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Eating the Moon
“What if there were a place nobody else knows about—a secret place—where everyone is queer?”That’s the question Guy, a lonely elderly gay anthropologist, asks Richard, his young psychiatrist, as he searches for his tolerable truth.During each session, Guy recalls surviving the sinking of a cargo ship and being washed ashore on an uncharted tropical island alongside the ship’s first mate, Luca. There, the two young men discover a world counter to everything they have ever known—a complex society in which almost everyone is homosexual.In his naïve and awkward way, Guy attempts win the love of a local man, but first he must undergo a brutal initiation ritual, endure a crazed shaman, and swim across shark-infested waters. Meanwhile, Luca, who is unable to accept his sexuality, becomes obsessed with being rescued and degenerates into drug dependency. When Luca attempts to steal a large stash of gold and leave the island, Guy is forced choose between staying with the man he loves or saving the life of the man who saved his.Although enthralled by his tale, Richard must be constantly wary of Guy’s attempts to manipulate him, which threatens to upend his own sense of truth, leaving him to question if there could really be such a society or if it only exists within the fantasy of a lonely old gay man.
- GenresFantasyGayM M Romance
381 pages, Paperback
First published August 29, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 26, 2018
Surprises all the way to the end
This was a fascinating book in which two intertwined stories came together in a really satisfying way at the end. The main reason I lost a star was because I couldn't warm to the narrator, but then his self-hatred is an important aspect of the story, so there's a reason for that. A really well structured and interesting tale
This was a fascinating book in which two intertwined stories came together in a really satisfying way at the end. The main reason I lost a star was because I couldn't warm to the narrator, but then his self-hatred is an important aspect of the story, so there's a reason for that. A really well structured and interesting tale
August 29, 2017
A Joyfully Jay review.
4.75 stars
I so very much enjoyed this story. Initially, I was skeptical of the presentation. Each chapter contains a little episode from twenty-something year-old Guy’s life on the island that is bookended by snippet of sixty-something year-old Guy retelling the story to his psychiatrist. I fully expected to be bored by one or the other of these two threads. Yet the more I read, the more difficult it was to pick a favorite thread. Stylistically, I found it interesting that twenty-something Guy’s chunks are told in first person present tense, whereas sixty-something Guy’s bookends are told in third person past tense. Yet another device to keep the two distinguished (although the formatting clearly separates the bookends from the island story, too).
Part of the reason I opted to read this book is because it features a older character. I literally had no expectations one way or the other, but past experience had primed me for seeing an older man falling in love again. Given the set-up of the book, I expected Guy to fall for his psychologist or maybe the nurse/receptionist at psychologist’s office. Despite the “bookend” treatment given to present-day Guy, the psychologist and the receptionist, there was a lot of nuance packed into there interactions. While Guy is definitely the main character and Luca/Nando clear seconds in the island-story bits, I have to argue that the doctor and nurse probably qualify as main supporting characters. Reading how Guy and his doctor play off one another was almost more interesting than watching young Guy fall in love with Nando.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
4.75 stars
I so very much enjoyed this story. Initially, I was skeptical of the presentation. Each chapter contains a little episode from twenty-something year-old Guy’s life on the island that is bookended by snippet of sixty-something year-old Guy retelling the story to his psychiatrist. I fully expected to be bored by one or the other of these two threads. Yet the more I read, the more difficult it was to pick a favorite thread. Stylistically, I found it interesting that twenty-something Guy’s chunks are told in first person present tense, whereas sixty-something Guy’s bookends are told in third person past tense. Yet another device to keep the two distinguished (although the formatting clearly separates the bookends from the island story, too).
Part of the reason I opted to read this book is because it features a older character. I literally had no expectations one way or the other, but past experience had primed me for seeing an older man falling in love again. Given the set-up of the book, I expected Guy to fall for his psychologist or maybe the nurse/receptionist at psychologist’s office. Despite the “bookend” treatment given to present-day Guy, the psychologist and the receptionist, there was a lot of nuance packed into there interactions. While Guy is definitely the main character and Luca/Nando clear seconds in the island-story bits, I have to argue that the doctor and nurse probably qualify as main supporting characters. Reading how Guy and his doctor play off one another was almost more interesting than watching young Guy fall in love with Nando.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
August 27, 2017
* I received a free copy to read and review for wicked reads review team*
This was a hard review to write mainly because I really enjoyed half the book and didn't enjoy the other half.
Let me start by saying the world the author created was great, I don't think I've read a book like it before, it was very creative.
sadly what I didn't enjoy was the present day parts of the book, I understand we needed some if it to understand why Guy was the way he was, however I felt that it was a little drawn out and slowed the pace of the book down.
The ending of the book was worth reading through the slow parts, it caught me off guard, I like it when that happens.
So 3 stars for the other world he created.
This was a hard review to write mainly because I really enjoyed half the book and didn't enjoy the other half.
Let me start by saying the world the author created was great, I don't think I've read a book like it before, it was very creative.
sadly what I didn't enjoy was the present day parts of the book, I understand we needed some if it to understand why Guy was the way he was, however I felt that it was a little drawn out and slowed the pace of the book down.
The ending of the book was worth reading through the slow parts, it caught me off guard, I like it when that happens.
So 3 stars for the other world he created.
May 4, 2021
Do you ever have the impression that some books have just been written to completely confuse you? ‘Eating the Moon’ did exactly that to me, and I mean this in the best way possible. This novel is mysterious, complicated, and deeply psychological all at the same time. It is not only the story of Guy, an anthropologist who comes of age when he is sixty-seven and finally talks about the events of his life with a psychiatrist. It is also the story of that psychiatrist finding himself as he deals with what he hears and begins to examine his own beliefs. But there are more layers to this tale: there is an adventure on an uncharted tropical island, a society where homosexuality is the norm, and the story of two men who make very different decisions about how to deal with what they find.
Please find my full review of the second edition on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Please find my full review of the second edition on Rainbow Book Reviews.
June 20, 2024
I did like this book. The idea that such a place is something I've often dreamt of and longed for. But hearing Guy tell of his time there on the island made it seem like less paradise than just another place with different customs where life had different challenges and struggles. I didn't care so much for his interactions with his psychiatrist Richard, and the psycho babble between them didn't add anything IMHO. Still the story certainly had its surprises and I enjoyed it enough that I will probably seek out other works by the author.
September 3, 2017
Full review available at: https://optimumm.blog/2017/09/03/revi...
Rating 3.5*s
Guy Palmer’s a sixty-five-year-old gay guy who has lots of issues, and we get to find out all about them as we read his story in Eating the Moon by Mark David Campbell. When Guy collapses at the gay bar, Sailor, he has to undergo a psychological evaluation before he can be released to go back home. Dr. Richard Bowing is the doctor that gets the pleasure of evaluating Mr. Palmer. He’s thirty-two and has just gotten his degree in psychology. And he says that he is straight when he is questioned by Guy. But Guy has been gay his whole life, and his gaydar has never been wrong. Richard tries to convince Guy to come to two twice weekly sessions and talk about what’s bothering him and why he has such self-destructive tendencies. But Guy will only agree to the sessions if Richard will give his honest opinion on whether he thinks Guy’s crazy or not after he tells him a story. Richard agrees but little does he know what he’s getting himself into as Guy starts his tale.
The tale about how Guy’s searching for adventure and gets a job as a cook on the ship called the Crescent Moon. And meets Lucas for the first time. The ship’s headed to Cuba with supplies to sell and on the way there’s an accident and Lucas saves Guy’s life after he’s knocked unconscious. Guy wakes up as Lucas is frantically rowing away from the ship just before it blows up and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. The weather’s rough and then they lose their way in a thick fog. When they finally make it through the fog, they find that they are close to land but where they are they have no idea. Lucky for them they end up on an island that is actually inhabited. But will they ever make it off the island or be rescued and if by chance they are rescued will they actually want to leave? For Guy, the island’s a paradise since it’s made up of homosexuals and he can finally be open and free about who he is. For Lucas, the island’s fun for a little while but he although he has no problem topping guys he doesn’t consider himself gay (yes, he is delusional and in denial) and after a while, he can’t wait to be rescued. And because Lucas saved Guy’s life, Guy feels obligated to help in any way he can with getting rescued.
And now for the reason, I gave this book only 3.5*s. I was of two minds while reading this book. I loved half of it and didn’t like the other half. I loved the parts of the book where Guy’s telling his tale, but I didn’t care for the present portion of this book where Guy’s talking to Richard. If the book had just been about the tale that Guy told and not with us needing to know that he was telling it, I would have easily have given the book 5 OptimuMM’s.
However, I didn’t care for the way Guy talks about himself. And although I know we needed the present part of the story to get a sense of who Guy is as a person, I hated being pulled out of the story that he was telling. And it really made me want to skim those parts so that I could get back to the part of the story that I wanted more of.
But I forced myself to read them, and in the end, I am glad that I did because I didn’t see the twist at the end coming, which I really enjoyed. And I will confess to liking how Guy played matchmaker to Richard and his nurse Armando, and that did give me something to look forward to during those tedious parts of the book. Which is why this book got the extra half star rating.
3.5 OptimuMM's
*** The ARC was provided by Dreamspinner Press. My review is an honest opinion of the book ***
Rating 3.5*s
Guy Palmer’s a sixty-five-year-old gay guy who has lots of issues, and we get to find out all about them as we read his story in Eating the Moon by Mark David Campbell. When Guy collapses at the gay bar, Sailor, he has to undergo a psychological evaluation before he can be released to go back home. Dr. Richard Bowing is the doctor that gets the pleasure of evaluating Mr. Palmer. He’s thirty-two and has just gotten his degree in psychology. And he says that he is straight when he is questioned by Guy. But Guy has been gay his whole life, and his gaydar has never been wrong. Richard tries to convince Guy to come to two twice weekly sessions and talk about what’s bothering him and why he has such self-destructive tendencies. But Guy will only agree to the sessions if Richard will give his honest opinion on whether he thinks Guy’s crazy or not after he tells him a story. Richard agrees but little does he know what he’s getting himself into as Guy starts his tale.
The tale about how Guy’s searching for adventure and gets a job as a cook on the ship called the Crescent Moon. And meets Lucas for the first time. The ship’s headed to Cuba with supplies to sell and on the way there’s an accident and Lucas saves Guy’s life after he’s knocked unconscious. Guy wakes up as Lucas is frantically rowing away from the ship just before it blows up and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. The weather’s rough and then they lose their way in a thick fog. When they finally make it through the fog, they find that they are close to land but where they are they have no idea. Lucky for them they end up on an island that is actually inhabited. But will they ever make it off the island or be rescued and if by chance they are rescued will they actually want to leave? For Guy, the island’s a paradise since it’s made up of homosexuals and he can finally be open and free about who he is. For Lucas, the island’s fun for a little while but he although he has no problem topping guys he doesn’t consider himself gay (yes, he is delusional and in denial) and after a while, he can’t wait to be rescued. And because Lucas saved Guy’s life, Guy feels obligated to help in any way he can with getting rescued.
And now for the reason, I gave this book only 3.5*s. I was of two minds while reading this book. I loved half of it and didn’t like the other half. I loved the parts of the book where Guy’s telling his tale, but I didn’t care for the present portion of this book where Guy’s talking to Richard. If the book had just been about the tale that Guy told and not with us needing to know that he was telling it, I would have easily have given the book 5 OptimuMM’s.
However, I didn’t care for the way Guy talks about himself. And although I know we needed the present part of the story to get a sense of who Guy is as a person, I hated being pulled out of the story that he was telling. And it really made me want to skim those parts so that I could get back to the part of the story that I wanted more of.
But I forced myself to read them, and in the end, I am glad that I did because I didn’t see the twist at the end coming, which I really enjoyed. And I will confess to liking how Guy played matchmaker to Richard and his nurse Armando, and that did give me something to look forward to during those tedious parts of the book. Which is why this book got the extra half star rating.
3.5 OptimuMM's
*** The ARC was provided by Dreamspinner Press. My review is an honest opinion of the book ***
April 7, 2018
This book took me by surprise and threw me headlong into a fantasy world, it was like a surreal trip-I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Really well written with beautiful descriptions. The plot is so original and it was refreshing to read a fun gay novel set in a fantasy world. I loved the way the story was told through Guy's therapy sessions.I felt this was a clever vehicle for telling the fun story of life on the island while also allowing space for descriptions of real life gay issues such as self destructive behavior etc.. As a gay man this resonated with me. I had the opportunity to read about a flawed character and aspects of his life I could identify with. It never got too heavy and I grew to really like Guy, faults and all. I enjoyed the contrast between the fun fantasy island and the real life therapy sessions. Flipping between the two made me keen to turn the pages and find out more about both!
I loved the island story. What a clever way to show how gay people live in a straight world by holding up a mirror to it. Loads of potential for comedy as well. I was gripped and eager to find out what happened. And the subplot of Guy trying to set up Richard and Armando kept me gripped.
Richard the therapist was an interesting character revealing the another side of the complex journey that gay men undertake. In my opinion he wasn't a great therapist as Guy was really in control of those sessions and was almost providing therapy to Richard! However this didn't get in the way of me enjoying this book. It was a fun and interesting take on the gay novel while also offering a discussion on the lives of gay men navigating a straight world.
I loved the island story. What a clever way to show how gay people live in a straight world by holding up a mirror to it. Loads of potential for comedy as well. I was gripped and eager to find out what happened. And the subplot of Guy trying to set up Richard and Armando kept me gripped.
Richard the therapist was an interesting character revealing the another side of the complex journey that gay men undertake. In my opinion he wasn't a great therapist as Guy was really in control of those sessions and was almost providing therapy to Richard! However this didn't get in the way of me enjoying this book. It was a fun and interesting take on the gay novel while also offering a discussion on the lives of gay men navigating a straight world.
May 4, 2021
Do you ever have the impression that some books have just been written to completely confuse you? ‘Eating the Moon’ did exactly that to me, and I mean this in the best way possible. This novel is mysterious, complicated, and deeply psychological all at the same time. It is not only the story of Guy, an anthropologist who comes of age when he is sixty-seven and finally talks about the events of his life with a psychiatrist. It is also the story of that psychiatrist finding himself as he deals with what he hears and begins to examine his own beliefs. But there are more layers to this tale: there is an adventure on an uncharted tropical island, a society where homosexuality is the norm, and the story of two men who make very different decisions about how to deal with what they find.
Please find my full review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Please find my full review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
February 8, 2018
Mark David Campbell's EATING THE MOON is intended for a gay audience. As a traditional, heterosexual grandmother, it took me a while to get used to the explicit sex and to an almost ever-present awareness of the male body. (I may never look at men in the same way again.) I was won over, however, by the haunting voice of the narrator as, in each chapter, he slips out of conversation with his psychiatrist into his fantasy world--a mysterious island off the coast of Cuba that, for many years, has had no contact with the outside. The book is an engrossing adventure and a tale, above all, about relationships--friendship, romantic love and the struggles within families and communities. It's about a man coming to terms with himself. The writing is elegant, enlightening and often funny. I couldn't put it down.
July 3, 2021
Im really shocked to see as many positive reviews as there are. I couldn't stand this in the slightest even though I really wanted to enjoy this. This felt self-important and without real purpose. I couldnt wait for it to end. I don't enjoy giving negative reviews, but if someone told me they were thinking about reading this I genuinely would tell them it's not worth their time.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review - this one just wasn't it for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review - this one just wasn't it for me.
November 13, 2017
Very interesting because it was different. Haven’t read anything like it.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews