Scrub Match

By Bill Eisele

Fleeing a broken, self-destructive relationship with an older man, Paul Carter moves to San Francisco at the height of the technology boom. Living in a one-room bed-sit and working his way through a series of mind-numbing dead-end jobs, he yearns for some excitement in his life. Then he joins the Gay Men's Basketball League which is full of colourful members - Curtis, magnetic but hot-tempered, Jesse, the gentle giant and Twitch, the good looking white guy with a deadly jump shot. This is a funny and unashamedly romantic love story portrait contemporary gay life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0758208278
• ISBN13: 9780758208279
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Wow, I stayed up reading all night..

SCRUB MATCH by Bill Eisele is a wonderful coming of age story and boyfriend fiction at it's best. I started the book one afternoon read for two hours and then picked it up again when I went to bed and the next thing I knew it was 8 AM. Even if you don't care about the game of basketball you will get a lot out of this book. The story of Paul and his failed attemps at finding true love in the late 90's San Francisco is endearing and at the same time sad and hopeful. The Characters are all people I would want to have as friends, all flawed and all human. With one exception. But, hey what would good fiction be without a villain? When you read SCRUB MATCH, I would think that Paul and Twitch and the wonderful Campbell, Alvin, Jesse, Pual's parents and the others who enrich Paul's life will all become people you'd want to know as well. Yes, and love.

Be truthful to yourself

This coming-of-age novel about a gay bi-racialman Paul Carter learning to be true to himself. On his road to self discovery he not only falls in love but understand the measures off fighting for love. He learns how onniving people can be and still understand that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. Eventhough I was bored all the way up to chapter 8. It picked up, love has not everyone breaks even their are winners and there are losers. Sadly not everyone in this story is a winner however everyone walks away with a lesson learned.

Good Reading

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Its easy to read and a story I could relate to. I get so tired of novels where all the people are beautiful and successful.. Its about time we had a novel like this where everyone is not so "perfect" because thats more like real life.

Basketball as standin for game of life

To a mixed-race gay man still smarting from a failed relationship during his final year of college, San Francisco seemed like the best destination for Paul Carter after graduation. A city of ethnic diversity, where his red Afro would be less likely to elicit stares, and where a significant portion of the population was also gay, and far enough away from his father whom Paul felt was disappointed in him. If he could just make it through the sky-high rents, having to rent a room from a woman who constantly suspected him of stealing from her, and if he could only find a great boyfriend, like Twitch, the fellow he met on the basketball courts one night shortly after his arrival, and whom he has been "courting" ever since. First time novelist Bill Eisele comes a coming-of-age novel about a gay man learning to be true to himself, rather than base his happiness on others' connections to him or their expectations. The diverse, colorful characters are mostly all members of a pick-up basketball team in a league at a local community center, where Paul seems to mistake their success on court with their ability to succeed at life. When his parents and younger sister come to visit him in San Francisco, Paul is worried about being caught in a lie he told about having a steady boyfriend, but finally allows himself to see his father through his friends' eyes, resulting in a cathartic reconciliation of sorts. Those who are not avid basketball fans (neither am I) should not be deterred by the novel's seeming preoccupation with the sport, since the "game" turns out to be much more than the one played under a hoop and net. Give it a try.

Scrub Match is about basketball and much more.

Scrub Match is a fun read. A sympathetic but directionless young man arrives in San Francisco and find basketball as a way to establish connections to a larger community in pre-millennium San Francisco. The book deals honestly with issues of diversity, family and personal relations, and finding ones place in the world. I liked the fact that the characters are not perfect but grow and develop as the story unfolds. No stereotypes here. This book entertains and enlightens. The ending might surprise you.