Reviews

The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin

bluejay21's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

cala_06's review against another edition

3.0

It was good. I picked up this book because I saw the movie a few years back. I though it was good, the book was better. Of course, I was left hanging, I don't know if Pete existed or not.

coops456's review

5.0

This is a wonderful book, one of the few where you are less than halfway through and already don't want it to end.
It's all the more poignant knowing that the character of Gabriel is but a cypher for Maupin himself and the book his own catharsis following divorce.

hadu's review against another edition

4.0

Brutally honest, humorous, and painfully sad. I kept thinking I knew how the ending would be, but I was wrong and felt like an over confident ass.

melissakuzma's review against another edition

4.0

This was really good! Unfortunately I knew what the twist was thanks to an un-spoilered Goodreads review. But I still enjoyed it and literally had to put the book down for a minute when the twist was revealed, it was so shocking. And I knew it was coming! I can't imagine my reaction if I hadn't known! Great read!

astrono9's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Medical content, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Child death, Rape, Mental illness, and Sexual content

mturner1334's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

twitchyredpen's review

4.0

Intriguing enough to make me stay up a few hours late to finish because I wanted to be sure of the ending. Well researched, though of course with it being quasi-autobiographical some of it would be experience instead. Feelings are had, which can be rare in books by/about men. There's a very good line at the end, something like (mild spoiler)

Spoiler

the reality of the kid didn't matter, because it was the reality of the feelings that affected him

that I think was important and tied it together.

I bought this book, for a dollar, based on title and cover alone, and then it sat on my shelf for years with all the other books I impulse-bought for a dollar based on title and/or cover. Then I heard/read the name Armistead Maupin somewhere -- NPR? Newspaper list of famous birthdays? -- and figured I'd finally get around to reading it.

"Ergh," I said, "'A Novel'." That's usually not my kind of book.
"Nooo not an unreliable narrator," I sighed early on as he described himself as such.
"Ughhh this is going to be a dead kid sobfest," I said, "I dunwanna read that."

But I kept going! And it was not a dead kid sobfest, and it was not "I am riddled w ennui shall I cheat on my wife perhaps" like many "A Novel" books. And "unreliable" in this case meant "tells a story" and not "is hallucinating" as it sometimes does. So if you're balking based on any of those, you're clear.

vgk's review

5.0

The very best of Maupin. Warm, courageously honest and compulsively page-turning.

millertimereads's review against another edition

4.0

I LOVE Armistead Maupin and the Tales of the City. This book is very autobiographical (but may be fictionalized a bit, I'm not sure.) Really interesting story of connection between the author and a sick boy and the deceit he comes to discover.