Product Details
Martin and John: A Novel

Martin and John: A Novel
By Dale Peck

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Product Description

In Martin and John, Dale Peck weaves together two sets of stories to create a haunting, heartrending portrait of an artist in our time. The first is told episodically by John, a hustler in New York, who falls in love with Martin, a man dying of AIDS. Interwoven with these stories is a second set, in which characters named Martin and John appear, but living different lives. The resulting novel is a work of stunning originality that is "inspired and brilliant" (The Nation).
Dale Peck is the author of five books and lives in New York City.
In Martin and John, Dale Peck weaves together two sets of stories to create a haunting, heartrending portrait of an artist in our time. The first is told episodically by John, a hustler in New York, who falls in love with Martin, a man dying of AIDS. Interwoven with these stories is a second set, in which characters named Martin and John appear, but living different lives. The resulting novel is a work of stunning originality that is "inspired and brilliant" (The Nation).
"Dale Peck has managed to pack the density and the depth of a human life. He is a brave and very talented writer."—The New York Times Book Review

"[Dale Peck's] wisdom about human feelings, his talent for translating those feelings into prose and his sophisticated mastery of literary form all speak to a maturity that belies his twenty-five years. In short, a stunning debut."—The New York Times

"Martin and John is one of the more inspired and brilliant novels that deal not only with AIDS but with the grief and bereavement that are inescapably a part of every life."—The Nation
 
"John, our 19-year-old narrator, escapes from an abusive family to New York and meets Martin. They fall in love. Martin develops AIDS, they move to Kansas, and Martin dies. Throughout the narrative are stories written by John after Martin's death about a couple that is always named Martin and John, though they are different characters . . . Peck writes so splendidly that it is a pleasure just to keep on reading. By themselves, some of these stories are among the most powerful representations of gay life written . . . tales of sexual and emotional abuse, antigay violence, and AIDS . . . an exciting first novel by a 24-year-old author. Recommended for public libraries, particularly with strong gay and lesbian collections."—Brian Kenney, Brooklyn Public Library, Library Journal
 
"With this poetic, tightly compressed novel, Peck makes a head-turning debut on the literary scene. It is composed of a feverish sequence of vignettes, which the reader gradually learns are the reminiscences of John, a gay man, as he tries to come to terms with the death of his lover, Martin, from AIDS. Some episodes straightforwardly recount John's life: abused by his hostile father, he escapes to New York and survives by becoming a hustler; he falls in love with Martin, and moves with him to Kansas, where Martin dies. Alternating with this account are 'stories' written by John, in each of which different, spiritual versions of the narrator (named John) and of a chameleonic character named Martin work their way through states of need, surrender and bereavement. Subtle but highly charged, the fragments carry the reader continually deeper into human mystery, and what we at first hear as a fugue on the destructive powers of sexual desire evolves rapidly into a lay psalm that proclaims both the necessity of love and its inevitable loss. Peck's operatic intensity and lyric grief come tumbling out in these pages; this is very much a young man's novel, but its flaws are also emblems of its power. Though the symbolism is often obvious, and the writing so pitched that it would seem excessive in less talented hands, the narrative plunges forward on a wildly romantic course."—Publishers Weekly

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #979474 in Books
  • Published on: 2006-08-08
  • Released on: 2006-08-08
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 192 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
With this poetic, tightly compressed novel, Peck makes a head-turning debut on the literary scene. It is composed of a feverish sequence of vignettes, which the reader gradually learns are the reminiscences of John, a gay man, as he tries to come to terms with the death of his lover, Martin, from AIDS. Some episodes straightforwardly recount John's life: abused by his hostile father, he escapes to New York and survives by becoming a hustler; he falls in love with Martin, and moves with him to Kansas, where Martin dies. Alternating with this account are "stories" written by John, in each of which different, spiritual versions of the narrator (named John) and of a chameleonic character named Martin work their way through states of need, surrender and bereavement. Subtle but highly charged, the fragments carry the reader continually deeper into human mystery, and what we at first hear as a fugue on the destructive powers of sexual desire evolves rapidly into a lay psalm that proclaims both the necessity of love and its inevitable loss. Peck's operatic intensity and lyric grief come tumbling out in these pages; this is very much a young man's novel, but its flaws are also emblems of its power. Though the symbolism is often obvious, and the writing so pitched that it would seem excessive in less talented hands, the narrative plunges forward on a wildly romantic course.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
John, our 19-year-old narrator, escapes from an abusive family to New York and meets Martin. They fall in love. Martin develops AIDS, they move to Kansas, and Martin dies. Throughout the narrative are stories written by John after Martin's death about a couple that is always named Martin and John, though they are different characters. This kind of structural complexity would be enough to sink most novels, but Peck writes so splendidly that it is a pleasure just to keep on reading. By themselves, some of these stories are among the most powerful representations of gay life written. Together, these tales of sexual and emotional abuse, antigay violence, and AIDS read too much like a litany of the sorrows of gay men; at times, the elegiac tone is overblown. Yet this remains an exciting first novel by a 24-year-old author. Recommended for public libraries, particularly with strong gay and lesbian collections.
- Brian Kenney, Brooklyn P.L.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Dale Peck has managed to pack the density and the depth of a human life. He is a brave and very talented writer." —The New York Times Book Review

"[Dale Peck's] wisdom about human feelings, his talent for translating those feelings into prose and his sophisticated mastery of literary form all speak to a maturity that belies his twenty-five years. In short, a stunning debut." —The New York Times

"Martin and John is one of the more inspired and brilliant novels that deal not only with AIDS but with the grief and bereavement that are inescapably a part of every life." —The Nation

Customer Reviews

A heart-rending story of love through pain5
This debut novel finds its essence in a postmodern distortion of time, space and characterization. The title characters, Martin and John, appear as different people in different situations in each chapter of the book, forcing the reader to re-evaluate his/her notions of personal identity. In one chapter, Martin and John may be a happy, newly-established couple living fabulously in New York City; in another, they remain together tenuously while struggling with life in a small desert town. There is an underlying continuity, however, and the end result is a compelling statement about human character and the myriad facets of our personalities. Peck's brutal honesty and perfectly-crafted descriptions can make the reader wince with empathy and well with emotion. This is a triumphant book, to be read and shared as widely as possible.

Martin and John: A Familiar but Hidden World5
Some books you start reading remind you of something lost, something hidden or the worst, something unspoken. Martin and John crosses your pathway in the world of reading by bringing back your memories to your mind. Dale Peck is a great artist, as I can say. His greatness is not only in writing but he is great because he reflects the pasts of millions without naming each of them; touching their souls with a delicate word. As I started reading the novel in English, that is my second language, flashbacks from my own past started marching in front of my eyes. In the Chapter titled Given This And Everything he says: '...without measuring things how can you say what you've lost?'. Start thinking as you wish...I am sure that just this simple question will tell a lot about what you have forgotten. It is a journey. Reading Martin and John. It is a bridge not only between the world of Peck's and yours but a bridge between your mind and your self. It is a bridge that all should pass through.

"Peck-tacular Debut!"5
Like a lone wolf that slips into your room in the dark of night, so too did Dale Peck. Here is an author, whose first effort written while still in his twenties, possesses the gift of prose and delicate insight into the plight not only of those afflicted and affected by the ravages of AIDS, but also of evoking those parts of your past that everyone wants to shut a door on, hits the mark every time! I loved this book with a passion that resulted in my copying sentences and paragraphs for later reference. It has followed me for over a year and every time I come across it on my bookshelf, I have to open it and savour one of those many favourite passages. If you want something aside of the usual pulp fiction out there, and are willing to lose your heart and soul, Dale Peck is the place to start.