My Worst Date

by David Leddick

Book Overview

Finalist, Minnesota Book Awards. The spirit of Minnesota lives in many things. It is a radiant dawn breaking through the pines of the North Woods. It is the unceasing pounding of waves on the rocky... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312181388
• ISBN13: 9780312181383
• Release Date: February 1998
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Don't judge this book by its cover - brilliant fiction!

As far as gay fiction goes, 'My Worst Date' stands up there along with my favorite gay writers, Tom Spanbauer and Stephen McCauley ('The Object of my Affection') - and other so-called "gay" writers (whose names I can't recall. I was going to say Sedaris and Burroughs but I have to say that Leddick's fiction moved me more.) I'm looking forward to more of his work. Brilliantly written - in multiple, articulate, moving voices, 'My Worst Date' takes an incredibly difficult literary subject - namely, beautiful people - and gives them complexity, poetry and a wonderful familial drama that exposes their best and worst. Disregard the reviews here about the superficiality - that's the mirror staring back at the reviewers. There's more to this than meets the eye. In fact, this reader found 'My Worst Date' difficult to put down, if only for the beautiful prose of the main character (an unforgettable teenage character in modern fiction) and the intoxicating setting of Miami in the '90s. Ahead of its time - this book should be repackaged (it deserves a cover more indicative of its writing - one that doesn't pander just to gay men - it deserves a wider readership) and re-released. One of my favorite books this year.

Ahead of its time; worth it to pick this up a decade later

This book came out in 1996, way ahead of its time. Mainstream literature readers weren't ready for an in-depth look at the gay scene in Miami Beach, where everyone is self-centered, body-obsessed, monogamy is unheard of, and bisexual men are creeps to the men and women around them. This was when having one token gay character on a TV show was titillating. Now we see these types of men all over the place in shows like Queer As Folk and mainstream America is begininning to get a glimpse of gay culture. This book stands the test of time. It is still relevant a decade later and doesn't seem dated at all. The main plot centers on a 17-year old son and his mother dating the same man, the dashing Glenn Eliott Paul. Mom is unaware that her son Hugo is secretly getting it on with her boyfriend. Some reviewers claim this is unrealistic. Wake up! Men on the "down low" are a cultural phenomenon and this is happening in every town in America (okay, maybe not in the same family, but there are many men who sleep with men but live life as heterosexuals). This is a dramatic tale, full of twists and turns and deceptions and family secrets. No, you don't have to "like" all the characters. But, boy, does this make for some thrilling reading! There is plenty of homosexual erotica in this book, which I found to be well-done. Give this book a chance and view it with an open mind. It is a complete page turner, and you get to see the action from the points of view of two very well developed characters, Hugo and his former-model Mom Iris.

Interesting Story

"In South Beach, Miami, 16-year old Hugo has found the perfect man in Glenn Elliott Paul. The only two problems are that his mother doesn't know Hugo is seeing Glenn and Glenn is also dating his mother." - from Stonewall Inn

A Miami View of Coming of Age Gay

An enjoyable read looking in on the life of an intelligent sixteen year old boy, Hugo, who discovers his sexuality while living in the South Beach area of Miami. There are some very bizarre developments in the story, yet, none are morbid or impossible. Actually, while reading as comical, much of the book calls upon the reader to think through their personal points of view on various issues. Some good examination of the range of sexual orientation (goood examples of degrees of hetero and homosexuality concept.) Hugo and his friends are delightful. His mother is a wonderful role model of a single parent who is mom and dad to her son without hindering his freedom or being nosy or invasive. The most ambitiously sexual character in the story is one that I could love or hate -- at least I found myself running from one of those directions to the other throughout my reading. A fast, worthy and endearing read. Leddick should be commended for his character development. There's a range of everyone and everything on earth threaded in this story and the author makes each memorable. Go for it! P.S. The cover has nothing to do with the book.