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A review by h_motionless
The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin
2.0
The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin is an LGBTQ+ mystery novel, published in 2000. It follows a gay man named Gabriel Noone, a late-night radio host. His publisher sends him a memoir written by a 13 year-old boy, who claims he was a victim of domestic sexual abuse and is HIV-positive. But Gabriel suspects that this memoir is a fabrication.
This book generally felt quite underwhelming for me. The characters weren’t too interesting, the plot was very lacklustre, and not much happened. There was an abundance of gratuitous sexual imagery, and the novel started with descriptions about how this boy was raped at age 4, which is objectively very off-putting.
Even though I didn’t really enjoy this book, I would absolutely love to read more of Maupin’s books, because I adored the writing style. It felt very personal, and I massively appreciated the writing throughout the novel, despite a general lack of flair.
This book generally felt quite underwhelming for me. The characters weren’t too interesting, the plot was very lacklustre, and not much happened. There was an abundance of gratuitous sexual imagery, and the novel started with descriptions about how this boy was raped at age 4, which is objectively very off-putting.
Even though I didn’t really enjoy this book, I would absolutely love to read more of Maupin’s books, because I adored the writing style. It felt very personal, and I massively appreciated the writing throughout the novel, despite a general lack of flair.