The Value of X (Hardcover)

PZB has been one of my favorite writers since the first time I read Lost Souls back in the early 90s. Each volume she releases, be it a simple chapbook or a 300 page novel, shows growth and more depth.

In Value of X, PZB continues her departure away from the horror tales of her early career. X is the story of (John) Rickey, and (Gary) G-Man Stubbs, two residents of New Orleans, and best friends since the fourth grade.

Rickey and Gary are not just best friends. They are gay and in love with each other, only they don't realize it. The secret each holds - that he is in love with the other - is complicated by the fact that all of their other friends spout homophobic slurs on a daily basis, and neither knows the other is gay.

After they finally figure it out, they become inseperable ... much to the annoyance of Rickey's mother and Gary's parents. A plan is hatched to drive them apart, by sending one of them across the country, while the other must stay in New Orleans, both missing each other terribly and wondering if they will ever see each other again.

This book is part one of a trilogy, which includes Value of X, Liquor, and The Big D. Liquor, the second book in the series, was actually written first. Absolutely typical of what I've come to expect from Poppy.

5 stars, and well worth your time. Brilliantly written and engaging, these characters will stay with you for a long time to come.

The story introduces us to John, Gary, and their families, and sets the stage for life as adults, as friends and lovers, as well as their introduction to the culinary world.
I read this after finishing Poppy's follow up novel, Liquor, so I was already aquainted with both G-Man and Rickey, and it probably helped me to enjoy this novel a little more since I was already familiar with the plot and was concentrating more on the characters themselves.

Taken by itself, the novel comes across to me as a little bit light, but I think that it lays some very important groundwork for the boy's relationship and aspirations that will pay off for readers in later novels, like Liquor, which follows the two through the opening of their first restaurant, and the forthcoming The Big D. For me this works, as if each entry is another glimpse of a much larger whole that will be filled in as time goes by.