SUMMER CLUB AND THE CREATURES

                                                      By  James A. Richards

       What the reviewers are saying:

Summer Club may remind you of novels of the olde days when orphan boys found they were really
sons of millionaires, but those days are probably gone until updated by this book. Totally ignorant of
the choices open to all of us, David grew up thinking he was a loser, until he was thrust into the company
of some knowledgeable young people who showed him what his body was good for and where his mind
should be traveling. He traverses the barriers of bisexuality and even the Creatures in the mirrors are no
longer to be shunned.
     This is another in a series of mature gay stories, realistic and wise while being entertaining and
educational. James Richards takes it all on and brings success to the forefront.
—Bill Lee, San Francisco Rogue

--------------------

Not everyone wants to raise the danger quotient of queer sex. In the Press Release for James A. Richards'
new novel, Summer Club and the Creatures, Richards expresses a desire to use sex for more than
titillation or to sell a sappy romance. Instead, he hopes for a less stilted usage, one that will move the story
along and expose new layers in his characters. The idea that sex is liberating and communicative is not new,
but making sex part of the story, yet not the story, is a tough assignment in the genre of gay erotic fiction.
       Richards tries gamely. Self-effacing David is our protagonist. After years of abuse of every kind,
David has retreated into a lonely and unfulfilling life. He moves through the world like a skittish cat,
alternately freezing and shivering at raised voices, perceived shadows and the "creatures" [in mirrors] he avoids

because of his own self-loathing. Richards effectively punctuates the text with David's italicized self doubt.
     A lawyer sends David on a journey he did not expect: his long-lost family has been found and David will now
face a history he did not know was his. But the new location and new family connection begin to lead David
out of his misery. He slowly makes new friends--some with scars like his; finds new paths--some that
will lead to a renewed confidence; and acquires a new understanding of his mind and body.
      There is much more to it than that, but ultimately Richards creates a tight read in
Summer Club and the Creatures. David is at once a sentimental and embraceable character,
one whose internal dialogue (the aforementioned italics) evolves with him and who, by the end,
even reads different. All the while, Richards has us rooting for him.
     Did Richards achieve his goal with regard to sex? Was David's journey propelled by his encounters,
enhancing of his romantic life, or simply titillating? Here Richards may have managed something. David's
sex is experienced, by both reader and him. One encounter in particular mirrors an internal dialogue
of my own experience that I have to give it up for the realism.
---Will Louis, X-Factor

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