Douglas A. Martin

Get ready for a tearjerker. It was a pretty good book but the way it was set up left it feeling very choppy and made you wish for a little more details. For most of the book, I couldn't even figure out what the main character was thinking. The end for me was hard to understand as well since, again, it left a lot to in inferred. The reason it is 18 and over is because for a good portion of the book it is just about the protagonist being a prostitute and goes into nothing more then who he had sex with and what they made him do; so it is not for all audiences.… (meer)

This is a very odd prose-style narrative, which describes a very young man's long-term intimate relationship with a famous musician. The author has since revealed that "Outline of My Lover" is about his years dating Michael Stipe, the lead singer of R.E.M. How much of the autobiographical narrative is true has never fully been revealed. Much of the story is vaguely told and Michael is described as an emotionally distant but generous/caretaking lover to the narrator, who is around 19 when he begins his relationship with Michael. As the story continues, Michael becomes gradually less available and starts to pull away, leading to the narrator's described feelings of desperation. As a behind-the-scenes account from an unreliable narrator, it made for a fast and interesting read. However, the book is out of print and hard to come by, making it a collector's piece for fans of R.E.M. or the author, who has also published a book of poetry with Stipe and a few others.… (meer)

In this semi-autobiographical novel Douglas A Martin tells of his growing up in a dysfunctional family in America's South. His father has left, his mother eventually remarries, they struggle financially and relations are strained with his step-father. but Douglas loves his mother and is very close to his younger sister, and it is to the latter that the book is addressed - note: while written occasional in the second person the book is predominately written in the first person.

The account covers from as early as Douglas can remember to his graduating from high school, and reveals his closeness with his sister, his stepfather's disdain of his sissy ways, and his ups and downs through school and to his first boy friends.

But what is outstanding about his book is the writing, original, succinct, yet creating very much the aura of a confused young boy growing up in difficult circumstances. The sentences are often short, disjointed, but always evocative - sometimes I had to re-read to get the true sense of the meaning, although that was never a hardship for there is a beauty in the writing that rewards.

This is a touching and moving account conveyed in unique prose, and has prompted me immediately to order the author's first book, An Outline of My Lover, his fictionalised account of his relationship with the singer Michael Stipe.… (meer)