Lloyd Norris considers himself an unassuming guy who just wants to get on with his life and not attract undue attention nor trouble. He likes his job, he’s supportive of friends and family, he attends Mass daily and he tries to contribute to society’s greater good by volunteering to visit elderly shut-ins. Oh, and he’s gay and wants to find a significant other who will love and adore him in return having never experienced the comfort of male arms around him before thanks to his Roman Catholic conscience and the prior constraint of getting married to save the reputation of his knocked-up long-time childhood friend Pearl-Ann. The trouble with Lloyd of course is that life seems to throw unexpected curve balls his way all the time – placing him in unenviable situations and complicated relational messes.
Through a series of comic conversational mix-ups and absurd turn of events reminiscent of Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde and Ealing Studio comedies – Lloyd finds himself miraculously promoted over his wunderkind immediate boss, back living with his P-Flag waving ex-wife Pearl-Ann (but on the spare bed) as she struggles with her current lover abandonment issues, rejected by his elderly shut-ins for reasons unknown to him, threatened by a jealous muscle-head when he tries to help a young work colleague get back on her feet, set-up on disastrous dates by well-meaning friends as well as friends of friends. If Lloyd thinks his life’s getting out-of-control – it is, given the formidable Mrs Kundaa (his secretary) is manipulating events big-time behind his back.
James Wilcox gives many characters (straight and gay), multiple side-plots and converging storyline arcs, this quirky tale grew on me gradually; akin to books such as The Lives of Circus Animals (C Bram), Leap Year (P Cameron) and Stephen McCauley novels. I’ve become quite fond of Lloyd as a gay fall-guy – the foil to the wacky, larger-than-life people who surround and needlessly complicate his life / existence. As the wryly comic story unfolds, no-one seems to turn to be who he believes them to be at face-value – poor Lloyd complains:
'Why can’t people see I’m just the most bland person on earth? That’s all I want. Is it asking too much? From now on, I guarantee I’m not going to have anything but normal friends, plain, honest, bland people. No more of this nonsense where everyone turns out to be royalty or legally underage or rich heterosexual meter readers.’
If I had to complain – I guess Wilcox could have abandoned the secondary storyline involving the elderly shut-ins and their folk … I found myself skipping those passages to find out what bizarre event would befall hapless Lloyd Norris next. I was also mildly frustrated having to scramble back to review several passages when trying to clarify the identity of the ‘lover-boy’ who just may end up fulfilling Lloyd’s hearts’ desire near the end of the tale. All said, Wilcox write quirky, amusing, endearing fully-fleshed characters well, and I think I might try his more lauded title Modern Baptists.
Through a series of comic conversational mix-ups and absurd turn of events reminiscent of Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde and Ealing Studio comedies – Lloyd finds himself miraculously promoted over his wunderkind immediate boss, back living with his P-Flag waving ex-wife Pearl-Ann (but on the spare bed) as she struggles with her current lover abandonment issues, rejected by his elderly shut-ins for reasons unknown to him, threatened by a jealous muscle-head when he tries to help a young work colleague get back on her feet, set-up on disastrous dates by well-meaning friends as well as friends of friends. If Lloyd thinks his life’s getting out-of-control – it is, given the formidable Mrs Kundaa (his secretary) is manipulating events big-time behind his back.
James Wilcox gives many characters (straight and gay), multiple side-plots and converging storyline arcs, this quirky tale grew on me gradually; akin to books such as The Lives of Circus Animals (C Bram), Leap Year (P Cameron) and Stephen McCauley novels. I’ve become quite fond of Lloyd as a gay fall-guy – the foil to the wacky, larger-than-life people who surround and needlessly complicate his life / existence. As the wryly comic story unfolds, no-one seems to turn to be who he believes them to be at face-value – poor Lloyd complains:
'Why can’t people see I’m just the most bland person on earth? That’s all I want. Is it asking too much? From now on, I guarantee I’m not going to have anything but normal friends, plain, honest, bland people. No more of this nonsense where everyone turns out to be royalty or legally underage or rich heterosexual meter readers.’
If I had to complain – I guess Wilcox could have abandoned the secondary storyline involving the elderly shut-ins and their folk … I found myself skipping those passages to find out what bizarre event would befall hapless Lloyd Norris next. I was also mildly frustrated having to scramble back to review several passages when trying to clarify the identity of the ‘lover-boy’ who just may end up fulfilling Lloyd’s hearts’ desire near the end of the tale. All said, Wilcox write quirky, amusing, endearing fully-fleshed characters well, and I think I might try his more lauded title Modern Baptists.