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| The Boys in the Brownstone | 
 enlarge | Author: Kevin Scott
Publisher: Haworth Press
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $1.61
You Save: $16.34 (91%)
New (11) Used (16) from $1.29
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 770032
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 261
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 6 x 0.8
ISBN: 1560232951
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781560232957
ASIN: 1560232951
Publication Date: April 21, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: **NEW** Slight edge wear. Inside book is clean, pages tight. No remainder marks. Shipped with delivery confirmation inside US. Selling books since 1979*p/WR6-32
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 9 | | NEXT » |
 Excellent! June 26, 2007
This is a truly excellent read. Mr. Scott does the nearly impossible. We are brought into the lives of a rich and diverse set of characters, less by their actions and more by their dialogue. The lives and stores are artfully woven.
The hang-out of the hung-up January 9, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Brownstone, a gay bar on the affluent Upper East Side of New York, is frequented by a varied assortment of hung-up gay men; and the staff a mix of immigrants and hustlers. As the story unfolds in six parts it centres in turn on individual characters or groups of characters, their lives and loves, with the Brownstone as a point of reference. The different individuals appear and reappear in the stories as their lives intersect.
The wild array of characters include a guy who, having finally accepted that he his gay, has just separated from his wife and is now cruising for a hook up; a priest who has been stealing from his monsignor to finance his handsome lover's new landscape gardening business, and an AIDs suffering neurotic bar-man who's been abused by a succession of lovers. There is the all too respectable political candidate with a social conscience who is about to marry a soap opera writer who still has a heart for his best man, an afro-American Princeton graduate of class. Then the art gallery owner bent on revenge after his lover has just been murdered; the caring psychotherapist; and the museum curator who is infatuated with the pianist whose previous boyfriends had the unfortunate habit of committing suicide.
This is an hilariously funny, at times quite touching array of stories, that cleverly intertwine with and overlap each other. Often we see the same events from the different characters' perspectives. The reader just needs to remember who's who as the various participants crop up different times throughout the story.
Looking Forward to More Brownstone Stories April 22, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Could this be "Tales of the City" for New York? While this first installment may not have allowed for Maupin's depth of character development, "Brownstone" certainly shows promise. This was a great invention to introduce a number of lives, most of them intersecting each other. The characters were believable because the author didn't resort to stale stereotypes or tired queerisms. I do hope that we'll be seeing more of the Brownstone. If only there were such a place in every neighborhood. Not a bad place to weather either the storms of reality or metaphor.
Great light weekend read January 3, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
One of my Christmas gifts was the Kevin Scott novel "The Boys in the Brownstone", and I was given the perfect opportunity to curl up with it on New Years Eve, when my husband was out working, and I was home alone during a rainstorm-induced power outage. Nothing to do but pour a glass of eggnog, light some candles, and read this entertaining story. The Brownstone is a gay bar on the upper east side, and the novel is really a series of tangential vignettes. Think "Desperate Housewives: Gay New York Edition". Each chapter introduces a new set of characters, and explores a different flawed relationship, but all of the characters end up at the Brownstone sooner or later, and featured characters in one vignette often appear one the sidelines of other vignettes. Sometimes in the bar, we revisit the same conversations from another character's perspective (like the film "Go"). The characters and stories were all engaging enough to keep me turning the pages with interest. The fact that it was set during Christmastime made it more fun to read it at this time of year, but that's certainly not essential. Reading it all in one weekend is useful, as the number of characters starts to accumulate, and there were a few times where I had to stop and think "now who was that one again?". Doubtful you'll glean any profound insights here, as it's all a bit melodramatic (all of the characters have issues). But it's very entertaining, a great read for a weekend at the beach or a long flight. Or a New Years Eve power outage.
An Excellent Read August 18, 2005
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
A rare form, this work can be read in 2 hours at the beach or on a plane, or can be savored and analyzed for weeks.
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