Nine’s review of The Disappearers > Likes and Comments
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What a hilarious, heartfelt review, thanks for this. I'm nearly halfway through and wondering why these erudite, thoughtful (but pathologically horny) men are so disgracefully misogynistic. I know it's 1988 and I remember the sexism of 1988 very well, but still, it's hard to read the relentless mocking of women and anything remotely feminine, and the endless referrals to fish, without wondering why these men hate us so much. It's going to take a second half miracle for this book to get anything more than a 2 or 3⭐️ from me. But thanks again for your review, a bit of light relief in the rivers of tormented spunk
I feel that way about many of the New Tork Times reviews. I would be interested to know what you thought of A Little Life.
Hilary wrote: "What a hilarious, heartfelt review, thanks for this. I'm nearly halfway through and wondering why these erudite, thoughtful (but pathologically horny) men are so disgracefully misogynistic. I know ..."
Totally. The misogyny took me right out of it. I found it unrealistic, especially when women have historically been some of the biggest allies of queer people
Sandy wrote: "I feel that way about many of the New Tork Times reviews. I would be interested to know what you thought of A Little Life."
A Little Life was awful. I reviewed it some time ago
I am only through about 10% of it and then started wondering… if this is a case of “My Pafology” in Percival Everett’s Erasure. If so, it is proving its point well.
Girl, if you are not Jamaican, please don’t speak on the Jamaican experience. You have no clue what the fuck it’s like to have a mob come down on you literally wanting to kill you for being gay. I live here and I have that experience. If the book didn’t work for you then it didn’t work for you. But don’t act like you KNOW anything because you don’t.
Dwayne wrote: "Girl, if you are not Jamaican, please don’t speak on the Jamaican experience. You have no clue what the fuck it’s like to have a mob come down on you literally wanting to kill you for being gay. I ..."
I am Jamaican, that's why I said I appreciated the easter eggs. I also said the book's description of homophobia was 100% accurate. So I'm not sure what you're upset about
I am not Jamaican and I am an LGBT+ ally, and I found this book to be over-the-top cringe in its portrayal of gay men who, as you’ve noted, seem to live for little else than anal sex in this book. The fetishizing of ass and dick and constant graphic descriptions of sexual encounters made it hard for me to read this book, even while the portrayals of inhumanity and its effects on victims and society broke my heart. Thank you for posting your honest opinion .
I won’t speak for all gay men but the level of sexual content in this book is probably the most honest and accurate portrayal of male sexual desire that I’ve read in a book. It’s messy and complicated and abundant. Not for everyone, I get that but there’s a lack of personal objectivity in your review.
Amen! The most honest review of this novel on this app.
As a straight black man living in poverty with a community college degree. I highly disagree. I felt all the desire to survive, the desire and pride of oneself while in a world that hated you for being yourself. This book spoke to me. Not from the poverty. Not from making me feel the third world. It spoke to me in a way that made me truly appreciate the need to be ones self unapologetically, even when the world will want to kill you for it. It is a story about survival and as I'm caring for my wife with stage four cancer, it really hit me from page one to the 600 Plus.
I love the book. I hope it gets the booker prize. I think it deserves it. Also as someone who was in theater and had plenty of gay male friends when I was in my twenties. Yea they were definitely oversexed. Everyone was screwing everyone. Fun times.
I get your perspective. But I respectfully disagree.
Clarence wrote: "As a straight black man living in poverty with a community college degree. I highly disagree. I felt all the desire to survive, the desire and pride of oneself while in a world that hated you for b..."
Appreciate your perspective!
I appreciate your review! I think I’ll DNF at 40%. You described it perfectly when you said the plot must always stop so the narrative can focus on something sexual. At first I was like ok, maybe this is just the personal mental path but it hasn’t stopped. I kept reading because I wanted to see how the book pivoted post-attack, but it’s more of the same. I’m Trinidadian so I appreciated some of the Easter eggs as well but I don’t think this one is for me!
I agree with some of what you say but I loved and hated the book in equal measure. But I had to ask myself if this was a book about heterosexual sex how uncomfortable would one be? The book addressed stereotypes that some stereotypes are true. Sex is something people have a lot of. And especially when they’re young they seek it out a lot. I think Marlon is trying to show us how marginalising gay men lead to a kind of sexual distortion.
Marlon James is such a god writer that even if he is botching a novel or story you can’t really tell, just suspect. I enjoyed it though. I was equally traumatised
Im glad i have read this,I'm limping through the audio book and whilst I'm hating the accents and patois. I can't really see the literary merit thos jas been afforded so far. It is totally full of stereotype after stereotype. I'm bored
A review so good and so spot-on I had to read it three times.
Wow this is the first time of me really thinking why “LGBT” is ordered this way with L in the front - thank you for this piece of information
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Hilary
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Sep 16, 2026 05:29PM
What a hilarious, heartfelt review, thanks for this. I'm nearly halfway through and wondering why these erudite, thoughtful (but pathologically horny) men are so disgracefully misogynistic. I know it's 1988 and I remember the sexism of 1988 very well, but still, it's hard to read the relentless mocking of women and anything remotely feminine, and the endless referrals to fish, without wondering why these men hate us so much. It's going to take a second half miracle for this book to get anything more than a 2 or 3⭐️ from me. But thanks again for your review, a bit of light relief in the rivers of tormented spunk
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I feel that way about many of the New Tork Times reviews. I would be interested to know what you thought of A Little Life.
Hilary wrote: "What a hilarious, heartfelt review, thanks for this. I'm nearly halfway through and wondering why these erudite, thoughtful (but pathologically horny) men are so disgracefully misogynistic. I know ..."Totally. The misogyny took me right out of it. I found it unrealistic, especially when women have historically been some of the biggest allies of queer people
Sandy wrote: "I feel that way about many of the New Tork Times reviews. I would be interested to know what you thought of A Little Life."A Little Life was awful. I reviewed it some time ago
I am only through about 10% of it and then started wondering… if this is a case of “My Pafology” in Percival Everett’s Erasure. If so, it is proving its point well.
Girl, if you are not Jamaican, please don’t speak on the Jamaican experience. You have no clue what the fuck it’s like to have a mob come down on you literally wanting to kill you for being gay. I live here and I have that experience. If the book didn’t work for you then it didn’t work for you. But don’t act like you KNOW anything because you don’t.
Dwayne wrote: "Girl, if you are not Jamaican, please don’t speak on the Jamaican experience. You have no clue what the fuck it’s like to have a mob come down on you literally wanting to kill you for being gay. I ..."I am Jamaican, that's why I said I appreciated the easter eggs. I also said the book's description of homophobia was 100% accurate. So I'm not sure what you're upset about
I am not Jamaican and I am an LGBT+ ally, and I found this book to be over-the-top cringe in its portrayal of gay men who, as you’ve noted, seem to live for little else than anal sex in this book. The fetishizing of ass and dick and constant graphic descriptions of sexual encounters made it hard for me to read this book, even while the portrayals of inhumanity and its effects on victims and society broke my heart. Thank you for posting your honest opinion .
I won’t speak for all gay men but the level of sexual content in this book is probably the most honest and accurate portrayal of male sexual desire that I’ve read in a book. It’s messy and complicated and abundant. Not for everyone, I get that but there’s a lack of personal objectivity in your review.
Amen! The most honest review of this novel on this app.
As a straight black man living in poverty with a community college degree. I highly disagree. I felt all the desire to survive, the desire and pride of oneself while in a world that hated you for being yourself. This book spoke to me. Not from the poverty. Not from making me feel the third world. It spoke to me in a way that made me truly appreciate the need to be ones self unapologetically, even when the world will want to kill you for it. It is a story about survival and as I'm caring for my wife with stage four cancer, it really hit me from page one to the 600 Plus. I love the book. I hope it gets the booker prize. I think it deserves it. Also as someone who was in theater and had plenty of gay male friends when I was in my twenties. Yea they were definitely oversexed. Everyone was screwing everyone. Fun times.
I get your perspective. But I respectfully disagree.
Clarence wrote: "As a straight black man living in poverty with a community college degree. I highly disagree. I felt all the desire to survive, the desire and pride of oneself while in a world that hated you for b..."Appreciate your perspective!
I appreciate your review! I think I’ll DNF at 40%. You described it perfectly when you said the plot must always stop so the narrative can focus on something sexual. At first I was like ok, maybe this is just the personal mental path but it hasn’t stopped. I kept reading because I wanted to see how the book pivoted post-attack, but it’s more of the same. I’m Trinidadian so I appreciated some of the Easter eggs as well but I don’t think this one is for me!
I agree with some of what you say but I loved and hated the book in equal measure. But I had to ask myself if this was a book about heterosexual sex how uncomfortable would one be? The book addressed stereotypes that some stereotypes are true. Sex is something people have a lot of. And especially when they’re young they seek it out a lot. I think Marlon is trying to show us how marginalising gay men lead to a kind of sexual distortion. Marlon James is such a god writer that even if he is botching a novel or story you can’t really tell, just suspect. I enjoyed it though. I was equally traumatised
Im glad i have read this,I'm limping through the audio book and whilst I'm hating the accents and patois. I can't really see the literary merit thos jas been afforded so far. It is totally full of stereotype after stereotype. I'm bored
A review so good and so spot-on I had to read it three times.
Wow this is the first time of me really thinking why “LGBT” is ordered this way with L in the front - thank you for this piece of information