Candy Everybody Wants

Reading kind of like a VH1-style "I Love the 80's" special on steroids, "Candy Everyone Wants" is a madcap, extremely "over-the-top" story of a rather eventful year in the life of Jayson Blocher, a joyously flamboyantly gay boy from a small town in Wisconsin. A series of events lead to his leaving home to go to Manhattan and live with his estranged father, who runs an escort agency for men who want to spend time with Broadway chorus boys. Jason meets Devlin, a slightly older boy who starred in a popular sitcom and whom Jason had a longtime crush on, and he gets to sample a bit of fame by appearing in a popular series of television commercials. Subsequent events have both Jayson and Devlin on the lam and living on the streets of Chelsea, while his family and friends make an unexpected visit and Jayson waits to hear if he will be co-starring in a sitcom of its own. Throw in a few homophobic bible-thumpers, a kidnapping, a betrayal from someone whom he thought was a friend, and a realization that the life of an actor is not always a bed of roses, and you have a rollicking good time of a novel, written in a fast-paced, very witty manner that can cause a bit of "whiplash" whenever you try to put the book down for a while. So don't put it down ... it's a fun, light read. Five stars out of five.

Author Josh Kilmer-Purcell created a cast of funny, goofy, scary, warm & fuzzy characters in "Candy Everybody Wants". He writes believably about teens long after he was a teen. He describes Toni, a single mom without all the answers. Mr. Kilmer-Purcell isn't a Mom, and he's no longer single. But his words make you root for Toni. I wanted a woman to be the writer of this book. But now I get it: Mr. Kilmer-Purcell is a brilliant, captivating author. His characters are believable, and always entertaining. You should enjoy reading this book.

Kilmer-Purcell does a great job evoking the early 80's AND 12-year-old gay angst in suburban America. Rollicking cast of characters and continuously surprising plot. Hidden among the hijinx and camp are some deep statements about family, relationships, and trust.

This novel goes from gay and ridiculous to even more gay and more ridiculous. Josh Kilmer-Purcell manages to write a book that really couldn't be more different than his memoir. Jayson Blocher is like an amalgamation of every over-the-top child star ever, but gay. Every character her is a caricature to the nth degree, but all so carefully crafted that you fall for them and their madness anyway. Plus, oh, prostitution, drugs, crime, scandal, pregnancy, disabiity, crazy names and so much more. It's like the entire book is written in rainbow capital letters. As a New Yorker, getting insight into a very different SoHo than the one of designer shops and the Apple store was a delight. Kilmer-Purcell manages to weave this social landscape into his otherwise quite fantastical tale that'll have you wishing Dallasty! were a real show you could Tivo. If I had to summarize it in one word, it would be gay. No, make that Gay, in all the best senses of the word. I'd recommend to anyone who grew up worshiping at the altar of their TV screen and hoping one day it would come to life.

I purchased this book a few weeks after I purchased Josh Kilmer-Purcell's other two efforts and I'm glad I did. His other two books were, frankly, better. That said, it was a quick fun-ish read. My primary challenge is that this book is dark. Of course, it all ends well. Anyway...I'd recommend his other two books to anyone (over 18) at any time, but...this one is, as Josh admits...a sophomore effort.