Gulliver Takes Five

If you haven't read Gulliver Takes Manhattan, stop right now and do so.

You've read it now? Good. Now you're ready for Gulliver Takes Five. It's not so much a sequel as it is a companion book. And yes, you can read it, enjoy it, and love without having read the story of Gulliver Leverenz' introduction to the Big Apple and all its boys, bars, booze, and buttsex. But if you, like me, have read and loved the first book, this book will illuminate the characters and stories that you, like me, have already devoured.

Justin Luke Zirilli takes us back to Gulliver's gang of friends in NYC. As you might guess from the title though, our hero is on a break. Sure, his name is peppered throughout, and sure, he pops up in flashbacks like they're pop-ups for New York Screwniversity, but this is not his story. This is the story of Brayden, of Marty, of Chase, of Servando and Rowan, and of Todd (not Shane sadly, maybe his is still to come, or maybe he was too busy cleaning up after Brayden's latest blow-out).

In Gulliver Takes Manhattan, we follow Gulliver to a huge party at eWrecksion, and he wonders, relieved, why none of his friends are there.

This book tells us why.

The day of that party, they all have their own crises to deal with, and Zirilli weaves them together beautifully, a tapestry of sex and betrayal, Broadway bottoms and giant rats, revenge, reunion, and romance. Every voice is distinct, and the characters that we saw before only through Gulliver's eyes now become fully fleshed-out, each one with his own failings, his own dreams, his own tragic beauty.

We knew of Brayden's craziness from Gulliver on Fire Island, and now we see it full-blown through Brayden's own eyes. We follow Marty as he tries to overcome both heartbreak and cattle calls in hs quest for love and happiness on the stage. We learn more about the man with the clock tattoo as Chase chases his dreams beyond the go-go box. We see Servando and Rowan bounce each other's hearts back and forth in the strange openness of their relationship. And we get inside the mind and heart and body of Todd diTempto, who's dealing with Gulliver's betrayal and disappearance at a time when all he needs is his best friend with him.

I'm already ready for the third.

This has been a bobert review.