Living Upstairs

Nathan Reed #1

by Joseph Hansen

Joseph Hansen has been praised by The New York Times as "one of the best we have" and by the Boston Globe as among "our finest writers." Known for his bestselling Dave Brandstetter series, Hansen here tells a richly atmospheric story of a young homosexual man's coming of age. Nominated for a Lambda Literary Award.

Genres: Fiction, Gay, LGBT, Historical Fiction, Gay Fiction

218 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1993

About the author

Joseph Hansen (1923–2004) was an American author of mysteries. The son of a South Dakota shoemaker, he moved to a California citrus farm with his family in 1936. He began publishing poetry in the New Yorker in the 1950s, and joined the editorial teams of gay magazines ONE and Tangents in the 1960s. Using the pseudonyms Rose Brock and James Colton, Hansen published five novels and a collection of short stories before the appearance of Fadeout (1970), the first novel published under his own name.

The book introduced street-smart insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter, a complex, openly gay hero who grew and changed over the series’s twelve novels. By the time Hansen concluded the series with A Country of Old Men (1990), Brandstetter was older, melancholy, and ready for retirement. The 1992 recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Hansen published several more novels before his death in 2004.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever since I discovered the Dave Brandstetter mysteries, I've always had a soft spot for Joseph Hansen's writing. "Living Upstairs" set in Los Angeles in 1943-44 is primarily the coming of age story of its main protagonist, Nathan Reed, a gay Minnesota transplant who has come to L.A. to - God help us - write his first novel. Oh, and to come to term with his sexuality. And figure out why his boyfriend, Hoyt, has been acting so strangely. Deal with the creepy FBI agent who has been tracking them (or is he really stalking Nathan?). Navigate the bitchiness that is rampant throughout their circle of gay friends and neighbors, and the harassment by the straight thugs in the neighborhood.

I enjoyed the story well enough, though I don't think it matches the standard of Hansen's other work. Characterization was a bit thin, and the plot was just serviceable. The book's main strength is Hansen's evocation of gay life in Hollywood at the particular time the story takes place.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hansen will be remembered fondly for his Dave Brandsteter mystery novels, not this novel. Nonetheless, "Living Upstairs" maintains reader interest because of Hansen's accurate recreation of WWII era Los Angeles and the gay men who were left behind (for whatever reason). The book had too many improbable plot twists for me, but you'll likely find yourself identifying with the main character, an aspiring writer who struggles to make ends meet while maintaining a relationship with an artist. Recommended with reservations.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my fourth or fifth Hansen book, and I thought it was going to be a favorite, but for me that remains A Smile in His Lifetime, (though I still really hate that title). Hansen is great at characterization and snappy dialogue. He's also great at scene-setting, building mystery, and dread. This book builds very slowly. The stakes feel low, or underdeveloped. They start to rise more dramatically in the middle, but in the final scenes we get a red herring of a conflict and the story's main source of tension comes to a head in a way that feels dashed out. Like the other books of Hansen's I've read, I loved the journey and felt let down by the ending. I've added Strange Marriage to my to-read list, written by Hansen under the name James Colton. I'm hoping that one has a better pay-off.

[Clay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed it right up until the end. Hoyt and Nathan were perfect together and then right at the end the author stabs you through the heart, and then twists the knife with the news that Flora Bella tells Nathan. I would rate it higher except I am pissed with the ending.

[Thomas Lowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay, but I had a really hard time keeping the secondary characters straight. When someone would re-enter the story, I either had to go back to see where they fit into the story--whose friend or co-worker or neighbor they were, or, finally, I just let it go and figured it didn't matter.

[Gary Garth McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I read Hansen's Dave Brandstetter detective series, I read his later novels Living Upstairs and Jack of Hearts, which I treasure for the author's memories of a 1940s L.A. and for depicting a gay presence then and there. In Living Upstairs, Nathan's in love with Hoyt and living with him, both young men cash-strapped. "The only clean shirt he can find has buttons missing, but he doesn't care. With the shirt flapping open, he runs across to the market." Easy picture on the eyes, no? (Incidentally, in the Southern California of my childhood and adolescence, there was no "no shirt, no shoes, no service" rule or policy for markets, drugstores, fast-foot and ice cream joints--a small challenge for writing historic Southern California because readers from elsewhere, or readers too young to remember, don't accept a man or woman wearing only a swimsuit in a supermarket). Innocent Nathan works in a used bookstore, writes, and tries to be an equal to Hoyt, whom he looks up to. A Lambda Award winner.

[Drew Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is Hollywood, Los Angeles, 1943 and 19-year-old Nathan Reed’s life is turned upside down. Nathan, an innocent who has recently moved to Los Angeles, has everything changed when Hoyt Stubblefield ambles into his life. Within a week of their first meeting, in the Hollywood Boulevard bookshop where Nathan works, Nathan is living with Hoyt in Hoyt’s run-down upstairs apartment and sharing his bed.

This marks the start of a whole new life for Nathan, an adventurous roller coaster ride of experiences. Hoyt, an artist and painter, introduces him to a whole new world of ideas, books, music, painting and the underground world that was gay life in 1940s Los Angeles. In return, Nathan is his pupil, model and lover. But this is no easy, romantic love story. Hoyt is as mysterious and secretive as he is handsome and charming, leading Nathan into an increasingly fraught and confusing life.

Joseph Hansen is best known for his series of detective novels, featuring Dave Brandstetter (one of literature’s first openly gay detectives), but with Living Upstairs he again proves he was an accomplished novelist.

The central relationship, between Nathan and Hoyt, is drawn with sensitivity and care. This is Nathan’s first relationship and Hansen perfectly captures that heady rush of lust and romance that so often makes up our first love affair—in this case it is also all on Nathan’s side.

This novel is also full of other extremely well-drawn characters, the kind of characters that are not present in Hollywood films of the time or later. Hansen shows his ability to capture his characters in one or two well-drawn paragraphs, so from the moment we meet them we recognise the person.

The atmosphere of this novel is evocative of a very different time and place. Not just period detail, though there is plenty of that, but this novel also has a deep feeling of its time and place. Hansen knew this world well, the fringe world of 1940s Hollywood, not just the underground homosexual world but also that of American communists and the poor on the fringes of tinsel town, and evokes it equally as well (the scene where Nathan and Hoyt, in a desperate bid to raise money, sell a pair of homoerotic paintings to a deeply closeted gay man is so telling).

The novel is written in the present tense and solely from Nathan’s perspective. This style of writing is not to everyone’s taste, but I would suggest persevering with it because otherwise you might miss an excellent novel. This is Joseph Hansen at his very best and not to be passed over.

[Genetic Cuckoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, I liked the characters and their journey, they were gritty and flawed and relatable, and it was nice to explore a gay relationship where that's not the main focus, it's just a part of their lives. The ending was a bit of a twist and cliffhanger, and I was left a little confused until I found out it was part of a series. I liked it but the writing towards the end did become less polished and paragraphs and scenes would just jump between locations or days with little warning, but overall it was an interesting story.

[Jayse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the writing which was at times blunt and other times lush. I felt transported back to Los Angeles in its prime. The romance was pulling at my heartstrings. They ending was disappointing and left me scratching my head.

[Daniell Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting with the insights for the time period. I wasn't sure how I would like this book. There were a couple parts that dragged but over all not a bad story. Was surprised at the ending.

[Virgowriter (Brad Windhauser) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on a coming of age novel.

[Ruby Roh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giving this book three stars is probably being a little unfair, since the copy I bought was missing its ending. But that's why I can't rate it higher. I did enjoy as much of it as I'd read, but I have no idea how it ended. At the time I wasn't able to get hold of another copy, so I'm still in the dark.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second time reading this; still good. What I liked most: portrayal of 1940s Los Angeles. What I liked least: weak ending.