Exile in Guyville

Subtitle: How a punk rock redneck faggot Texan moved to West Hollywood and refused to be shiny and happy

Author: Dave White

Sub-Genre: Epistolary - Gay, relocation

How many Pages: 246

What does it say about itself: "I really hope you haven't picked up this book thinking it's going to help you learn something about humanity or life or whatever. If that were the case, it would have tips or hints or something, maybe even one helpful bit of advice about how to make over your life with ease and grace, or, as in my case, make a cross-country move from a beloved hometown to a gay ghetto in a big city and how to fit in and not be constantly mortified. But it doesn't

"This book is simply the one-year diary of a man who grew up in a nomadic family, and who as an adult decided to make a stubborn fetish out of staying put. Then that man found himself uprooted in the middle of his life and dumped, panting and sweating, into an unfamiliar environment. That's when he sat and complained about it, all the while stuffing his face with doughnuts.

"My name is Dave. This is my story."

My thoughts: As you can probably gather from the blurb this book has a sarcastic wit that is quite enjoyable. The book came first as a series of e-mails to a group of friends and family left behind in Texas after Dave moves to West Hollywood. The mailing list grew as people started passing on the e-mails to friends and eventually they have been collected for this book. This is a great account of the culture shock of moving and the way that we latch on to the past. The main accounts are punctuated by sections at the end of the chapters which divulge random information such as celebrity sightings or anecdotes of horrible people around the author. The style of this book makes one feel like you are reading the letters of a friend (being that these chapters started as just that) allowing you to become emotionally connected to the characters. Deeply humorous and self aware this a fun quick read.

Grades: (All scores out of 5)
Quality of Writing: 4
Entertainment Value: 5
Compelling: 4
Total: 13/15 - 87% - A-

(This ends the seeding of the blog, I will in the future add books that I have read in the past and wish to share with the world, but this is good for now)

What's up next: The Film Club - David Gilmour