Martin and John

By: Dale Peck

Narrated by: Andrew Eiden

Dale Peck’s debut is a tour de force in which Martin and John find each other again and again: in a trailer park, a high-end jewelry store, a Kansas barn, and later, in New York City, living under the shadow of the AIDS epidemic. Though their names remain the same, their identities are constantly shifting, creating a fractured view of loss and desire in the early years of the AIDS crisis. Vaulting through self and history, Martin and John is one of the most remarkable novels to emerge from an America ravaged by disease, and one of the finest and most complex love stories of the ’90s.

Martin and John is the first volume of Gospel Harmonies, a series of seven stand-alone books which follow the character of John as he attempts to navigate the uneasy relationship between the self and the postmodern world.

©1993, 2015 by Dale Peck. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Great narration of a challenging book

This was not an easy read (listen). The book is beautifully written; its subject matter doesn't allow a happy ending. There is much pain, abuse, family disfunction and emotional manipulation, all historically true. I found a certain comfort in the thought that the world we are living in now is more educated and tolerant.

Would be better if actually read.

A novel such as this would be better if read as a book (with the eyes) than as an audiobook. I don’t feel that the true nature of this book comes through in this format.

Average

I found the narration to be a bit over the top and the story to be too winding. It didn’t tell a compelling story of living with AIDS and finding love or any sort of relationship, good or bad. Read it twice and felt the same both times.

Very Confusing

I wanted this to be better than it was. This story - or this series of stories was challenging. This existential perspective of the world is utterly depressing. I’m not sure it ever made sense to me. The only thing that kept me listening was Mr. Eiden’s sexy narration. This is a tough read and ultimately it was not for me.