A review by dobbsthedog
Address Book by Neil Bartlett

5.0

Oh, this was such a lovely book.  I listened to the audio, which is narrated by Bartlett, and it was so, so good. He’s a gifted narrator and hearing him narrate these stories really brought them to a whole other level.  Highly recommend the audio.

This is a collection of seven short stories and they are based on the places that people live.  What a great way to theme a book.  They take place during different times (as far back as the 1870s and as recently as present day) and the way that Bartlett is able to clearly express the time period just in the way that he writes is incredible.

These seven stories look at the lives of a variety of queer people; from a closeted queer teen who ends up having a casual relationship with a man for decades, until the other dies of aids, to the teacher who becomes intensely infatuated with a young man and tries to paint him (not one of his students), these are glimpses into all sorts of lives.  Most of the stories are bittersweet, but they feel so very real, like they could have been written about your neighbour.

This is only the second Neil Bartlett book that I’ve read, but I am eager to read more!