For the first time, I'm at a loss for words to describe the story without giving too much away. As the title says, it's about Lyle Clemens. Actually, Lyle Clemens the Second. The first Lyle Clemens was a handsome cowboy who one night wooed a beauty pageant hopeful named Sylvia Love, got her pregnant and showered her with promises, then skipped town. Lyle grows up with his Mother's sadness lingering around the house and tries whatever he can to make her happy. But he's turning into a handsome young man, the spitting image of Lyle the First, and Sylvia's emotions push her over somewhat over the edge. Lyle decides the best thing to do is to leave Rio Escondido and falls under the greedy eyes of Brother Bud and Sister Sis, the two religious zealots who convince him to work for their "Write a Letter to Jesus" campaign. They take him to the glitter and lights of Southern California, where he meets with a myriad of characters some wonderful and some devilish, some helpful and some blinded by greed. Through all the trials and temptations, Lyle finds the strength to be himself and to stay true to his heart.

My, what I've left out! Rechy includes quite a few sub-stories, all having some kind of effect on Lyle in subtle ways -- from Sylvia's disastrous involvement with the Miss Rio Escondido Beauty Pageant to Lyle's stint with Brother Bud and Sister Sis on their televised letter campaign to a determined aging actress trying to regain the spotlight with the film sequel to Valley of the Dolls. While most of them are fun, they seem to be layered on one after the other, jumping quickly before one tale can finish. As I reader, I wasn't given enough of a chance to get into a storyline before all the characters moved onto something else. After a while, the stories begin to lose believability and seem more coincidental than necessary.

I hate to say it, but I'm not all that fond of the characters. They come across as over-the-top and one-dimensional, like characters in a telenovela. They're either good or bad, with no grey area in between to allow for growth. Lyle's almost too much of a goody-goody that he seems almost oblivious to negative situations unless they're pointed out to him. I did, however, think it a nice touch to add the character of Enrique Fielding o the mix, since the spiel on the dust jacket mentions that this story is loosely based on "The History of Tom Jones" by Henry Fielding.

"The Life and Adventures of Lyle Clemens" is interesting to read, but from what I've read of Rechy's other books, he's offered much better stories and characters. ( )