Product Description

Martin is not a happy bunny. His boyfriend has left him for a male prostitute, his best friend is too busy looking for sex on the internet to offer much in the way of support and his gal pal is convinced that her own boyfriend is a closet case. How's a boy to find Mr Right rather than Mr Right Now?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #965695 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
Kind, decent Martin is devastated when his boyfriend of four years runs off with a male prostitute. He jumps into hedonism whilst his friend Caroline is learning that being shameless has its price. Can they find the men of their dreams when sex has become a substitute for love?

TIME OUT
'Witty, intelligent, and very, very funny'

HEAT
'Wickedly funny'

Customer Reviews

Amazing - Paul Burston is a genius!
This book is fantastic! Anyone who slates it has either never experienced the London gay scene or lacks the ability to laugh at themselves – which is just sad. There were parts in ‘Shameless’ where I gasped in astonishment at how true some of the stuff was. It’s witty, bitchy, trashy, camp, sweet and above all fun. Martin, John and Cocaine Queen Caroline’s crazy adventures in and around the Wicked West End portray the 2002 gay scene perfectly. Sure – there’s more to gay life than pills, thrills and poppers, but to slag off ‘Shameless’ on the strength of that is to MISS THE POINT. Paul Burston’s style of writing is fresh and easy to read, and all of his observations are totally accurate. I recognised people I know within these pages, and even (whisper it quietly) recognised myself in some parts. All in all, a top notch read.

A witty look at contemporary urban gay life
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.

Shame. Less than impressed.
I really wanted to like this book, being a fan of Paul Burtson's writing in Time Out, and having heard good things about it, but frankly, it's a major disappointment. Yes, the gay scene is well depicted, (hedonism, blah, blah, blah) but without a strong narrative drive, that is not enough. Unfortunately, the writing is flat, characters are at most two-dimensional, and in striving to be outrageous, the book ends up being rather dull, littered with clumsy dialogue. Maybe this book wanted to be Tales Of The City set in London, but it has none of the warmth or charm of that series of novels. Yes, it's an easy read, it's also a rather uninspiring one.