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Grit
Grit permeates each crevice of the Great Depression and the men living through it. This sex-saturated tale from William Maltese and Jardonn Smith is of have's and have-not's -- who run trains across the Dust Bowl ... who hitch trains to escape poverty and despair.
235 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2010
1 person is currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
William Maltese
151 books20 followersPseudonym of William J. Lambert III.
I've been in the business of writing books for a very long time, and I derive particular enjoyment from visiting different places and then trying to relay the "essence" of those places to my readers. Likewise, I'm very adventuresome regarding trying new things, whether it be exotic and strange foods and/or other more personal "things".
I've been in the business of writing books for a very long time, and I derive particular enjoyment from visiting different places and then trying to relay the "essence" of those places to my readers. Likewise, I'm very adventuresome regarding trying new things, whether it be exotic and strange foods and/or other more personal "things".
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 18, 2012
This is a personal review, not one shared from www.speakitsname.com. The reason for that will be obvious, in the review.
The books begins in the line of a sweeping American saga - set in Kansas City in the midst of the grip of the great depression. You get the impression that this is going to be a coming of age book, or a surviving the depression book, a family saga book - something along those lines - perhaps Grapes of Wrath with lots of gay sex (after all, everyone is doing that kind of thing).
But no.
It's the story of four men, Wilton and Gaither, Bobby and Dan, and the roundabout ways they get together in the end. It lurches from the engaging beginning where I thought I was getting an American saga into train spotter heaven where it describes trains and their workings for about 20 pages at a time (your page-age may vary, I read on Kindle) and then into the most ludicrous rape and bondage fantasy of 20 or so men (all built like Charles Atlas) in sexual slavery on a corn farm. This corn farm is producing "Grit" (which I had imagined was a title referring to the men that the great dust bowl produces) which is a 1930's viagra for gay men that turns them into desperately needy bottoms bunnies, screaming for someone to shag them.
It was at this point - 80 percent into the book - that a paranormal aspect was introduced - thereby making it ineligible for Speak Its Name, making me laugh at loud in derision and wanting to throw it across the room in disgust. As far as speak its name is concerned, I had wasted my time, and the book itself disgusted me so much I'd wasted my time anyway.
The writing is incredibly uneven. Even the second section which relates to Bobby and his film theatre is choppy. We are introduced (God knows why as we never see him again) with much detail (as with everything) a Paul, who seems to be dating June. However in a page or two we are told that Dan (Bobby's lover) is engaged to June so an editor should have spotted this.
An editor should have spotted a hell of a lot. It is edited, and I won't embarrass the person by naming names but I don't know what they actually did. Perhaps some editors feel that authors who have been writing for decades don't need an editor, or they are too timid to point out to the experienced author that they've made mistakes but in this case they should have spoken up. Or perhaps they just didn't spot the errors. The dangling modifiers, the misused homonyms, the typos and the misused or missing commas. Or the anachronisms such as "gay" and "homophobic."
Sadly there wasn't anything I liked. The sex was porn-standard (and not good porn at all) the characters 2d and only think about sex and nothing - nothing else.(I mean, Dan was hung up in chains in a barn and gang raped and when he gets a nice meal he thinks that maybe sex slavery isn't going to be that bad.(!!!!!!) He doesn't care a twinge that his mother (who he left in the hands of his father, a wife beater) will worry as to whether he's alive or dead. No problem as long as he gets himself shagged regularly eh?
Sorry, can't recommend this one.
The books begins in the line of a sweeping American saga - set in Kansas City in the midst of the grip of the great depression. You get the impression that this is going to be a coming of age book, or a surviving the depression book, a family saga book - something along those lines - perhaps Grapes of Wrath with lots of gay sex (after all, everyone is doing that kind of thing).
But no.
It's the story of four men, Wilton and Gaither, Bobby and Dan, and the roundabout ways they get together in the end. It lurches from the engaging beginning where I thought I was getting an American saga into train spotter heaven where it describes trains and their workings for about 20 pages at a time (your page-age may vary, I read on Kindle) and then into the most ludicrous rape and bondage fantasy of 20 or so men (all built like Charles Atlas) in sexual slavery on a corn farm. This corn farm is producing "Grit" (which I had imagined was a title referring to the men that the great dust bowl produces) which is a 1930's viagra for gay men that turns them into desperately needy bottoms bunnies, screaming for someone to shag them.
It was at this point - 80 percent into the book - that a paranormal aspect was introduced - thereby making it ineligible for Speak Its Name, making me laugh at loud in derision and wanting to throw it across the room in disgust. As far as speak its name is concerned, I had wasted my time, and the book itself disgusted me so much I'd wasted my time anyway.
The writing is incredibly uneven. Even the second section which relates to Bobby and his film theatre is choppy. We are introduced (God knows why as we never see him again) with much detail (as with everything) a Paul, who seems to be dating June. However in a page or two we are told that Dan (Bobby's lover) is engaged to June so an editor should have spotted this.
An editor should have spotted a hell of a lot. It is edited, and I won't embarrass the person by naming names but I don't know what they actually did. Perhaps some editors feel that authors who have been writing for decades don't need an editor, or they are too timid to point out to the experienced author that they've made mistakes but in this case they should have spoken up. Or perhaps they just didn't spot the errors. The dangling modifiers, the misused homonyms, the typos and the misused or missing commas. Or the anachronisms such as "gay" and "homophobic."
Sadly there wasn't anything I liked. The sex was porn-standard (and not good porn at all) the characters 2d and only think about sex and nothing - nothing else.(I mean, Dan was hung up in chains in a barn and gang raped and when he gets a nice meal he thinks that maybe sex slavery isn't going to be that bad.(!!!!!!) He doesn't care a twinge that his mother (who he left in the hands of his father, a wife beater) will worry as to whether he's alive or dead. No problem as long as he gets himself shagged regularly eh?
Sorry, can't recommend this one.
Read
April 15, 2011There are some Gay novels that is difficult to classify as romance, and for this reason I think, in this last period where Gay Romances are overlooked by all a series of readers, can be the hunting place for them. Grit comes from a couple of authors who are specialized in basic, and dirty, sex, a sex without “frippery”, sex that the more romantic romance readers can maybe don’t understand, but if some of them want to give to this story a try, I think they maybe can be surprised… or maybe they will hate me to direct them to this story, but in any case I think it was worth the try.
This is the story of 4 men, 2 couple, Wilton and Gaither, Bobby and Dan, two couple that are at the opposite, experienced and daring the first one, tentative and a little scared the second one, but all of them will find their right happy end.
While young Bobby and Dan should be in a way more dear to the romantic reader, they are discovering their love for each other (be careful, I’m not saying this is a roses and chocolate story, but at least they are young (and I think pretty) enough to be of interest for that type of reader), I had a special “love” for Wilton and Gaither. All the opposite from pretty Wilton was probably my favourite of all of them: the one who makes the engine of a beginning of the century train work, Wilton hasn’t had an easy life, but now he is good, he has an home of his own, a good job, and I think that he would like to have also a good man by his side. But Wilton, even if he doesn’t let it out, I think has a wrong idea of himself, like that, since he is not pretty, and rough, and on and on in his mind with the lesser quality in him, he always picks men in need of something he has (money) and not exactly searching for that thing he would like to give for free (love).
Involved with Gaither, a some sort of police officer, in the search of a missing Dan, the two have the time to explorer a relationship that they only quickly tasted before, and Wilton will find out that Gaither is not a man who let himself fooled by Wilton’s rough exterior, that he is able to see the good (and somewhat kind) man inside.
The sex, both between Bobby and Dan, than above all between Wilton and Gaither is, as I said, basic, and in Wilton and Gaither’s case, even extreme. I’m not saying it’s kinky, even if the more experienced Wilton and Gaither play a some sort of BDSM ante-litteram relationship. Sex in these types of stories is a must, even since, truth be told, readers are not really searching for romance when picking up these books… and that I think is the nice surprise I was saying above, finding happily ever after, and even a glimpse in what was, apparently, a long and satisfying relationship is even more nice.
From what I can tell, also the setting, a beginning of the XX century America is good, there was really the feeling of a society that was on the edge of a big change, even if remembrances of a recent “wild” past were still there.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608201228/?...
This is the story of 4 men, 2 couple, Wilton and Gaither, Bobby and Dan, two couple that are at the opposite, experienced and daring the first one, tentative and a little scared the second one, but all of them will find their right happy end.
While young Bobby and Dan should be in a way more dear to the romantic reader, they are discovering their love for each other (be careful, I’m not saying this is a roses and chocolate story, but at least they are young (and I think pretty) enough to be of interest for that type of reader), I had a special “love” for Wilton and Gaither. All the opposite from pretty Wilton was probably my favourite of all of them: the one who makes the engine of a beginning of the century train work, Wilton hasn’t had an easy life, but now he is good, he has an home of his own, a good job, and I think that he would like to have also a good man by his side. But Wilton, even if he doesn’t let it out, I think has a wrong idea of himself, like that, since he is not pretty, and rough, and on and on in his mind with the lesser quality in him, he always picks men in need of something he has (money) and not exactly searching for that thing he would like to give for free (love).
Involved with Gaither, a some sort of police officer, in the search of a missing Dan, the two have the time to explorer a relationship that they only quickly tasted before, and Wilton will find out that Gaither is not a man who let himself fooled by Wilton’s rough exterior, that he is able to see the good (and somewhat kind) man inside.
The sex, both between Bobby and Dan, than above all between Wilton and Gaither is, as I said, basic, and in Wilton and Gaither’s case, even extreme. I’m not saying it’s kinky, even if the more experienced Wilton and Gaither play a some sort of BDSM ante-litteram relationship. Sex in these types of stories is a must, even since, truth be told, readers are not really searching for romance when picking up these books… and that I think is the nice surprise I was saying above, finding happily ever after, and even a glimpse in what was, apparently, a long and satisfying relationship is even more nice.
From what I can tell, also the setting, a beginning of the XX century America is good, there was really the feeling of a society that was on the edge of a big change, even if remembrances of a recent “wild” past were still there.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608201228/?...
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews