Shameless

Paul Burston’s Shameless is a witty look at contemporary urban (read London) gay life: the gym sessions, the muscles, the drugs and the clubs – it’s 300 pages celebrating hedonism in the metropolis. Paul plays the gay stereotypes well, there are clever and amusing moments and the essence of the London club-scene jumps from the pages. Characters are, generally, engaging and it’s easy to empathise with Martin (whose boyfriend has just dumped him) whereas John (dating the dealer) is a fairly one dimensional portrait (I am not sure if his lack of depth is intentional or not, clearly the character is intended to be superficial). It’s an easy read and although the stereotypes portrayed are well-known they seem to fit too well and are – occasionally – predicable. An enjoyable, amusing read.

On this day…