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Candy Everybody Wants

by Josh Kilmer-Purcell (Goodreads Author)

3.43 of 5 stars 3.43 · rating details · 424 ratings · 79 reviews

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...more

Paperback, 288 pages

Published May 13th 2008 by Harper Perennial (first published January 1st 2008)

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Mar 04, 2009 Edward rated it 2 of 5 stars

Josh Kilmer-Purcell revives the golden age of bad 70's/80's TV with the book Candy Everybody Wants. Jason Blocher, a confident gay highschooler, spends his summer filming Dallasty! , a blending of two of the hottest shows on television. Writing, directing and staring in this magnum opus takes it’s toll on Jason, and after blowing up the family garage while filming the season cliffhanger, he is shipped off to his heretofore unknown father in New York City.

Justin’s odyssey to NYC gets him involved...more

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Apr 23, 2013 PaperMoon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is first fiction piece I’ve read from one half of the fabulous Beekman Boys. And it was a very easy coming of age tale to get through. The pace is very fast, the scenarios wildly impossible and yet entertaining, the characters – wacky and strangely sympathetic.

Jayson (with a ‘y’) Blocher wants to be a TV star – making home-made episodes of Dynasty-Dallas spin-offs, crushing on his straight neighbour boy, helping a self-centred artistic bipolar-ish mother evade the child-protection authoriti...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Leta Blake rated it 5 of 5 stars

I adored this book. After an admittedly rough first few pages--(I question the wisdom of starting out in the Dallasty! script)--the rest of the book was an over-the-top, ridiculous, awesome, hilarious, heartfelt, stirring, darling, dopey, dark-but-not, campy, surreal, unbelievable, wonderful, charming read that I happily suspended my disbelief for. I'm pretty sure that anyone who read and didn't love this book either didn't get it, has irredeemably snooty taste, or has no sense of humor. Because...more I adored this book. After an admittedly rough first few pages--(I question the wisdom of starting out in the Dallasty! script)--the rest of the book was an over-the-top, ridiculous, awesome, hilarious, heartfelt, stirring, darling, dopey, dark-but-not, campy, surreal, unbelievable, wonderful, charming read that I happily suspended my disbelief for. I'm pretty sure that anyone who read and didn't love this book either didn't get it, has irredeemably snooty taste, or has no sense of humor. Because it's a pretty great book.

Jayson's character voice was amazingly strong and sure, the self-absorbed thinking that leads to the emotional crisis of the book was entirely age-appropriate. The secondary and tertiary characters were one-and-all lovable and flawed. The romance was heart-meltingly young and fell apart (and came together again) in an understandable way. The situations the characters find themselves in are hard to believe, but there is something satisfying in a book that deftly and usually hilariously (or ouchily-hilariously) ties up each and every character introduced with a big fat bow of plot-relevance at the end. With everyone trying to write 'edgy' stories these days, it's not often that someone just breaks the new rules of that and gives every last character their due.

A child of the 70s or 80s is going to recognize all of the television references in a way that perhaps a younger individual might not, and so some of the humor might be limited for some audiences. But if Lethem can write Fortress of Solitude (amongst other books) with oodles of time-specific pop cultural references and a kid who thinks he can fly, and Eugenides can write Middlesex and include a teenage runaway working as a fake mermaid, and JT Leroy (Laura Albert) can write Sarah about mother and son 'lot lizards', then Kilmer-Purcell can write about a small town kid from a dysfunctional family who, through a series of hilarious and awful and surreal events soars to a lower-echelon of fame, only to plummet again, while eventually learning not to be a self-absorbed asshole teenage celebrity-climber and turns into a big, damn hero.

The main difference between Kilmer-Purcell and the other authors mentioned above is that he never pretends to be writing literature or insinuates in his style that the reader should be taking this all oh-so-very-seriously. No, this book is all about fun, and Kilmer-Purcell obviously knows how to have that. I read Candy Everybody Wants as fast as I could and was sad when it was over. I laughed and smiled and fell for the characters, and it brought joy to my days spent in bed with the flu. I highly recommend it. But only if you're able to laugh and let yourself believe.

ETA: I feel I should add that there were some very small editorial issues here and there such as a typo or transposed words, or the choice to use multiple punctuation marks (!?!?!), but they weren't a big deal in the scheme of the book as a whole.(less)

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Jun 20, 2009 Bart Mesuere rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: english, library

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Jonge wannabe TV ster Jayson Blocher groeide op in de uithoek Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Hij woont daar samen met zijn gehandicapte broer Willie die door een hersenafwijking altijd honger heeft, en zijn excentrieke, psychopathische moeder Toni. Toni gelooft namelijk niet in seks voor het huwelijk en is niet echt standvastig in haar relaties en seksuele voorkeur, bijgevolg is ze al 13 keer getrouwd. Jayson -de y voegde hij zelf toe aan zijn naam om hem meer flair te geven- wil koste wat kost beroemd...more

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Mar 01, 2009 Leah rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

The cover of this book suggests it's a riot, a hilarious walk through the 80s. Personally, I didn't really see what was funny about this story. It's about this kid who discovers he's gay while watching Phil Donahue, make s movie starring his best friends, kisses this guy who he's crushing on who is straight, and is embarrassed in front of his high school when he is outed. His psychopath mother, who is confused about her sexual orientation and has been married 12 times (literally), send him off t...more

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Oct 18, 2010 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a child of the 80's, it was a walk down memory lane (although my prime-time soap opera of choice was Knots Landing - I wanted to be Nicollette Sheridan). As I was reading the book, I was thinking "This must be what Josh wished his biography was", so I wasn't surprised to see in his notes at the back of the book that this was his fantasy memoir! It reminded me of a completely implausible fantasy I had as a teenager: I grew up in a town of 5,000 people in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska. I ha...more

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Oct 05, 2009 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-adult

The nearest comparison I can think of for this book is Marc Acito's How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater, with maybe (oddly) a touch of Olivia Goldsmith thrown in-- and luckily Acito's title is long enough to give you a pretty good gist or what to expect here.

"Candy" is a good word for this because there's definitely something about this that feels a little frivolous, transient and not completely satisfying-- I could see this being a decent beach read, b...more

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Jun 27, 2009 Roxie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-2009

I got this because i just loved Josh Kilmer-Purcell memoir, so i didn't really know what to take from this book i just knew i wanted to read it.

It's such a funny book you are laughing like nearly every other page, the characters are sweet if not a little annoying but thats what makes them really.

I will say that maybe this book tries to hard to fit everything in, there is like 4 different books that could be going on, and in the end they all fade to nothing and nothing really happens, the endin...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, humor, 50-states-locales-ya-challenge

Please see the three stars above as three and a half stars. I’ve read and really enjoyed one of Josh Kilmer- Purcell’s memoirs, used his and his fiance’s Brent’s cookbook, and been looking forward to reading his first memoir. But somehow, around page 45, I figured out this isn’t a memoir, but a novel. Perhaps it was “a novel,” on the cover.

Jayson Blocher, of Oconomowoc, WI dreams of acquiring celebrity fame on television. He’s not very clear how he will achieve it, in his mind it has to do with...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Jeff rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

It's a walk-down-the-memory-lane book of a life of a young gay TV star wannabe about what's in during the 80s: from the madness of influence of TV to the once they previously miscalled 'gay plague'. Going with Jayson as he took his adventures in becoming TV's next big thing was pulse-wracking and exciting, including his love life (although I was more excited on what's in store between him and Trey). The plot takes you to unsuspecting curves and surprises, but the tie-up in the end was done in an...more

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May 24, 2011 Joey Dye rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book. It had a lot of funny moments as well as quite a few sad ones. I think that we all have moments where we look at our lives as a narrative and sometimes wish we could rewrite the script or do a scene (or the whole thing) over. This book reminded me, in its way, that we can't do anything over again, we can't write people out of our lives, and we have to move forward with the people and situations that have been dealt to us. We don't have time to live in regret,...more

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Jan 09, 2011 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

If there is a lesson in Candy Everybody Wants, it is to be careful what you wish for.

The story centers in Jayson (the Y is very important, it shows flair), a gay teenager living in Wisconsin in the early 80s. His mom is a "free spirit" artist, his brother has a developmental disability, his best friends are twins that live next door with their religious fundamentalist parents. Jayson has one overarching goal-to be famous, just like his celebrity crush, Devin Williamson. The summer before high s...more If there is a lesson in Candy Everybody Wants, it is to be careful what you wish for.

The story centers in Jayson (the Y is very important, it shows flair), a gay teenager living in Wisconsin in the early 80s. His mom is a "free spirit" artist, his brother has a developmental disability, his best friends are twins that live next door with their religious fundamentalist parents. Jayson has one overarching goal-to be famous, just like his celebrity crush, Devin Williamson. The summer before high school finds him directing his friends and starring in his own Dallas/Dynasty spin-off. When his performance (in drag) is accidentally shown to the whole town, his mother sends him to live with father-an actor she hooked up with once after a performance, but who Jayson finds is clearly as queer as a three dollar bill. He also runs a male escort service, but he takes in Jayson with equanimity. Also staying with dear old dad-Jayson's favorite child actor, Devin Williamson. Between Devin and his father, Jayson now has enough juice to get him noticed in Hollywood-but will it turn out to be everything he hoped?

Sadly, Candy Everybody Wants did not turn out to be everything I hoped. After reading I Am Not Myself These Days, Purcell's memoir of his days in drag, I was expecting a slightly snarky, witty, and insightful novel about the dangers of seeking fame. I think that what made his memoir successful was the raw honesty with which it was written, and the fact that you knew it was about a real person. In Candy Everybody Wants, the authenticity was missing to a certain extent. Plus, he really threw in every late 70s/early 80s character stereotype there was. Flamboyant gay teen, drug-using promiscuous bisexual mother, former teen-idol on the skids, closeted gay theater actor, homophobic meathead football player, militant lesbian...few of the characters, including Jayson, felt completely developed.

The story itself was entertaining, and I could see it making a great, quirky comedy movie. But as a follow-up to his first book, this one left me a little flat.(less)

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Jul 05, 2008 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Author and columnist Josh Kilmer-Purcell delighted and shocked readers with his 2006 memoir, I Am Not Myself These Days, a comical, poignant, and ferociously entertaining account of his life as a drag queen in New York City and his harrowing relationship with a hustling drug addict.

Kilmer-Purcell’s latest work, Candy Everybody Wants, is his first novel. It’s about an adolescent Midwesterner, Jayson Blocher, who dreams one day of making it in Hollywood. The result is just as funny and engaging as...more Author and columnist Josh Kilmer-Purcell delighted and shocked readers with his 2006 memoir, I Am Not Myself These Days, a comical, poignant, and ferociously entertaining account of his life as a drag queen in New York City and his harrowing relationship with a hustling drug addict.

Kilmer-Purcell’s latest work, Candy Everybody Wants, is his first novel. It’s about an adolescent Midwesterner, Jayson Blocher, who dreams one day of making it in Hollywood. The result is just as funny and engaging as his previous work, and a telltale sign of his future success as a novelist.

The hero in Candy Everybody Wants, Jayson, is hungry for fame and an escape from his hometown of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where he lives with his mother, Toni, and brother, Willie. Set in the 1980s, Jayson is such an avid fan of nighttime soaps Dallas and Dynasty that he spends his days directing and filming his own combined version of the television family sagas, and conveniently casts himself as the love interest of his friend, neighbor, and crush, Trey. Rounding out this cast of veritable misfits is Trey’s sister, Tara, their Bible-thumping mother, Terri, and Toni’s revolving door of romantic interests, which includes both men and women.

An openly gay teen coming of age in 1980s Wisconsin with a mentally challenged brother and irresponsible, philandering mother is arguably a story that has been told before, but still provides enough material for the makings of a novel. The author, however, takes the reader in a completely different direction.

In the course of only a few days, Jayson learns the identity of his father, takes up residence with him in New York, becomes acquainted with former child star Devlin Williamson, and lands a spot in a commercial. It turns out New York isn’t Jayson’s last stop; in fact, his adventure is just about to begin. He eventually makes it to Hollywood, but like the melodramas he has long admired, his own story is not without twists, obstacles, and cliffhangers.

In spite of this ridiculous (albeit engrossing) sequence of events, Kilmer-Purcell’s novel illustrates an especially touching mother-son relationship in Toni and Jayson. Toni won’t see her name on the ballot for mother-of-the-year anytime soon, but she loves and accepts her son unconditionally (even if she takes him for granted), and she never pretends to be June Cleaver. Furthermore, Willie is treated and spoken about no differently than the other youngsters, and the matter-of-factness of his condition is a testament to the author’s writing ability.

Candy Everybody Wants invites the reader on an enjoyable, refreshing walk down memory lane, to a time before the Internet, text messaging, and cell phones were a teen’s primary source of entertainment. Jayson Blocher also represents the star struck, stage struck Generation X-er in all of us.(less)

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Jul 23, 2010 Danie P. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-non-fiction

Fantastic hilarious sad and triumphant are words I would use to describe Josh's memoir. The first chapter almost killed me, where his boyfriend was standing over him with a knife high on crack and the window was open and the boyfriend explains he planned on stabbing him and throwing him out the window but he didn't want the doorman to have to see it and clean it up, he would feel bad. WHAAATTTT. After I read that I knew this was going to be a ridiculous/funny (depending on your sense of humor) b...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Victoria rated it 3 of 5 stars

I got this book because of watching Josh on The Beekman Boys. When I found out he had written books I put them on my "to read" list.

I thought this book would also be about Josh and some what biographical. Turns out this is his first try at fiction.

Set in the early 80's, Jayson, with a "Y" for flair, his twin friends Tara & Trey and his mother Toni have wild adventures. Jayson wants more than anything to be discovered and swept away to the perfect sitcom TV family. Along the way he meets up w...more

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Jun 01, 2009 Annelise rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not sure if I found this searching by genre for "humorous fiction" or if I just found it on the shelf because the cover's shiny. Either way, it's an entertaining coming of age novel about a selfish teenager from the midwest who's determined to be a star and the wacky people who support him and make him crazy. It's simultaneously hilarious and heart-wrenching and has an early 1980s pop culture backdrop.

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Jan 12, 2009 Jan is currently reading it

after 2 pages I THOUGHT WHAT IS THIS CRAP AND ALMOST left it in the BATHROOM AT LAX
but I gave it another chance and it has served as the best way to make subway rides last what seem a blink.
When I told my friend Collin Shanely what I WAS READING HE SAID ' THATS NOT READING A BOOK THATS PICKING UP A DIRTY TISUE AT A PEEP SHOW"

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Jan 11, 2011 Kathleen Dixon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Kathleen by: Miriam Matthews

Shelves: humour

What an entertaining book. It's written from the point of view of a 15-year old boy who has always longed after fame, and it begins with his filming of a TV series which he is quite sure will bring that fame. But ...

There are some funny characters, hilarious moments, and also some very poignant scenes.

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Aug 11, 2009 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

I seem to give everything 3 stars. I need a bigger scale. Anyway, this book falls on the higher end of the 3-star books. Jayson is a believable character in a lot of unbelievable situations. His life revolves around '80s pop culture, he makes mistakes, and he has some great one-liners.

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Oct 26, 2008 Agathafrye rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was an advanced reader's copy, and I hope that they made some editing changes before the final publication. "Candy" was nowhere near as good as "I Am Not Myself These Days," but I did appreciate the cheerfully dysfunctional family dynamics of Jayson's crew. There were some delightfully oddball characters, including a former Hollywood star turned Gay Male Madame, a former child star who wants to be a chef, a vengeful lesbian who becomes a cop and her heroin addicted punk rock brother. The ch...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Richard rated it 2 of 5 stars

Rating: 2* of five

The Book Report: The author himself describes this as his childhood and coming-of-age as he'd've liked them to be. I can see no point in adding to that description.

My Review: Oh dear.

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Aug 16, 2012 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

I LOVED this book. Despite its many characters and constant changing scenarios, I simply couldn't put it down. I was impressed that for once I couldn't tell what would happen next and became deeply fond of all the characters.

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Feb 17, 2010 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I couldn't put this book down. I really liked this. I kept visualizing how it'd be on the big screen. Though all characters may not be likeable at all times, they are real and relatable. I definitely recommend this one.

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Jan 11, 2011 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-library

It took me a couple chapters to really get into this one, which was disappointing because I was hooked on 'Not Myself' from the first few sentences. It picked up soon enough however, particularly once Jayson got to New York.

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Jul 27, 2011 Robert rated it 3 of 5 stars

Cute book about a 'different' boy growing up in the midwest who writes screenplays and is very creative. He yearns to be on television and to be famous. Easy beach read in a few days!

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Jan 02, 2013 Rob Ward rated it 3 of 5 stars

Light and fun. This is not the kind of book that changes your world, or even one that sticks with you after you read, but it is entertaining and funny. A great beach read.

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Jun 17, 2011 Cassi Spigle rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you like Josh Kilmer-Purcell I think you'll be shocked to read his story. The writing isn't great. But the story is entertaining enough to keep you interested.

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Jan 04, 2011 Daniel Kukwa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-lit

I'm just old enough to understand every pop-culture reference in this surprising novel...but I don't recommend it for those born after 1980. You really won't get it.

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Mar 29, 2012 Rebekkila marked it as to-read

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10542213

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Mar 31, 2010 Jennie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010

Not my usual sort of book, that's for sure, but something about the cover and blurb drew me in. Not excellently written, but a readable enough story.

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About Josh Kilmer-Purcell

Josh Kilmer-Purcell is the New York Times best-selling author of I Am Not Myself These Days: A Memoir (Harper Perennial 2006), The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers (Harper 2010), and the novel Candy Everybody Wants (Harper Perennial 2008). He and his partner, Brent Ridge, are also the stars of Planet Green's The Fabulous Beekman Boys. Kilmer-Purcell writes a monthly c...more

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Books by Josh Kilmer-Purcell

The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir

The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook: 100 Delicious Heritage Recipes from the Farm and Garden

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