Shameless

May 10, 2004
British author Burston's spritely, feisty debut follows a formerly decorous gay man's indoctrination into a free-spirited lifestyle of nightclubs, gym workouts, casual sex and recreational drugs. "Fairly handsome" Martin comes home one day to discover that his boyfriend of four years has left him for a "rent boy," so he throws his quiet routine out the window and joins good friend John, a flight attendant, on an endless tour of London's gay nightlife. Meanwhile, Martin's other good friend, hip business professional Caroline, finds herself at the mercy of both a cocaine habit and some dark suspicions that her metrosexual boyfriend, Graham, is actually gay. While Martin and John party excessively, things go from bad to worse for Caroline, whose personal paranoia forces her to mistakenly "out" Graham at a friendly gathering. Then she's caught sniffing drugs at work—and then there's a case of pubic lice. As Martin bulks up at the gym, John starts cooking his own drugs and has a dancing "Britney moment," all while obsessing over his latest conquest: Latin sex-god Fernando. Burston is wise to ground his story on appealingly befuddled Caroline, even though she and everyone else is in a state of drug-induced obliviousness (a scene depicting Martin's father popping Ecstasy and dancing shirtless during Gay Pride makes even the reader wince). The perfect-bodied vanity and dizzyingly juvenile perspective eventually become tiresome, but Martin, Caroline and company, snorting their way through the London club scene, make for a brisk beach read. Agent, Sophie Hicks at Ed Victor Ltd.
(June)

Forecast:
A blurb from
Queer as Folk creator Russell Davies touting this debut as "outrageously funny" should generate interest, and a pre-summer release date will mean that there's plenty of time for folks to pick up Burston's book along with the sun block and beach snacks.

May 1, 2004
Who says life as a gay man is no fun? Martin is a good-looking, nice guy--perhaps a little out of shape, but in a solid relationship and happy. But when his boyfriend of four years runs off with a male prostitute, he is thrown for a loop. At age 32, he decides to take on the London club scene in a way he never had before. He joins a gym, spends his nights with his ragtag group of friends at the clubs, and dives head first into sex, music, and drugs. His best friend, Carolyn, meanwhile, is having her own problems--her boyfriend is too good to be true, and when she accuses him of being gay, he leaves her and sends her into her own world of drugs and despair. Good times and hedonism can leave you feeling empty, and after months of one-night stands, hard drug use, and forgotten evenings, Martin's newly discovered lifestyle comes to a dramatic end. Everything works out in the end of this fun romp of a first novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)