Huddle

by Dan Boyle

"I know the play. The game starts with a whistle and ends with triumph—or defeat. Forty minutes of man against man—blocking the rusher, beating the defense downfield, finding the open receiver, reading the offense, picking off the pass, working as a team, racing against the clock, racing against themselves. For the nine gay men of the L.A. Quake, the season of sweat is about to end with a chance to win the West Los Angeles Flag Football Championship. For some, it's a last hurrah; for others, a taste of gridiron glory they've only dreamed about. The Quake has struggled to compete on the field in a "straight" league and struggled off the field with relationships, success (and its pitfalls), aging, and their own concepts of masculinity. And now, it's first down-and-forever, with time running out—and no way to stop it. "You? We're going to trust the last play of this game to you?" Dan Boyle's first novel, Huddle, is the engaging account of a season in the life of the L.A. Quake, a ragtag collection of Hollywood types who drink too much, snort too much, and screw too much as they wage weekend gridiron battles against the likes of the Culver City Centurions, the Crenshaw Cool, the Santa Monica Seahawks, and their bitter rivals from the Gay Flag Football League, the West Hollywood Warriors. There's Bill, past his prime and approaching middle age with a string of professional and personal failures behind him; Ed—looking for love in all the wrong faces; Al—sweet, shy, and innocent, everybody's favorite; Curt—obsessed with anonymous back-alley sex and worried Al, his lover, might be, too; and Jerry—vain and shallow, a perfect fool with a perfect body; Dave, Mitch, Jack, and Marcus. Each navigates the everyday course of being a man. And celebrates the once-a-week joy of being a Quake. "I will make this catch. I've never been more sure of anything in my life." Huddle is the inspirational story of competition, camaraderie, and commitment, as gay teammates become a team—on the field and off.

Genres: Gay

292 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Brendan Michael]

This was a great book! The world was fleshed out and the characters were all three-dimensional, even the ones written to be shallow. The scenes on the football field brought back great memories complete with sights and sounds. The only thing stopping me from giving this book five stars is the constantly shifting narrative style that had me lose my way through the story more than once.

[LARRY]

sucked! sucked! sucked!

[Brad]

Got really lost during the football talk. I guess you have to actually be into football to get that. Also, the one characters long inner diatribes were very annoying.