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Love Notes to Men Who Don't Read

North Morgan (Goodreads Author)

3.61 · Rating details · 99 ratings · 15 reviews

Between London and Los Angeles, the gym and the gay scene, Instagram and Grindr, what it means to be a gay man has never been so bisected. North Morgan's third novel moves beyond the confines of fiction to examine how homosexuality's acceptance into society has created a new breed of demons for a generation of men born as outsiders yet living at the forefront of popular cu ...more

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Paperback, 240 pages

Published November 1st 2016 by Limehouse Books

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Sep 20, 2019 Chase added it

North Morgan's (2016) novel Love Notes to Men Who Don't Read provides a not-so-elaborate, but entirely parodic, examination of affluent, white gay-male life in the metropoles of the Western world. Seeking a tongue-in-cheek response, Morgan begs the reader(s) to open their eyes to the contemptuous nature of those part-time employed, luxury-leaning, circuit-party bound gym bunnies who seem to occupy the spotlight of the gay imaginary. He goes as far as to suggest that the narrator - a laughable an North Morgan's (2016) novel Love Notes to Men Who Don't Read provides a not-so-elaborate, but entirely parodic, examination of affluent, white gay-male life in the metropoles of the Western world. Seeking a tongue-in-cheek response, Morgan begs the reader(s) to open their eyes to the contemptuous nature of those part-time employed, luxury-leaning, circuit-party bound gym bunnies who seem to occupy the spotlight of the gay imaginary. He goes as far as to suggest that the narrator - a laughable and unlikeable hedonist with a penchant for racist, misogynist and xenophobic remarks that debase more than 95% of Western society/ies and, indeed, glorify the Neo-Nazis vision of the ascending Aryan races - might embody the celebrity aspirations of white gay men in the 2010s.

As one reviewer writes, "This book is pessimism branded as brave honesty, but I wonder to what end." Indeed, to what end does this pacification of gay life serve? To characterise gay life as such - to reprimand the vulgarities of consumerist image(s), which are not specific to gay life, but rather endemic to consumers who choose to participate in image cultures that enable the largely uncritical (and thus unconfronted) discourses about what qualifies as "petty," "superficial" or "vain" - is to solve nothing and provide no values for growth, emotional and mental support or ideations of healthy futures. In other words, by blowing open the box on the gay elite (which has elsewhere been undertaken with fewer spelling and grammatical errors and greater nuance), Morgan attempts to deepen a conversation about the central ideologies, objects and values of "gay life," not unlike Alan Downs's (2005) seductive The Velvet Rage or Matthew Todd's (2012) "revolutionary clarion" Straight Jacket. We are left with a stark portrait, without hope, a wasteland of the gay male body; to ascertain from the broken pieces with which the narrator ends the limited capacities to imagine that gay life, far from a perpetual cycle of drugs, sex, boredom and social media obsession, might also make room for critical awareness of non-consumer life. In short, the novel ends before it begins. It leaves no room for a future, and because of this, the book loses its critique and its impulse to grow sideways into other ways of living. ...more

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Feb 01, 2018 Ryan rated it really liked it

I stayed up late last night to finish this book, though I'm still not entirely sure where I stand with it. I've followed Morgan on Instagram for almost a year now and I can't decide if pulling back the curtain to gain some insight into the Gods of Instagram world is one that is healthy or it just makes my disdain for these men grow.

This narrative is odd as it acts as a Bat signal projected directly into the ground or a lighthouse marooned in the middle of a desert' it's a whisper for help in a ...more

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Apr 15, 2018 Mason Neil rated it it was ok

This book is pessimism branded as brave honesty, but I wonder to what end. It was repetitive and a bit lazy, and the typos killed me. I don't regret reading it, but certainly finished it feeling uninspired. ...more

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Nov 04, 2018 Lucas Lanza rated it really liked it

Um relato (talvez autobiográfico?) interessante sobre a comunidade gay nos dias atuais, de aplicativos de pegação, heteronormatividade, obsessão com a forma física e objetificação alheia. Tem momentos realmente interessantes, de fácil identificação - quem lê acaba reconhecendo um pouco de si mesmo ou de algum conhecido -, com ironia e sarcasmo muito bem afiados. O estilo do autor já foi comparado ao de (na real, acusado de imitar) Bret Easton Ellis por conta de um blog que manteve no fim dos ano ...more

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Oct 07, 2016 Simon P rated it it was amazing

This is a great read. I'm so impressed with this novel by North Morgan on a number of counts.

1. I feel like if he hadn't ended the book himself after 250-odd pages, I would never stop reading it.

2. The main character is completely deplorable and yet you root for him. He is awful and yet so sympathetic.

3. I have no idea what a gay scene anywhere is like, but I did used to work out in the downtown YMCA in Minneapolis, and this is hugely familiar, i.e. I think this is probably a really accurate por ...more

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Jun 02, 2019 K.G. Delmar rated it it was ok

Gotta say I'm a little baffled. As far as I can tell, this book is identical to Morgan's 2018 release, "Into?" And I'm not being hyperbolic, it's apparently the same book with a different title and cover design. I'm assuming this is some kind of different release for a different international market type of thing, though I could be wrong. I will say that that's the version of this that I read, so take this review with a grain of salt.

But that's not an objective issue. This book just felt kinda t Gotta say I'm a little baffled. As far as I can tell, this book is identical to Morgan's 2018 release, "Into?" And I'm not being hyperbolic, it's apparently the same book with a different title and cover design. I'm assuming this is some kind of different release for a different international market type of thing, though I could be wrong. I will say that that's the version of this that I read, so take this review with a grain of salt.

But that's not an objective issue. This book just felt kinda tedious to me. I don't want to assume that most of the people lauding this are straight people who are entranced by this enthnography of a cruising, good-looking twunk, but that's the vibe I got either way.

Here's the gist. The book starts with an inciting event, Konrad's boyfriend breaking up with him to date another guy, and Konrad leaving for America to escape the humiliation. Okay, good so far. But then the rest of the book can be boiled down to this: Konrad meets some generic hot masc. They bone. Konrad is extremely horny and does some kind of drug. He goes to the gym.

I'm not being hyperbolic. The whole book is just Konrad going to parties, cruising, chatting on Grindr, working out and being levels of horny that should probably not be legal.

I wouldn't call this book bad per se. If you're outside the community or simply want a brief character study about a vapid WeHo gay guy, go for it. Morgan's not a bad writer. I just found the whole thing really tedious as someone who knows guys like this and interacts with them and already has their type read. I'm just not interested in the repetitive life of a financially comfortable masc4masc.

A lot of the scenes were just exhausting. Towards the end, Konrad spends paragraphs just watching porn, doing some other stuff, then watching more porn and jacking off. I'm tempted to think that Konrad had a terrible accident that relocated his cerebellum to his wiener.

I'm not sure what to say about this one. When I see glowing reviews, I can't help but wonder if we read the same book. It's not BAD. It's just extremely repetitive. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Morgan's intention to dictate the idea that these men lead vapid, repetitive lives, but I feel like it needed more actual events to indicate the routine is indeed meant to be monotonous rather than just hashing it out page after page. ...more

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May 09, 2018 Carnelian Moss King rated it did not like it

I was recommended this book by someone who I greatly admire, and read through the whole thing despite how painful it was to read. This read like a trashy romance novel without any plot. This was only marginally entertaining.
Like a vapid soap opera. There was not a page that didn’t say, “and then I went to the gym”
If I was trying to be nice I would say that this is a short glimpse of a life and that his experience was equally valid,
That people who are lonely and desperate can find solace in the ...more

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Jan 02, 2018 Eric Rietveld rated it it was ok

This could have been a delightful, introspective examination of gay life and the effects there on of social media and dating apps. Alas. The abundance of typos (I couldn’t figure out if they were intentional or not—not sure which is worse) ruined it for me.

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Dec 13, 2020 Gregory rated it it was amazing

I really wanted to put this book down but just because I didn’t want it to end.

It’s witty and sad and hilarious and oh so close to home sometimes and vulnerable and lovely and horrid and everything you can want in a book.

10s across the board.

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Aug 08, 2017 Brian McDermott rated it it was amazing

I love you. I hate you. But mostly I want to marry you. And I want you to leave me notes in the morning. Can we fuck?

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Jan 07, 2017 Guy Beaudin rated it really liked it

The style is unconventional but never short of compelling. A unique perspective on a slice of gay life in contemporary America. Provocative and engaging, but mostly funny and entertaining.

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May 06, 2017 Damien rated it it was ok

It has some great bits here and there but in the end it's the same old story with the same kind of guy and the same cliches ...more

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Feb 14, 2020 albin james rated it liked it

I feel sad and inept and disappointed and foolish....

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Aug 26, 2019 Phillip rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A brutal takedown and/or hilarious parody of contemporary gay gym and hookup culture.

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Sep 22, 2016 Todd rated it it was amazing

Not quite sure how to process a book that makes me feel less alone due to relating to the utter loneliness of Konrad. But that's probably the brilliance... ...more

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