AnnaLund2011

The narrator's ramblings shook me out of the narration more times than I want to remember, but when he actually managed to keep me with him? It was hilarious. The Romanian mother killed me dead, and living in Italy with a friend who sees the "malocchio" (bad eye) everywhere, I could see Steven in front of me—not believing it, but spitting all the same, just in case... Hilarious. Add his mother, the Romanian guilt-tripping widowed matriarch with a live ex-husband, and you're in for some serious guffaws.The theme of marriage-rights for everyone is important, especially with the conservative backlash the world is experiencing right now (June, 2012). To know that New York now allows same-sex marriage makes this book feel all the more important. Especially the hospital scene broke my heart.This novel, the debut of author Ken O'Neil, could have profited from one more editing run-through, as the ramblings could have had more substance. Or they could have been developed a bit more. This is the only reason I have graded it four stars. I loved it, it was totally, completely nuts, and there is so much love in the pages that it still surrounds me. And thankfully, there is no sex, except a very small scene where they say it was nice, very nice. It cracked me up big time.Here are some excerpts, for those of you who want to know what caught my mind's eye while reading:I had left him for having principles and conviction, which are the reasons one should stay with a partner. (They're right up there with funny and good in bed). No arbitrary law about what it is that makes one person the family of another would ever separate them. - about the "normal" marriage of his brother.One passage really resounded with me, and it was the one about Constantine's funeral and the Italian Franco (Dean and Frank). (I won't quote it here, because I'd like for you to experience it for yourself). There is a whole new story right there. A period piece about gay uncles and sassy spinsters. I wonder if Mr O'Neil would care to write that story for us, too? The topic is important, and needs to be told in a million different ways, from different eras, so that people can finally see. Love is love. I was NOT asked to read this book by anyone. And I paid for it with my own money, (as I do for all the books I read, the music I listen to and the movies I watch) and I'm glad I did. Really glad.