizes to be gay and fear the reaction of his roommate, a farm boy who seems to have only girls in his head. But two strange nights draw them together and will forge a friendship that will last forever, more than love.
A Night Out of Time: a barely legal boy has to leave his disapproving family, and chooses to live in the big city, New Orleans. Here he has an aunt, he hopes he will help him, but he also discovers a family secret, and in his over excited mind he thinks to see a ghost... or maybe his real?
When Derek Gets Back: Derek and Jason are a more than twenty years old couple, but they are still in love as the first time they met. And when Derek needs to go out of town for work, even if only for a week, Jason seems to be not able to live without his lover by his side.
Expected Visit, With Surprises: three friends always enjoy the swimming pool of one of them, but when one of the guys can't go to their usual meeting, the other two can finally let free the attraction between them and enjoy an hot afternoon, and maybe more...
Finding Sandy: a young man has never had the courage to come out and express his feelings for other man. Not at 21 years old he is more than ready to consummate his passion and when he sees an older man, but very handsome and caring, he can only hope that he is Mr Right Now... and if he will become Mr Right Forever, even better
In Line and Out of Hand: three strangers in a club and the usual game of glances. But one of the three is not "into" the game, or at least he is not into it for "fair" play, and the other two only has to find a way to be finally alone.
Out in the Open (Zing's Campground Adventure): while he is jogging in his favourite park outside the city, Zing meets Gabe, a guy he knows since he is an ex of a friend. Gabe is a cute guy, but he is not out with his family, and he has a lot of tension to blow out. And so Zing thinks to help him: a bit of sex in the open can be risk but also a very good way to pull out all the stress.
Sorting: they work at the same gym, he has never considered Anthony as a possible lover... he never knew that Anthony was gay! But one day while they are working in the store room, Anthony finally has the courage to make a move and he is more than happy to oblige... he has searched for love in all the wrong places, when he had it right near him.
Two Kinds of Action: he was searching only casual sex, but maybe searching it at 2 am in the park was not a good idea. Luckily the first man he meets will be also the man who will save him from a very bad encounter later.
Smoke Break: they work together late at night, ones in the city only for one day... why not finish the day in a very good way?
Younger: this is probably the best tale in the anthology, for its originality and for have the courage to underline that gay is not only beautiful young men. Murphy is 71 years old and widow. He has five sons, all big and independent, and now he can finally be what he wants to be. But coming out when you can be the grandfather of the men you are interested on can be pretty sad. Same problem of Ed, 68 years old: he can remember a period when he was young and he can have the twinks that now he can only look at. And so Murphy and Ed spend the night looking and talking... but if they were young again? And if being young was not so important?
Getting Past Almost: the end of the anthology present the first two chapters in the longer novel of the same author, Getting Past Almost. I believe this one has even more a autobiographical connotation, giving that the main character has the same name of the author. It's a memories tale, the main character from the present begins his narration when he was 18 years old, more than 20 years before. An interesting beginning, probably the start of an angst novel, don't know if with an happily ever after, I hope so.
All the tales are pretty nostalgic and even more involving since for the most in first point of view. |
Something for Everyone
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| Review Date: October 2, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Amos Lassen, Little Rock, Arkansas |
Lee, Donovan. "As Hot as You Remember", Wordclay, 2008.
Something for Everyone
Amos Lassen
Good erotica is not easy to write and when it is done correctly it sizzles. Let me tell you that Donovan Lee is quite a writer and "As Hot as You Remember" more than sizzles. It is made up of thirteen erotic stories that are not just erotic but have a sense of innocence which is almost impossible to find in erotica. All of them are written in the first person and each is very different.
As I said before that the sense of innocence in these stories overwhelmed me and as Lee gives his world view, we get stories that are as believable as they are unbelievable. These is also something about erotica that is hard to put into words, especially in a review. There is a great deal of sex as is expected. What I did not expect was that it would be so beautifully written. Usually erotica is tawdry but exciting; here it is literary and exciting. I realize that this is a short review but I want all of you to get a copy of this book and see what I mean here. You will not be sorry. I have not written anything about each of the stories because to do so would deprive the reader of a great experience.
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Interesting but uneven
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| Review Date: October 12, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Paul G. Bens, Jr., Los Angeles, California |
Hmmmm....this collection 13 gay erotica stories and two chapters from the author's separately available book is an odd little duck and one that is a smidge difficult to review in that I had two distinct reactions to it. On the one hand, I had a lot of problems with the writing, the prose style and the lack of characterization. On the other hand, I walked away with a warm, nostalgic feeling and an intense interest in seeing how this writer develops.
With very few exceptions, the stories are told from the first-person point of view in an almost stream-of-consciousness style. The result is that the prose in most of the pieces is a bit clunky, a smidge herky-jerky, as the narrator sometimes goes off on details that seem almost to be non-sequiturs or employs phrases that are just off somehow. "One of my favorite things about being an athlete was the smell of male bodies, the flood of testosterone hitting my senses! It was amazing I'd never done anything like that in a locker room, but even I had never thought I'd suddenly act out this way in the great outdoors." On the other hand, Lee will occasionally come up with the perfect phrase that encapsulates a lot in a very few words, that manages to capture the excitement of youth or the hopefulness of old age. "I don't know if he slept any, but I didn't."
On the wider view of the collection, the stream-of-consciousness does lend an air of intimacy, as if the reader is being told these stories by a close friend. The awkwardness of the words and the dialog gives it that feel of two friends just chatting. I'm not sure how much of this was a deliberate choice by the author or how much occurs simply by happenstance. Regardless, the realism and intimacy projected make me wonder what this author could do with prose that was just more fluid. Luckily, we get hints of where this author could go in some of the later, shorter pieces.
Like much gay erotica, characterization often suffers at the desire to get to the hot and sweaty deeds that are the heart of each story. So is the case here. There isn't much to differentiate the characters within individual stories from each other (other than brief physical descriptions), and the voice of each character sounds largely like the other. On a story level I, as a reader, never found distinct personalities in the characters. They were, by and large, completely interchangeable, and as a result, the erotic elements didn't really work for me as character and personality are always the key to me when I'm "watching" two men get it on.
On a collection level, however, the lack of characterization gives a universal feel, as if you are seeing one man looking back on his entire life and remembering only the good bits. This gives the collection a sweet, nostalgic feel that is really appealing. I think the fact that many of the stories begin with something akin to "When I was eighteen" or "I was in college when..."really adds to this feel. Deliberate? Again, I'm not so sure, but given the title is "As Hot as You Remember," it ends up working when the collection is said and done.
Despite the lack of full characters, what is appealing on a story level is the number of stories which end not with a Happily-Ever-After in the traditional sense, but with the very reveal that the characters ended up together or had been together since or had remained good friends. Sure, there are plenty of one night stands in these stories, but what lingers with you are those moments when the author throws in at the end "And we've been together the last 20 years," almost as an afterthought. Yes, it's slim and a bit old fashioned as a story-telling device, but it leaves you with an easy feeling that serves the collection well.
One aspect that I don't think works for the stories or the collection is that there isn't much descriptive about the locales in which the stories are set. Most seem to take place in the New Orleans area or nearby surrounds, but we never get a sense of the sights or sounds or smells of these places in Lee's prose. Like the men in the stories, the settings are nondescript, interchangeable. With New Orleans being a place of such richness and diversity, I expected to have a strong sense of place. As it is, the locales don't have any distinctive character themselves. A fatal flaw? Not by any stretch.
So, below I'll give some brief thoughts on each story, but overall I feel that this collection, when all is said and done, succeeds as a collection. It somehow manages to overcome the major flaws within its component stories to work as a nice, nostalgic trip down memory lane. I don't know that I would ever remember any of the individual stories in a few days, but I will remember the warm feeling I walked away with. And that ain't bad. More so than anything, I've very curious to see where Lee goes as a writer. There is something here that I really like, that feels relatively exciting, and I think if he hooked up with an excellent editor, there could be fireworks. There's an interesting talent here and I for one will be watching to see where Lee goes with it.
Originally reviewed for Uniquely Pleasurable. |
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