I was fortunate to meet Christopher Bram several months ago at a Dim Sum brunch hosted by a mutual friend. He personally recommended this book since I had expressed an interest in historical fiction. The novel spans the period from the civil war when the narrator Augustus Fitzwilliam Boyd (stage name, Notorious Dr. August) is a teenager to the 1920s when Augustus is an old man narrating his life story to his silent nephew Tristan (unlike the somewhat annoying "boy" in Interview with the Vampire who you wish would keep his mouth shut) who also eventually shows up as a character in the book, first as a young boy and later as a grown man. There are classic historical novel elements such as major real-world events, people, and places like the Civil War, a cameo appearance by Brahms, and one of the amusement parks in Coney Island, Dreamland. These true-to-life landmarks, and other allusions, do ground the novel in real world history, and as the author notes at the end, "A lifelong love affair with American literature stands behind this novel." But the main character, Dr. August, "is entirely fictional but was inspired by several real improvisational pianists." That fact, makes this novel closer to a work of historical fiction like Aztec, by Gary Jennings whose main character Mixtli-Dark Cloud is entirely imagined vs. one like Lincoln by Gore Vidal where the protagonist was once a flesh and blood human. So for me, while I absolutely loved the historical context, this felt much more like a regular work of fiction enriched by history, but not one that really elucidated it to any degree. This is not meant as a criticism so much as an observation. As a pure work of fiction, whether historical or not, this novel succeeds on so many levels. Fitz is a witty and entertaining observer of his own life and that of his lifelong companions, Isaac, an ex-slave he meets as a teenager, and the prim and proper governess from Connecticut Alice they meet on a ship to Europe whom Isaac eventually marries. Fitz honestly opines about everyone he meets and everything he experiences. He's something of a free spirit, an itinerant musician, spiritualist, conjurer of ghosts, irreverent, and ungodly in a religious age. And while his behavior and choices as a younger man, by modern standards, may be called into question, as a whole he does have a moral character and lives what may be called a virtuous life. Bram, like any great writer, can inhabit very different characters and personalities, and imbue them with life and personality. He touches on big issues such as the racism embedded in American and European societies, as well as smaller issues of how individuals face up to their moral and spiritual struggles, the choices they make along the way, and the very real consequence of those choices. ( )

This book, along with Almost History and Father of Frankenstein, place Bram as one of the best gay authors writing today. ( )