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You Can Say You Knew Me When
by
K.M. Soehnlein (Goodreads Author)
Charming underachiever Jamie Garner is living a sexy slacker's life in San Francisco during the dot-com boom-avoiding his stalled career as a radio producer, barely holding on to his relationship, but surrounded by fun-loving friends. And then Jamie gets the call he's always dreaded: Teddy, the father who never accepted him, has died. It's time for the prodigal son to come...more
Paperback, 424 pages
Published
November 1st 2006
by Kensington
(first published 2005)
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While Soehnlein's novel can be enjoyed on many levels, say, as the story of a man trying to come to grips with the death of a father with whom he was estranged, or as an adroit comparison of life in mid-90's San Francisco with that of the early 60's. By the novel's end, the reader realizes that Soehnlein had even great ambitions with his work, to explore that exciting period in their twenties when many people leave home in hopes of change. This fantasy is often met with hard reality, but some at...more
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Complex and at times emotionally difficult, and not a book I wanted to read just before trying to fall to sleep.
Soehnlein's book captured the struggle of monogamy so well. Having been in a committed relationship for 24 years, my husband and I know those struggles very well: The ease of commiting to monogamy, the temptations, the relationship conflicts which allow one to justify unfaithfulness and the issues of loss of trust and attempts to re-establish it if the vows are broken.
The search for t...more
Soehnlein's book captured the struggle of monogamy so well. Having been in a committed relationship for 24 years, my husband and I know those struggles very well: The ease of commiting to monogamy, the temptations, the relationship conflicts which allow one to justify unfaithfulness and the issues of loss of trust and attempts to re-establish it if the vows are broken.
The search for t...more
It’s a lovely story that enfolds itself slowly which is a big plus. I love the images of the San Francisco in the dot-com era (early 90-ies) but even more I love SFO in beatnik era when Jack Kerouac was there. Btw, ”On the Road” is definitively my next tbr. There are so many references to that book; it’s kind of homage to Kerouac’s book as well as Kerouac’s America. Not being there, not being an American I’ve found this totally captivating, even exotic.
It’s deeply personal story about (mostly) f...more
It’s deeply personal story about (mostly) f...more
Jamie Garner is the scale model thirty-something struggling creative-type from San Francisco who has flirted with success, both personally and professionally, but just can't seem to form a lasting relationship on either end.
Author K. M. Soehnlein introduces Jamie, some time in the mid-90s, en route to his New Jersey hometown for the funeral of his father, whom he hadn't spoken to in the last five years. In spite of their tumultuous relationship, Jamie remains connected to his sister, Deirdre, wh...more
Author K. M. Soehnlein introduces Jamie, some time in the mid-90s, en route to his New Jersey hometown for the funeral of his father, whom he hadn't spoken to in the last five years. In spite of their tumultuous relationship, Jamie remains connected to his sister, Deirdre, wh...more
Il padre del protagonista non ha mai accettato che il figlio fosse gay. Poi muore. Il protagonista va da San Francisco fino in New Jersey per il funerale e mentre elimina le cose del padre si accorge di una scatola.
Il libro vero finisce qui.
Poi succede che il protagonista va in giro a scopare, a drogarsi, a mandare a puttane la sua vita e i suoi rapporti umani per superare il trauma del suddetto padre morto.
Poi ad un certo punto si sbroglia la situazione, ma solo quando dopo trecento pagine l'au...more
Il libro vero finisce qui.
Poi succede che il protagonista va in giro a scopare, a drogarsi, a mandare a puttane la sua vita e i suoi rapporti umani per superare il trauma del suddetto padre morto.
Poi ad un certo punto si sbroglia la situazione, ma solo quando dopo trecento pagine l'au...more
This one was hard for me to get through. I LOVED The World of Normal Boys, so I picked this one up hoping it would be as good. I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I did with Normal Boys. Its a good read, if you have nothing else to read.
i love karl's laid back/then intense style, it made me want to go back and find out what the hell has lead to my friend's and I current situation in SF and to look at how I deal with other folks. Read this!
Good writing, but I found it was too long. The characters were well developed but there were so many secondary characters and twists and turns that I had trouble keeping track and wondered where the book was going. By the time we got back to the Dean/Danny storyline I had completely forgotten about it.
Unemployed radio producer researches his late father's beat-era San Francisco sojurn, and is surprised to learn that his homophobic pa had queer friends. Excellent plotting and characterization, and the period details both of the dot-com era and beat-aping writing of the main character's father are spot-on.
I really loved this book. As a gay man, so much of this book resonated and I can say I saw myself reflected in many of the characters found within.
Jan 05, 2012
Munteeomibe
added it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Munteeomibe by:
munteeomibe
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Soehnlein has a way with creating imaginative characters.
This is a really awesome book. Soehnlein is a writer with a good style. Not unique, just...good. The plot is well-crafted and the story moves along at a steady pace. There's one or two chapters that are jusssssst a bit redundant, but for the most part it's a really enjoyable read. Soehnlein is a LAMBDA award-winning author for his book "The World of Normal Boys" (which is marked on my "to read" shelf) and I'd have to say, judging from this novel, that it's well deserved. "The World of Normal Boy...more
Jan 05, 2012
Munteeomibe
added it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Munteeomibe by:
munteeomibe
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Kept my attention. Good book.
Jul 29, 2011
Greg Wolfson
added it
simple, cute book
I didn't understand the point of this book and didn't care very much for the characters at all. Not as great as The World of Normal Boys
It was a slow start but it picked up speed and interest. Definitely identify with the main character.
This book came out right before I had to leave for England and so I never had the chance to read it. I've been waiting for the follow up book by this wonderful author for some time now. I really can't wait to finaly settle down and read it.
I absolutely loved this book--read it in two days because I didn't want to put it down. Loved reading a story set in dotcom-era San Francisco by someone who wasn't part of the boom. Great details.
A skillful blend of psychological analysis and sociological insight, this novel shows how the enormous contrast between the Beat and dot.com eras plays out in the mind of one troubled young man.
A compelling read--he made a highly unlikeable character impossible to avert your eyes from. Ignore convoluted sentence structure but you get the idea.
Apr 27, 2013
Ck
is currently reading it
Apr 13, 2013
N.S.
marked it as to-read
Apr 03, 2013
Bachaboska
marked it as to-read
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K.M. Soehnlein is the author of the new novel ROBIN AND RUBY, the story of a brother and sister during one eventful weekend in the summer of 1985. The novel follows the main characters from Soehnlein's debut, THE WORLD OF NORMAL BOYS, winner of the Lambda Award for Gay Men's Fiction. Soehnlein's novel YOU CAN SAY YOU KNEW ME WHEN, was praised by The L.A. Times's Regina Marler as "a dense, enjoyabl...more
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Aug 02, 2010 11:55am