Product Description

DESCRIPTION:

"I know the play.

The game starts with a whistle and ends with triumph—or defeat. Forty minutes of man against man—blocking the rusher, beating the defense downfield, finding the open receiver, reading the offense, picking off the pass, working as a team, racing against the clock, racing against themselves. For the nine gay men of the L.A. Quake, the season of sweat is about to end with a chance to win the West Los Angeles Flag Football Championship. For some, it's a last hurrah; for others, a taste of gridiron glory they've only dreamed about. The Quake has struggled to compete on the field in a "straight" league and struggled off the field with relationships, success (and its pitfalls), aging, and their own concepts of masculinity. And now, it's first down-and-forever, with time running out—and no way to stop it.

"You? We're going to trust the last play of this game to you?"

Dan Boyle's first novel, Huddle, is the engaging account of a season in the life of the L.A. Quake, a ragtag collection of Hollywood types who drink too much, snort too much, and screw too much as they wage weekend gridiron battles against the likes of the Culver City Centurions, the Crenshaw Cool, the Santa Monica Seahawks, and their bitter rivals from the Gay Flag Football League, the West Hollywood Warriors. There's Bill, past his prime and approaching middle age with a string of professional and personal failures behind him; Ed—looking for love in all the wrong faces; Al—sweet, shy, and innocent, everybody's favorite; Curt—obsessed with anonymous back-alley sex and worried Al, his lover, might be, too; and Jerry—vain and shallow, a perfect fool with a perfect body; Dave, Mitch, Jack, and Marcus. Each navigates the everyday course of being a man. And celebrates the once-a-week joy of being a Quake.

"I will make this catch. I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

Huddle is the inspirational story of competition, camaraderie, and commitment, as gay teammates become a team—on the field and off.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1935675 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 292 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781560234593
• Condition: USED - LIKE NEW
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Dan Boyle is Surely A Writer to Watch.... Complex, compelling, three-dimensional characters, an interesting plot... beautiful use of language."

Customer Reviews

Not Worth The Effort
VERY POOR WRITING, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, AND PLOT LINE. The only saving grace of this book is the cover...DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME, EFFORT, OR MONEY!

JOCKS ON OUR TEAM
HUDDLE is more a series of interlocking vignettes than a traditional novel. Each chapter focuses on different members of the L.A. Quake's, a gay squad playing in the Los Angeles Flag Football League. Flag football is serious business to these gay men, and the progression of the playing season accommodates the individual stories. This is most definitely an ensemble piece.

Among the protagonists are Al and Curt, boyfriends living an open relationship. What a surprise for each when they discover that if they're going to fool around, they'd just as soon do it with each other. Also featured are Ed and Bill. These are two guys so afraid of messing up a wonderful four year friendship, that each is afraid to tell the other how he really feels for fear of ruining what they've already established. And then there is, Dave, a sweet kid new to the team and working hard to prove he's got what it takes. Dave is a guy trying to fit into his world, and looking for happiness but having a tough time finding it.

This is a story of gay jocks, living different lives but coming together once a week, bonding with each other playing flag football. They will win some and they will lose some, but they'll do it together.

I really got a kick out of this butch book. Every male character is a card carrying member of the gay letterman's club. These are gay men, confidant in their sexuality and not afraid to show it. They're proud to be an openly gay team and they're not about to take any crap about it. They don't always make the right decisions, on or off the field, but they try. I liked these guys, flaws and all. I think you will too.

PAINFUL TO READ
If you are a fan of trite gay fiction going absolutely nowhere, this book is for you. If you are a gay football fan, run from this book at top speed; the author's lack of knowledge of football is only matched by his less than stellar writing skill. If you are a fan of gay fiction; drop this book like it's hot. This book was very, very poorly written, and the author's desire to refer to his main character as 'Our Hero' grates on the nerves. Waste not the money on this; you can no doubt find billions of used copies of people who would rather never see this book again.