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Tarfumes.com - Candy Everybody Wants (P.S.)
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List Price: $13.95
Our Price: $11.16
Your Save: $ 2.79 ( 20% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780061336966
ISBN: 0061336963
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2008-05-01
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: 2008-05-13
Studio: Harper Perennial
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Editorial Reviews:
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From the critically acclaimed author of I Am Not Myself These Days comes the very odd adventures of a starry-eyed young man from the Midwest seeking fame and fortune in the flamboyant surreality of New York, Los Angeles . . . and everywhere in between. Jayson Blocher is tired of worshiping pop culture; he wants to be part of it. So he's off, accompanied by an ever-changing cast of quirky extended family members, on an extremely bumpy journey from rural Wisconsin to a New York escort agency for Broadway chorus boys, to a Hollywood sitcom set. Somewhere out there his destiny awaits—along with the discovery of first love, some unusual coincidences, a kidnapping mystery . . . and the sobering truth that being America's sweetheart can leave a very sour aftertaste.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Kind of Book to Read in Your Underwear
Comment: This is the kind of book you read in your underwear, stretched out on your bed in the position a 12-year-old girl uses to write in her diary. However, it doesn't always want to be, which creates much of the conflict.
The story takes place in the beginning of the 80s, just when a gay cancer is spreading through major cities and just when Reagan is taking his office (which is appropriate, since the novel is about a kid so obsessed with television he cannot see his own life around him and things need to be explained to him in television terms, and Reagan is the made-for-TV president), where a young boy, through a devestating series of events -- which are quite funny for the reader -- starts on his way of becoming a STAR!
The plot is episodic and like a gay Victorian novel, every pun intended. Yet, Kilmer-Purcell is a little too cruel and meddlesome on his part, bringing in new plot elements, surprise twists, and on, to really have some sort of light, breezy gay episodic romp through life that the novel kind of wants to be; while at the same time, none of his characters hardly ever stretch out to be more than caricatures, just images of the crazy mother, the protective lover, the weird friends, and odd family, and even Jayson doesn't have much going for him depth-wise.
The writing is readable enough to flirt with 'literary-ness', and Kilmer-Purcell is ambitious, tackling as many themes as he can fit into 250 pages, from love to abadonment to life of celebrity to filtering reality, but the plot-driven aspects darg it down, so it ends up flirting with both styles, which is perfectly all right, without really pulling either of them off. Added to that is an ending that's convienent for all the characters, but throws the book for a loop, since it includes a little-touched upon detail that suddenly becomes full-blown and as cliche as a TV show. Then again, maybe that was the point.
That being said, it is a fun novel and there are plenty of humorous elements and except for maybe the last 50 pages or so, I didn't regret spending any time with it. It's still just okay. Kilmer-Purcell may get better. Let's hope so.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, witty, creative, BRILLIANT!
Comment: I may be a bit biased about this book because I know the author, Josh Kilmer-Purcell. He was the quiet shy new boy in high school who accompanied the concert choir and other musical groups on the piano. I distinctly remember how talented he was on that out of tune upright piano in the auditorium!
As soon as I found out Josh had written a second book, I knew I had to read it immediately! Having read Josh's first book, I Am Not Myself These Days three times so far, I knew that even though this story was technically "fiction" it would be funny, warm and entertaining (and possibly even a bit dark). I was not disappointed. By page 8, I knew I wasn't going to be able to put it down.
This particular conversation sums it all up for me perfectly, "'Ma, I'm a homosexual!' 'And precocious!' Toni shouted back, smiling at him through the sliding glass door. 'I'm a precocious homosexual!!!' 'Yes you are, Butter Bean. Yes you are.'"
This is indeed a story about a precocious homosexual. It's wonderfully real and honest. It is a perhaps unconvential coming of age story of a boy who knows he was meant to be a star (little does he know, he's genetically predisposed!).
Whether you are gay, straight or otherwise inclined, this story will make you laugh out loud and cry openly. It's been two weeks. I think I need to read it again.
I'm just hoping this isn't the last we've heard of Jayson (nudge nudge....hint hint...).
P.S., If you haven't read Josh's first book (and brutally honest autobiography), "I Am Not Myself These Days", you are hereby instructed to do so immediately!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fasten your seat belt, and put phasers on STUN-ning!
Comment: Reading kind of like a VH1-style "I Love the 80's" special on steroids, "Candy Everyone Wants" is a madcap, extremely "over-the-top" story of a rather eventful year in the life of Jayson Blocher, a joyously flamboyantly gay boy from a small town in Wisconsin. A series of events lead to his leaving home to go to Manhattan and live with his estranged father, who runs an escort agency for men who want to spend time with Broadway chorus boys. Jason meets Devlin, a slightly older boy who starred in a popular sitcom and whom Jason had a longtime crush on, and he gets to sample a bit of fame by appearing in a popular series of television commercials. Subsequent events have both Jayson and Devlin on the lam and living on the streets of Chelsea, while his family and friends make an unexpected visit and Jayson waits to hear if he will be co-starring in a sitcom of its own. Throw in a few homophobic bible-thumpers, a kidnapping, a betrayal from someone whom he thought was a friend, and a realization that the life of an actor is not always a bed of roses, and you have a rollicking good time of a novel, written in a fast-paced, very witty manner that can cause a bit of "whiplash" whenever you try to put the book down for a while. So don't put it down ... it's a fun, light read. Five stars out of five.
Customer Rating:
Summary: If you loved the memoir, you won't like the novel
Comment: I adored I Am Not Myself These Days. It's like a different writer created this dreadful "novel." To me, it was quite sophomoric and not even remotely witty. Silly, perhaps, without a shred of charm to it. JK-P should have kept this hidden in his sock drawer.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Another Great Book
Comment:
Josh Kilmer-Purcell has done it again. Hysterical tail of a creative kid trying to follow his dream while growing up with a variety of dysfunctional characters around him. Hard to put down, wish there was more!
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