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ARCADE

Name: ARCADE
Author: Drew Nellins Smith
ISBN: 978-1-939419-72-9

by Drew Nellins Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2016

A sexy and poignant novel that could have done well with a more original exploration of gay mores.

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A Texas-based debut novel about a man controlled by his sexuality.

When Sam finally realizes that his sexual orientation might be different from what society expects of him, he resorts to the internet to find satisfaction. But the Missed Connections vertical on Craigslist is not enough for him. To his surprise, he happens upon a roadside arcade that guarantees anonymity to its customers, that allows for a quick release, and that carries the potential for a connection. For all intents and purposes a XXX video store, the arcade is where the confused Sam soon spends most of his days and nights. There, he meets a cast of men, ranging from a “tweaker” to “a big bull of man,” and engages in a variety of activities—most of which will elicit chills and a raised eyebrow. “I could have something like an encounter [at the arcade], a vicarious experience completely free of any fears of infection or the face-to-face intimacy I didn’t know how to process,” Sam says. The novel oscillates between telling Sam’s story outside of the arcade and framing it only in terms of his homosexuality (“I had seen porn magazines before…I remember shaking all over and coming in my pants….I kept shaking after that, searching my room for a hiding spot where no one would look….That was the moment when I knew…I might really be the kind of person you weren’t supposed to be”). Smith has created a narrative that entrances its readers, constantly giving us excitement and depicting with audacity the rawness of sexuality. However, the text rarely explores the complexity of coming out in a contemporary environment, reverting to hypersexualized stereotypes of gay men. Smith offers few glimpses into Sam’s life outside the arcade, with brief appearances by the genuine love interests and connections Sam has made, but quickly returns to the arcade—as if sex was the only thing on his mind or the only thing he was capable of. Nevertheless, Smith has crafted a daring and compelling debut that sheds light on a rather unusual lifestyle.

A sexy and poignant novel that could have done well with a more original exploration of gay mores.

Pub Date: June 14, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-939419-72-9

Page Count: 222

Publisher: Unnamed Press

Review Posted Online: June 13, 2016

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- PROFILES
Drew Nellins Smith

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.

Pub Date: July 11, 1960

ISBN: 0060935464

Page Count: 323

Publisher: Lippincott

Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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by Harper Lee

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BETWEEN SISTERS

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2003

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...

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Sisters in and out of love.

Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.