Official Review: Junior Willis by Richard Natale
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Official Review: Junior Willis by Richard Natale
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Junior Willis" by Richard Natale.]
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Junior Willis, a novella written by Robert Natale, is actually the story of Tom and could easily be a biography that covers about twenty years of the life of a gay man and his coming to terms with his homosexuality. It starts as he enters the Korean war with no idea of his sexual preferences. It is a time when very few people could be out as gay. We journey through the 50's and 60's when homosexuality was somewhere between unacceptable and despised by members of the "moral majority", not to mention illegal, and Tom finds himself battling his nature for many years. It is an account of what those times were like and how gay men must have felt. For those that did not live through that time in history you will find this book quite illuminating and possibly quite unbelievable given the acceptance of gays in our society today.
I find this a hard book to review. It left me with very mixed feelings and I am not referring to the gay issues. I am referring to the writer's style and the story line. Tom is introduced to a gay relationship by his commanding officer while serving in Korea. We are not given any indication that he has a tendency towards homosexuality prior to this. The entire first episode and ensuing relationship is covered in a matter of pages and we really aren't given Tom's thoughts or feelings regarding the matter. There is no depth in this chapter of the book. I am left wondering if Tom saw himself as gay because of this relationship or maybe if his superior had never made a move on him if he would have gone on to have a "normal" heterosexual relationship at some point in his life.
The book then takes a jump in time to after his time in the war when he meets a lady who is also gay and they get engaged and plan to marry as a smoke screen to the world. She introduces him to his next lover. This part of the book takes place in Cuba at the beginning of the rise in popularity of Castro. We are not given much of the history but are just given a glimpse of that period of time to set the stage for what occurs in this relationship. I have to say that I found this relationship and the manner in which it unfolded very sick. I did not enjoy reading this section at all. Could not understand why Tom was drawn to this man and the hold he had over Tom. Nearly put the book aside at this point.
Fortunately it was short lived and that part of his life came to an abrupt ending and he moved on to California. Here we are given a picture of what it was like to live as a gay man in that time period. This part of the book was very slow. Eventually Tom meets Junior Willis and the book picks up. Tom is drawn to Junior and he fights it tooth and nail. It is finally in this section of the book that we are drawn into the story and the characters here become real and their emotions draw us to care what is happening to them. I enjoyed reading to see how this would unfold and was a little disappointed at the abrupt ending.
I am rating this novella 2 out of 4 stars. This is mostly because I found there was little depth until late in the book and I didn't feel any connection to the characters until almost the end. Parts were boring and I felt disgust in some places. It really isn't a book I would recommend unless you are looking for a book that outlines the changes in gay issues in our society.
***
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I find this a hard book to review. It left me with very mixed feelings and I am not referring to the gay issues. I am referring to the writer's style and the story line. Tom is introduced to a gay relationship by his commanding officer while serving in Korea. We are not given any indication that he has a tendency towards homosexuality prior to this. The entire first episode and ensuing relationship is covered in a matter of pages and we really aren't given Tom's thoughts or feelings regarding the matter. There is no depth in this chapter of the book. I am left wondering if Tom saw himself as gay because of this relationship or maybe if his superior had never made a move on him if he would have gone on to have a "normal" heterosexual relationship at some point in his life.
The book then takes a jump in time to after his time in the war when he meets a lady who is also gay and they get engaged and plan to marry as a smoke screen to the world. She introduces him to his next lover. This part of the book takes place in Cuba at the beginning of the rise in popularity of Castro. We are not given much of the history but are just given a glimpse of that period of time to set the stage for what occurs in this relationship. I have to say that I found this relationship and the manner in which it unfolded very sick. I did not enjoy reading this section at all. Could not understand why Tom was drawn to this man and the hold he had over Tom. Nearly put the book aside at this point.
Fortunately it was short lived and that part of his life came to an abrupt ending and he moved on to California. Here we are given a picture of what it was like to live as a gay man in that time period. This part of the book was very slow. Eventually Tom meets Junior Willis and the book picks up. Tom is drawn to Junior and he fights it tooth and nail. It is finally in this section of the book that we are drawn into the story and the characters here become real and their emotions draw us to care what is happening to them. I enjoyed reading to see how this would unfold and was a little disappointed at the abrupt ending.
I am rating this novella 2 out of 4 stars. This is mostly because I found there was little depth until late in the book and I didn't feel any connection to the characters until almost the end. Parts were boring and I felt disgust in some places. It really isn't a book I would recommend unless you are looking for a book that outlines the changes in gay issues in our society.
***
Buy "Junior Willis" on Amazon
Buy "Junior Willis" on Barnes and Noble
Latest Review: "Cunnilingus Mastery" by John M
