Customer Reviews

The Life and Adventures of Lyle Clemens

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I picked this book up when it first hit the book stores, and devoured it in a single reading (something I haven't done since reading Madame Bovary). I've never written a review on Amazon before, but felt somewhat compelled to do so by the New York Times flap, which demonstrated to me that Rechy is a thousand times more honest, self-aware and has a much better sense of humor than all of the hypocritical authors (never mind "professional" critics) who were alluded to, but apparently didn't have the spine to own up to their own creative doings on Amazon. So, in case any one is still reading this: this book is masterful, emotional without being sentimental. Rechy renders situations in a way that are at once heart-breaking and hilarious. The aging Hollywood actress who is able to use her imagination to turn each bit of humiliating news into, if not triumph, then at least hope; the nouvelle-riche porn producer's wife who frets about vulgarity-- the book is comprised of high adventure and wonderful characters. I think that what I liked most about this book is that Rechy never makes fun of or patronizes his characters the way, I think, a lesser writer might. As a result, the characterizations are rich, and I was completely lost in the characters' desires and pipedreams. Buy this book!

ItÂ's boring and cursory.
Save your money; Save your time and read something else
ItÂ's not one of the author's best.

A beautifully written story that will go down as one of the author's best. The tale of the lovable Lyle Clemens is not only funny but incredibly touching. The ending is sublime. Fans of Rechy and those who have never read a word of his work are in for a real treat.

After all the hullabaloos in the NY Times over authors writing their own reviews, because of the comments of Rechy, I picked up this book over the weekend and couldn't put it down. Curiosity got the best of me. The book is hilarious. I enjoyed every minute. I recall reading Rechy's excellent but dark CITY OF NIGHT. This is such a contrast. It is humorous yet touching, proving Rechy's strong virtuosity as a topflight novelist. It is story telling at its best - a bewitching wickedly entertaining tome in which an irrepressible young hero is set loose in the "born again" world of Texas, the clubs of Las Vegas, and then on to the seductive allure of crazed filled Los Angeles. Finely written, a very good read, highly recommended and I'm pleased to rediscover this excellent writer.

I think what people are missing with Rechy's latest -- and what's so expertly done it's nearly invisible -- is the sheer physical bravado of the writing. What other modern novels move with such lithe speed, evoking the physical world of both the picaresque and the screwball comedy with such wicked glee? None that I can think of. Like most great comedy, its seeming slightness is being used against it. Rechy doesn't linger over anything; he makes his points then moves on. If he turned lugubrious or ponderous, the praising would never cease!! But his footing is sure, his cutting wit swift, and his amassed technique does what all technique should do: it recedes to the (in this case) sheer visual power of the storytelling....

Well, what can I say. It was even challenging to finish this book while delayed for four hours on the apron at Logan airport. Rechy has constructed an artificial cast of characters. Where is the depth, the humanity of these characters. Try again.

As a recent rewiewer stated, the story made me laugh, but not in glee. The characters are plastic; the human condition as experienced in real life is absent. Save your dollar; more importantly, save your time and read something else.

john rechy is a cultural touchstone and a literary marvel. this book is a picaresque novel that he loosely based on tom jones --i hate to say this but it is better than fielding! (both helen and henry). rechy's range is astonishing -- he is sexual and cerebral, melancholy and hilarious, all at once. he is a living treasure, and i wouldn't be surprised if this one's up for all the awards next year. i think it may be his finest book to date. if you're not hip to rechy (you would have had to have been under a pretty big rock), GO OUT AND BUY THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW! you'll have a helluva good time, not just with monitoring the narrative, but with rechy's mastery of the medium of fiction.

I've really enjoyed most of John Rechy's work, particularly Marylin's Daughter The miraculous day of Amalia Gómez, and to a lesser extent, The coming of the night, but The Life and Adventures of Lyle Clemens, although clever in it's structure, was disappointing. This book just didn't work for me. I can appreciate that many readers will absolutely love the humor and comedy in this, but for me, it unfortunately, just fell flat. Part of the problem is perhaps that Rechy's dialogue just lacked sparkle and sharpness. The narrative works well as a type of "sit-com" situational comedy loosely modeled, of course on Henry Fielding's 18th-century classic The History of Tom Jones. But I just felt that the dialogue between the main characters lacked sharp acid wit, that we should expect from a writer such a Rechy. His writing seemed rushed and hurried, and I wanted him to take more time with his story; maybe relax and really consolidate his characters more securely in their time and place.

Lyle Clemens is indeed an endearing character, and there's an incredible sexual innocence to his character. Born in Texas, to the beautiful, but forsaken Silvia Love, who takes to drink when Lyle's father dumps her, and her hopes of becoming Miss America are crushed by her fundamentalist mother. Lyle is tremendously naïve and blissfully unaware of his good looks, lustiness and sexiness. People fawn around him like flies - there's Maria, the Mexican beauty, and Rose who teaches him about sex and how to seduce a virgin with confidence. Silvia's best friend Clarita - a rather staid stereotype of an older Mexican-American - who helps to raise Lyle and remains loyal to Silvia. There are lots of other minor characters that meet Lyle and help him along on his adventurous journey through life. Sister Matilda, is a gospel singer who befriends Lyle, the aging starlet Tarah Worth, the crooked evangelists Brother Bud and Sister Sis, and a couple of pornographers who have suspiciously well recognizable names. It's nice that Mr. Rechy has incorporated some gay content into his story with the character of Raul, a gay boy who falls in love with Lyle and falls into the "devilish" clutches of the evangelists.

Generally though, I felt that Life and Adventures of Lyle Clemens read too much like an afternoon soap opera, rather than a satire of our contemporary age, which is what the story is supposed to symbolize. I'm sure die-hard fans of Rechy will love this - and they generally due judging by some of the other glowing reviews. But if you want the best John Rechy, I would venture into some of his earlier work, particularly City of Night.

Michael

Until I read this novel, I don't think I would believe that a novel that is often laugh-aloud funny would also be so deeply moving--at times, I felt tears. It's a loose take-off on TOM JONES, but it's set in present times, and its hero is handsome Lyle Clemens, born in Texas, to a beautiful woman whose hopes of becoming Miss America are crushed by her fundamentalist mother in a scene that will have you laughing and crying at the same time. Lyle is something of an innocent, not even aware of his good looks and sexiness that attracts an array of lively characters, Maria, the Mexican beauty, Rose, the "loose" woman who initiates him into sex (and whose advice he follows when he's called upon to perform "the preacher strut" at a fundamentalist revivial, another scene that will have you howling with laughter). There's also Clarita, the somewhat daffy woman who helps to raise Lyle; Sister Matilda, a gospel singer who befriends him; aging starlet Tarah Worth, who wants, desperately, to get the lead in a remake of Valley of the Dolls, a screenplay that changes throughout the book until it becomes something entirely otherwise; she seduces Lyle into a mad scheme during the Academy Awards, another pricelss scene. Among the most hilarious and deadly characters are Brother Bud and Sister Sis, crooked evangelists, and a couple of uppity pornograhpers, a man whose wife is constantly toning down his language even on the set of their porn movies. In Los Angeles, Lyle falls in love with a poster-woman named Babette, that leads him into a trap to become the next porn sensation on the internet, a nasty plot devised by the porn king and queen. There's also Raul, the gay kid who falls in love with Lyle and falls into the clutches of the evangelists who want to rid him of "the devil," another scene that makes you laugh and cry at the same time. Lyle moves from Texas to Las Vegas (he's sure a magician is really sawing up his assistant), and on to Hollywood. He alternately becomes the Lord's Cowboy, when the evangelists take him on tour to excite their congreation; Mr. Cowboy, when he accompanies a superstitious Las Vegas gambler; the Mystery Cowboy, after, at Hugh's mansion he "saves" Miss Universal from a peacock that has run rampant over the mansion grounds; and, finally, a surprising development on Hollywood Boulevard, one of the most touching endings I have ever read. This book is great--and on top of it all, it has terrific illustrations, one for each chapter. I won't ever forget this book nor Lyle and the wide cast of characters.