This story is about a young man who goes to a vacation town to spend the summer wih his father. He's looking for answers, acceptance and love. The problem is that he works in a gay bar, and his father remains distant. Every character, including the main character, is more a sketch than a real person, and what you do know about them is negative. Danny, the young kid, is rather homophobic in his thoughts, if not his actions, and so is the girl that he ends up with. The gay characters are decidedly of the FAIRY-tale variety, including a whorish jock, and an effeminate older man with his dog. Everything works out well for all involved, but by the end, you don't really care. I'm glad it's short, but more glad that you don't have to read it if you don't want to. This isn't a comment on the plot or characters, but more on the others descriptive skills...which I would actually give many more stars than this book overall...and here's why...While on vacation walking a seaside path in Maine over 2 years after reading this book, I recalled the authors description of this path describing what I was walking so vividly, that, not even having thought of this book in at least a year, I could recall this book being set here and all of a sudden, everything that I had pictured while reading the book was very very real in front of me...if that's not good writing, I'm not sure what is!
What do You think about Dishes (2008)?
This is a sweet look at relationships, straight and gay, and what it means to be true to yourself.
—rene
