Call Me: A Novel (Stonewall Inn Editions

by P.-P. Hartnett

When Liam decides to begin answering the personal ads of London's gay papers, he is at first bemused and fascinated. After all, it is simply a way to entertain himself and pass the time.

What Liam doesn't bargain for, however, is his growing reliance on the ads and the men who answer them. What at first was a form of distraction is quickly becoming an obsession, and Liam is discovering just who finds him so alluring.

Genres: Fiction, Gay

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 1997

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A graphic, ghoulish depiction of the more outre aspects of gay sex, as a young London photographer masks his grief over losing his lover to AIDS by throwing himself into the world of personal ads, with grim results. First advertising himself as Bike Boy (black Lycra shorts, pumping thighs, butt in the air), Liam is able to fend off his sad thoughts of Ray by reviewing the flood of mail spawned by his ad. Ensuing contacts include a teenage cyclist, a wealthy Asian, and a professional closeted in the north of England; some of the encounters pass quickly from chat to business. These couplings only whet Liam's appetite, however, and soon he is himself responding to ads across the spectrum, from S&M games to groups. Bounced from being one man's doggie to being bathed and shaved by a trio of curious women; ever on the make with new respondents; continually harassed by the upcountry closet number, who proves to be a dangerous nut-case as well, Liam never stops for long, even though he's aware that his obsession is dragging him into depths where he no longer recognizes himself. Just when his self-degradation seems complete, capped by a brutish visit to Hampstead Heath, notorious as a place for violent trysts, he has another phone call and learns that his hated father has died. While this is the answer to Liam's prayers, it's also another way to lose his bearings, and he responds by sinking even further into the muck his life has become. Not for the squeamish, as they say: a debut novel that's more precise than a pathologist's report (complete with a glossary of terms) and a whole lot more vivid, but even so an eye-opening view of the devastating, horrific effect of loss. From Kirkus at the time of publication.

I have enormous respect and admiration bordering on love for the works of P.-P. Hartnett. I think is one of the finest and most interesting of late twentieth century gay writers to emerge in London. It is criminal that he, and many other fine writers have been overshadowed by vapid outpourings from the likes of Alan Hollinghurst is disgraceful. If you want to know London in the 90s and early millenium years go to Hartnett - he has something to say worth reading.

[Tom Garback · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️💫
Critical Score: D+
Personal Score: D

This is well researched, so it’s a wealth of queer vocab, even if a lot of it is dated by now (and exclusively British).

But that’s my only positive. How did the author manage to take a super fun premise with such eye-catching subject matter and make it all so boring?

I was unsure how to read this. It’s not written well enough to stand as literary fiction. It’s not sexy enough to stand as erotica. And it’s not exciting or disturbing enough to stand as a thriller or a horror. It’s bogged down in details, tedious beyond my patience, with no plot of interest and characterization that’s too vague to work as a character study.

This was a failure in execution.

[Lev]

Really enjoyed the style, but it got way gruesome for me. Might come back to it someday, but likely not.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bleak portrayal of gay life in late 90s London. Twisted, dark and sexual…and beautifully written.

[Natasha Holme · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy the style of writing. The story was OK. But please don't take people's things when you're in their home, it's not nice. Not even in fiction.