Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

| Log in
  1. Follow us on Facebook
  2. Follow us on Twitter
  3. Follow us on Instagram
  4. Follow us on Goodreads
  5. RSS Feeds

  • Home
  • About
    • About CBR
    • Getting Started
    • Cannon Book Club
    • Diversions
    • Event Calendar
    • Fan Mail
    • Holiday Book Exchange
    • Book Bingo Reading Challenge
    • Participation Badges
    • AlabamaPink
  • Our Team
    • The CBR Team
    • Leaderboard
    • Recent Comments
    • CBR Interviews
    • Our Volunteers
    • Meet MsWas
  • Categories
    • Review Genres
    • Tags
  • Fight Cancer
    • How We Fight Cancer
    • How You Can Donate
    • Book Sale
    • CBR Merchandise
    • Supporters and Friends of CBR
  • FAQ
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Follow Us
> FAQ Home
> Genre: Fiction > Let’s Get Back to the Party – Zak Salih (2021)

Let’s Get Back to the Party – Zak Salih (2021)

Let's Get Back to the Party by Zak Salih

March 29, 2021 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

There’s a lot happening in the structure of this novel that demands a little attention first. The novel has a dual narrator, two childhood friends who had a passing to more than passing attraction through adolescence, followed by a long absence in each others lives after college. Now both in their early 30s, Oscar finds himself growing a little weary of the gay dating scene in Washington DC while Sebastian leads a somewhat simpler life as a private school teacher in the Virginia suburbs. Sebastian sees Oscar at a wedding (in which we are treated to straight guests openly excited to be at their first real life gay wedding) but it’s less clear initially if Oscar sees Sebastian. In this opening scene, we get some flashbacks to round out our in media res. Later, we find Oscar waiting at a dead Dupont bar for a (not!) Grindr date. As he’s realizing he’s been stood up, he is messaged by someone nearby who is watching him wait at the bar. This ends up being Sean Stokes, a longtime, established novelist and memoirist, in his 60s, who’s known as a kind of l’enfant terribles cum elder statesman in gay literature (I could be wrong, but I felt there’s some Dale Peck, but also a lot of Edmund White here). They talk, they exchange numbers, and they become friends.

So the rest of the novel this new friendship for Oscar, looking back through the 70s, 80s, and 90s through his friendship with Sean, while also reading all his books, while also contemplating his life now and his friendship with Sebastian. For Sebastian, the novel is an exploration of his role as a teacher and mentor to a young group of LGTBQ kids at his school, while also trying to figure out his own relationship with, well, relationships.

Sometimes the book feels a little too constructed, meaning the architecture is often visible — chapters are named cryptically at first, but apparent later from the titles of Sean Stokes books, in a neat way. But those architecture lines are visible, so too is the careful and earnest characterization of the two main characters, and especially Sean Stokes. There’s also a lacuna character whose presence is defined well by his physical absence throughout the book. This is a debut novel, but one written by someone in their mid-to-late (sorry Zak Salih!) 30s, and that level of maturity is apparent in the text.

(Photo: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49151018-let-s-get-back-to-the-party)

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: let's get back to the party, Zak Salih

vel veeter's CBR13 Review No:102 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: let's get back to the party, Zak Salih ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

About vel veeter

CBR13 participantCBR12 participantCBR11 participantCBR10 participantCBR  9CBR 8

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/69444656-vel-veeter View vel veeter's reviews»

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.



Recent Comments

  • Singsonggirl on Ye Olde ChildrearingCrap, I can't find it on the TV station's website anymore. But it was made by Austrian TV and was in German anyway. One of...
  • Singsonggirl on Perfume – Patrick Suskind (1985)Aaahhh, this is one of my all-time favourite books! I read the ending as a culmination of all the olfactory and sensory impressions? Like it...
  • narfna on Re-reading Mistborn, Era One – Part I: The Final EmpireA re-read would probably be your best bet if you want to continue because Sanderson is the king of bringing back details and making them...
  • wicherwill on Re-reading Mistborn, Era One – Part I: The Final EmpireMy brother suggested this book, and only recently told me / did I realize there were others as well. I don't remember enough of this...
  • llamareadsbooks on “Mouths always open, minds never so”OMG, that is the PERFECT casting. I was thinking this would make an absolutely amazing, brain-twisting movie. And you are so right about Doka, too,...
See More Recent Comments »

Want to Help Out?

CBR has a great crew of volunteers, and we're always looking for more people to help out. If you have a specialty or are willing to learn, drop MsWas a line.

  • How You Can Donate
  • FAQ
  • Shop
  • Volunteers
  • Leaderboard
  • AlabamaPink
  • Contact

Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo
© 2021 Cannonball Read | Log in