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Gossip
Ralph Eckhart meets "Thersites" on the Internet. The manager of a Greenwich Village bookstore and politically to the left, Ralph agrees to an F2F (face-to-face) meeting with Thersites in Washington, D.C., where his friend Nancy writes speeches for a popular woman senator. With his penchant for Shakespearean drama, Ralph should have seen the elements gathering for tragedy...or farce. Thersites proves to be a young, attractive, and enthusiastic lover. He is also Republican, in the closet, right-wing, and the author of a tell-all book that spreads gossip about several Washington women, including a footnote about a lesbian affair between a speechwriter and a "happily married" senator. In a town where rumors can kill a career, such words may be fatal. And despite his passion, Ralph is disturbed by his new lover's politics...and then stunned at being charged with his murder. Christopher Bram joins dark satire with chilling suspense as Ralph is arrested for first-degree homicide and becomes a "cause" in the gay community.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
7 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Bram
30 books124 followersBram grew up in Kempsville, Virginia. After graduating from the College of William and Mary in 1974 (B.A. in English), he moved to New York City four years later. There, he met his lifelong partner, documentary filmmaker Draper Shreeve.
Bram's novel Father of Frankenstein, about film director James Whale, was made into the movie Gods and Monsters starring Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser. Bill Condon adapted the screenplay and directed. Condon won an Academy Award for his adaptation.
In 2001, Bram was a Guggenheim Fellow. In 2003, he received the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement. He currently resides in New York.
Bram's novel Father of Frankenstein, about film director James Whale, was made into the movie Gods and Monsters starring Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser. Bill Condon adapted the screenplay and directed. Condon won an Academy Award for his adaptation.
In 2001, Bram was a Guggenheim Fellow. In 2003, he received the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement. He currently resides in New York.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 27, 2008
I'm a fan of Mr. Bram and there are some interesting elements to this quasi mystery, but; ultimately, the story seems to go off in so many directions that it simply falls apart.
April 12, 2025
3.5
Christopher Bram writes beautiful unconventional characters who go against the grain of mainstream values. His romances are soft, delicate, tender, respectful, and introspective. Two men on the opposite sides of the political spectrum meet on a date and are enamored to some disastrous consequences in this excellent novel. What begins as a romance takes quite an unexpected turn midway, and the rest of the story tries but falls short in measuring up to what came earlier. The book is set in the era of AIDS activism and it further colors and enhances the irony of the political divide of the protagonists. I enjoyed the fact that it is set in New York and DC, cities I can picture and relate to. Despite the lows in the middle of the novel, Bram ties it all up in a satisfying conclusion while simultaneously keeping things ambivalent in the spirit of the rest of the novel.
Christopher Bram writes beautiful unconventional characters who go against the grain of mainstream values. His romances are soft, delicate, tender, respectful, and introspective. Two men on the opposite sides of the political spectrum meet on a date and are enamored to some disastrous consequences in this excellent novel. What begins as a romance takes quite an unexpected turn midway, and the rest of the story tries but falls short in measuring up to what came earlier. The book is set in the era of AIDS activism and it further colors and enhances the irony of the political divide of the protagonists. I enjoyed the fact that it is set in New York and DC, cities I can picture and relate to. Despite the lows in the middle of the novel, Bram ties it all up in a satisfying conclusion while simultaneously keeping things ambivalent in the spirit of the rest of the novel.
August 11, 2015
I really enjoyed the writing and introspection in this book.
October 20, 2014
I bought this book because I had read ‘Hold Tight’ by the same author. I found that book completely engrossing and thought that maybe lightening may strike in the same place twice. It did – and it didn’t.
This particular novel has no connection with the plot of ‘Hold Tight’. They could almost be written by two different people – both excellent writers but with no connection to one another. It was published in 1997 but it may as well have been yesterday. The issues seem perennial and the same people are still parading about the stage of politics so in many respects you can take the characters to be almost amalgams of the men and women we know who inhabit the strange worlds of politics and gay activism. They almost need one another to survive. They both need enemies to give themselves reasons to continue the struggle.
The book is in two parts really. The story of the brief and troubled relationship between Ralph and Bill – two gay men who really shouldn’t be sharing the same roof let alone the same bed. Ralph is an openly gay man managing a book store in NY, a former activist he now seems estranged from the whole gay politics of it all and quite happy to live, love and work. His friends don’t think the same though. Bill is a right-wing political pundit hoping to make it big exposing the creeping liberalism he sees all about him. Especially the rise of women which he believes is weakening the political structures in Washington. Strange views coming from a minority himself. Of course Bill the commentator isn’t officially ‘out’ as he feels [and quite rightly knows] that it would put an end to whatever future he has as a right wing pundit. It’s almost a contradiction in terms – a Republican gay man.
It is a mere vague footnote in his first political expose that starts things off. Ralph’s best friend who works for a female senator may have compromised herself and her boss by an obvious infatuation with her. This leads to innuendos about Washington as to what may really be going on. Ralph uses this as an excuse to quit the relationship with Bill who he really has taken a dislike to – or rather his politics. He still likes the man even though he is loathe to admit it to himself. And that is the beginning of part two of the novel.
Part two finds Ralph the centre of a confluence of external agendas and events which have really nothing to do with him. His personal relationship – as brief as it was – suddenly takes on a rather seedy and murky appearance when the newspapers get hold of it. Ralph suddenly finds himself a victim of circumstances and is charged with first degree murder. He is then owned by various factions who have reasons of their own why he should be found guilty or innocent. He seems almost like a prop in other people’s vendettas. One reviewer found the latter half implausible but to those who know anything about how politics actually works (rather than the television version of it) and how the law works (again the real rather than television version of it) will know that the unfolding drama is perfectly plausible and has probably happened on many occasions.
Personally I found the ending rather disappointing. I really couldn't make out what the writer intended. I’m sure much was said by editors and agents about it but obviously the author decided it was what he wanted. I think it could have ended on a different note. Others may disagree.
Worth reading.
This particular novel has no connection with the plot of ‘Hold Tight’. They could almost be written by two different people – both excellent writers but with no connection to one another. It was published in 1997 but it may as well have been yesterday. The issues seem perennial and the same people are still parading about the stage of politics so in many respects you can take the characters to be almost amalgams of the men and women we know who inhabit the strange worlds of politics and gay activism. They almost need one another to survive. They both need enemies to give themselves reasons to continue the struggle.
The book is in two parts really. The story of the brief and troubled relationship between Ralph and Bill – two gay men who really shouldn’t be sharing the same roof let alone the same bed. Ralph is an openly gay man managing a book store in NY, a former activist he now seems estranged from the whole gay politics of it all and quite happy to live, love and work. His friends don’t think the same though. Bill is a right-wing political pundit hoping to make it big exposing the creeping liberalism he sees all about him. Especially the rise of women which he believes is weakening the political structures in Washington. Strange views coming from a minority himself. Of course Bill the commentator isn’t officially ‘out’ as he feels [and quite rightly knows] that it would put an end to whatever future he has as a right wing pundit. It’s almost a contradiction in terms – a Republican gay man.
It is a mere vague footnote in his first political expose that starts things off. Ralph’s best friend who works for a female senator may have compromised herself and her boss by an obvious infatuation with her. This leads to innuendos about Washington as to what may really be going on. Ralph uses this as an excuse to quit the relationship with Bill who he really has taken a dislike to – or rather his politics. He still likes the man even though he is loathe to admit it to himself. And that is the beginning of part two of the novel.
Part two finds Ralph the centre of a confluence of external agendas and events which have really nothing to do with him. His personal relationship – as brief as it was – suddenly takes on a rather seedy and murky appearance when the newspapers get hold of it. Ralph suddenly finds himself a victim of circumstances and is charged with first degree murder. He is then owned by various factions who have reasons of their own why he should be found guilty or innocent. He seems almost like a prop in other people’s vendettas. One reviewer found the latter half implausible but to those who know anything about how politics actually works (rather than the television version of it) and how the law works (again the real rather than television version of it) will know that the unfolding drama is perfectly plausible and has probably happened on many occasions.
Personally I found the ending rather disappointing. I really couldn't make out what the writer intended. I’m sure much was said by editors and agents about it but obviously the author decided it was what he wanted. I think it could have ended on a different note. Others may disagree.
Worth reading.
April 4, 2020
What a surprise. After rereading some of Bram's other works, I finally got to 'Gossip,' and while some of its parts rang true, others take a dark turn.
Firstly, my bias. Although I'd left New York City before the novel's mid-90s setting, I know he accurately portrays the waning and less effectual days of ACT UP/NY, but also recalls its earlier energy and verve (especially in his City Hall demo scene). And like his guileless bookstore manager protagonist Ralph, I too had a few unintentional dalliances with conservative gays (but in the 1980s, possibly an even worse time to be so naive; hey, I was young and pretty). his early internet chat room scenes evoke the now-ancient dial-up days with aplomb.
More important are the foolish decisions Ralph makes, and the element of personal betrayals by several characters. What stands out in 'Gossip' is Bram's realistic portrayal of both left and right in a Clinton-era America. It presciently predicts the growing power of Fox 'News' bias and Republican mendacity, while also exposing Democrats whose tactics are problematic.
The last third takes a dark turn (evocative of the current TV series' 'Better Call Saul's banal absurdity in the criminal justice system). While structured as a mystery, it doesn't fall into common tropes of that genre, as Bram's work eludes such easy categorization.
Firstly, my bias. Although I'd left New York City before the novel's mid-90s setting, I know he accurately portrays the waning and less effectual days of ACT UP/NY, but also recalls its earlier energy and verve (especially in his City Hall demo scene). And like his guileless bookstore manager protagonist Ralph, I too had a few unintentional dalliances with conservative gays (but in the 1980s, possibly an even worse time to be so naive; hey, I was young and pretty). his early internet chat room scenes evoke the now-ancient dial-up days with aplomb.
More important are the foolish decisions Ralph makes, and the element of personal betrayals by several characters. What stands out in 'Gossip' is Bram's realistic portrayal of both left and right in a Clinton-era America. It presciently predicts the growing power of Fox 'News' bias and Republican mendacity, while also exposing Democrats whose tactics are problematic.
The last third takes a dark turn (evocative of the current TV series' 'Better Call Saul's banal absurdity in the criminal justice system). While structured as a mystery, it doesn't fall into common tropes of that genre, as Bram's work eludes such easy categorization.
May 11, 2024
In the novel immediately preceding this one, Bram takes a slice of real life – in that case, the demise of the film director James Whale – and reimagines it. Here he does something similar: *Gossip* is all too obviously modeled on David Brock and his *Seduction of Hillary Rodham* – that is, prior to his Road-to-Damascus-like conversion from Republican smear artist to Hillary sycophant – and imagines what it would be like for an out-of-the-closet gay male who votes Democrat to have a fling with him and become increasingly entangled in politics and intrigue. But that’s not what the novel is really about, either, and much of the criticism directed at it has to do with the way it lurches from ethically questionable affair to political intrigue – in which our protagonist suddenly transforms himself from the kind of guy to whom things just happen into an inconsistently enthusiastic sort-of-activist – to murder mystery. It seems to me if there’s any overriding theme to the novel, it’s formulated by our protagonist in the question “What *are* other people for?”) or, more negatively, in the observation that all everyone had to offer was “a logjam of half-truths, fuckups and bad faith.”
Worse is the loss of narrative control toward the end: the improbable outcome of the courtroom scene; the phone call that yields a person much too quickly (by several hours, actually) in the grand Whodunit-Moment-of-Truth; the exposure of the real murderer (hint: reread Bram’s first novel. He does rely somewhat too obviously on character types). It’s always a bad sign when an author sets everything up with a high degree of cunning, and yet the end effect is still unconvincing. Worst of all, however, is the protagonist himself, who is neither exceptionally evil nor exceptionally good, and lacks enough self-awareness to recognize this. Surely if I could cringe at the way he decided to end his fling with the David Brock character – namely, with a sex act that would most charitably be described as a grudge f*** and more accurately as rape – then at least he could too at some point.
I was amused, however, by the way the protagonist and all of his out-of-the-closet gay Democrat (and left-of-Democrat) friends suspect that the murder of the Brock character was carried out or at least ordered by Republican and/or conservative Christian forces because the Brock character had outed himself on nationwide television. Right-wingers, of course, would immediately suspect what they call "Arkancide", namely, that Hillary Clinton had had him offed for having written a book that smeared her. So props to Bram for understanding his characters!
Not having read Trollope (the closest I’ve come is Angela Thirkell), I can’t say whether the fact that the protagonist seems to read only that author has any kind of symbolic significance. The Shakespeare reference are obvious enough because the protagonist explains them all. Come to think of it, though, the protagonist really is awfully Hamlet-like.
Production values are high, although either Bram or his editor should be apprised of the correct spelling of “motion in limine”.
2½ stars – same rating as *Surprising Myself*, which this novel so frequently resembles, but I’ll curve upward because it’s something more of a page-turner.
Worse is the loss of narrative control toward the end: the improbable outcome of the courtroom scene; the phone call that yields a person much too quickly (by several hours, actually) in the grand Whodunit-Moment-of-Truth; the exposure of the real murderer (hint: reread Bram’s first novel. He does rely somewhat too obviously on character types). It’s always a bad sign when an author sets everything up with a high degree of cunning, and yet the end effect is still unconvincing. Worst of all, however, is the protagonist himself, who is neither exceptionally evil nor exceptionally good, and lacks enough self-awareness to recognize this. Surely if I could cringe at the way he decided to end his fling with the David Brock character – namely, with a sex act that would most charitably be described as a grudge f*** and more accurately as rape – then at least he could too at some point.
I was amused, however, by the way the protagonist and all of his out-of-the-closet gay Democrat (and left-of-Democrat) friends suspect that the murder of the Brock character was carried out or at least ordered by Republican and/or conservative Christian forces because the Brock character had outed himself on nationwide television. Right-wingers, of course, would immediately suspect what they call "Arkancide", namely, that Hillary Clinton had had him offed for having written a book that smeared her. So props to Bram for understanding his characters!
Not having read Trollope (the closest I’ve come is Angela Thirkell), I can’t say whether the fact that the protagonist seems to read only that author has any kind of symbolic significance. The Shakespeare reference are obvious enough because the protagonist explains them all. Come to think of it, though, the protagonist really is awfully Hamlet-like.
Production values are high, although either Bram or his editor should be apprised of the correct spelling of “motion in limine”.
2½ stars – same rating as *Surprising Myself*, which this novel so frequently resembles, but I’ll curve upward because it’s something more of a page-turner.
September 21, 2025
Wow! This is a real blast from the past that has lain hidden in my bookcase for nigh on 25 years. Author of "Father of Frankenstein" for which he is probably best known, I had assumed that Mr Bram was long dead and buried since his material never received a great deal of publicity in the UK and no new material seems to have been published in over a decade. However, checking the internet it appears that he is still alive - thankfully! In other works, and this is no exception, the author his main protagonist can be quite obtuse. Ralph Eckhart nicely fits the bill. What I found certainly unique was the way the whole tenet of the novel changes halfway through the novel. To begin with the novel is light and frothy with a touch of the slapstick and bitchiness about it. Nothing new there, especially in a period piece , but after Bill's murder the whole tone changes and switches to a very convincing and totally different mode. The denouement is - without violence inflicted - one of the scariest finale's you could expect to read. What is apparent is that nearly 30 years ago the Religious Right were already trying to infiltrate Government and implement their plans. I had forgotten just how good Bram is even if the first part of the book was - for him - rather banal. Such a good - underestimated - author but I wish there was some new material.
January 22, 2024
I randomly read this book after picking it up at my local used book store, for just randomly picking it up off the shelf it would say it was pretty good. A nice little gay romance with a crime twist set in a politically charged environment. Pretty quick and easy read, nothing super ground breaking though.
February 21, 2025
This took 2 weeks to get through the first half, and then 12 hours for the second.
What’s starts as Bram dragging their feet writing the first half, Bram quickly finds his groove in the second - just a shame it wasn’t groovy all the way through.
What’s starts as Bram dragging their feet writing the first half, Bram quickly finds his groove in the second - just a shame it wasn’t groovy all the way through.
January 7, 2019
I have read a number of Christopher Bram's novels and I am never disappointed. 'Gossip' got me addicted from the beginning and kept my interest throughout.
February 2, 2022
I always enjoy Bram's writing...
July 16, 2010
CHRISTOPHER BRAM
AKA: A Gay Republican is an Oxymoron
Ralph is an assistant manager of a bookstore. He met Bill on-line in a gay chat room. They decide to meet F2F (face to face) and start a relationship. They couldn’t be more opposite of each other. Bill is a right wing, closeted Republican and author of a book slamming Hillary Clinton and women in general. Ralph is a open and out gay man; his best friend is a speech writer for an out spoken Democratic senator. After Bill comes out on national TV defending his controversial book, he is killed. Police think that a hustler robbed and murdered him. When Ralph goes to police thinking that he had information that could help them find the killer, he is arrested for the murder.
The story has two surprise endings. An OK read.
AKA: A Gay Republican is an Oxymoron
Ralph is an assistant manager of a bookstore. He met Bill on-line in a gay chat room. They decide to meet F2F (face to face) and start a relationship. They couldn’t be more opposite of each other. Bill is a right wing, closeted Republican and author of a book slamming Hillary Clinton and women in general. Ralph is a open and out gay man; his best friend is a speech writer for an out spoken Democratic senator. After Bill comes out on national TV defending his controversial book, he is killed. Police think that a hustler robbed and murdered him. When Ralph goes to police thinking that he had information that could help them find the killer, he is arrested for the murder.
The story has two surprise endings. An OK read.
March 17, 2017
I read Bram's first three books as they came out - I was searching out a lot of books by out gay authors at the time - but then we drifted apart. I always meant to get around to Gossip, but 20 years went by until I finally did. I wasn't missing much.
Gossip is a meandering murder mystery, cynical and suspenseless, with a ridiculous ending. It is kind of interesting to see an example of how much has changed in the last 20 years, politically and for gay men, but that doesn't make up for the novel's shortcomings.
Gossip is a meandering murder mystery, cynical and suspenseless, with a ridiculous ending. It is kind of interesting to see an example of how much has changed in the last 20 years, politically and for gay men, but that doesn't make up for the novel's shortcomings.
August 19, 2021
Okay, this was a worth reading. It's quite dark, quite introspective and the mystery is almost a excuse to present the portrait of an era and the persons who populate both, the political and the queer activism universes.
It's interesting, engaging and with an ending that surprised me. I need to read more books by Christopher Bram :)
It's interesting, engaging and with an ending that surprised me. I need to read more books by Christopher Bram :)
November 7, 2008
This is my third Christopher Bram book, and though he's completely readable, I still haven't been taken with his writing like so many other people. They always end up disappointing me.
May 6, 2010
Mr. Bram writes unique stories as a platform for his thoughtful perception of the human condition. I am always surprised and delighted with his books.
July 19, 2014
Too long; too disjointed. A disappointing book after having read a couple others by the author.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews