Tangled Up In Blue: A Novel

by Larry Duplechan

Tangled Up in Blue is love story of three people bound together by ties of love, passion, and friendship until a crisis threatens to destroy them all.

Maggie Sullivan's accidental discovery that her husband Daniel has taken the AIDS test leads to a devastating Before he met and married Maggie, Daniel had been lovers with Crockett, a gay man who is now Maggie's closest friend.

Reeling from a sense of betrayal and unable to deal with the husband she loves intensely and the friend she cares for most, Maggie faces a crisis that threatens to destroy both marriage and friendship, testing her and her husband's love for each other and for their closest friend.

"The breezy, hedonistic mood of the typically Californian characters in this arresting, heartwrenching novel is shattered by the AIDS virus... This moving, inspirational story commands attention whatever one's sexual orientation." - Publishers Weekly


Stonewall Inn Editions

Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Gay Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having finished publishing my own recent contribution to the '1980s AIDS gay fiction' genre, and my related re-reading of many classics of the era, I almost forgot this intimate gem from Duplechan. Set in the mid-1980s Los Angeles, and published in 1989, the author includes a few specific '80s references without falling into clichés; fitness centers in all their Spandex, where Maggie works, the LA acting scene, where her handsome actor husband Daniel can't get much work due to his striking resemblance to Christopher Reeve (he moves to a legal career) and their spritely gay friend Crockett, a word processor and aspiring author.

All seems happy until the news of Rock Hudson's illness splashes across tabloid and news headlines. Crockett's begun to get sick, and while his two friends are concerned, it also opens up the romantic past between Daniel and Crockett, sprung from their work in a local production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' I found the years-back romance between the two men to be quite sexy and sweet.

When Daniel reveals his past with Crockett, Maggie is understandably upset. The novel explores bisexuality and the panicked fear of those days with sensitivity and a lyrical style. While many novels by gay men about these times forebode gloom and death, some of them immersed in it without later perspective (due to the demise of many of the genre's authors), 'Tangled..' offers a glint of hope and love amid the growing pandemic.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful read by Larry Duplechan. This book is now a period piece. It is set in 1985 and written in 1988. It concerns two friends, one gay, one bi whois more or less straight. The two guys had an affair six years before the book began. The bi guy is now married to a woman and he and the gay guy remain close friends and have incorporated the wife into their friendship. However, the gay guy tests positive for HIV and the bi guy tests negative but his wife finds evidence of the HIV test and doesn't handle it well. It all ends well in a loving and calm manner. The author's doppleganger, Johnny Ray Rousseau, also makes an appearance as a minor character. Although dated, this book is funny and human and is highly recommended for any and all readers. I wish the author wrote a sequel to this.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great book! Daniel's relationship with Crockett was great to read about. The whole story of how they met and became involved was just so wonderfully written. The weak link in this book was Daniel's wife Maggie. She just came across as too much of a stereotype and at times I felt like the author just didn't know what to do with her. Still, reading about her and Daniel's marriage (even if it did seem like a soap opera at times) was fascinating. Duplechan presents a compelling look at bisexuality, homosexuality, and AIDS and deals with them all in a mature way.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it really long time ago... mid-90s. I remember I re-read it twice, so I must have liked it. Even though it's one of those books that slipped off my mind until someone else mentioned it.

[John Treat · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book about a gay man in the initial stages of AIDS. It reads as if it were written for straight people-- everything is accessible for clueless people.