The Backlot Gay Book Forum discussion

Playing the Palace
By Paul Rudnick, Narrated by Michael Urie
Audible, 2020
Five stars

Hilarious. Paul Rudnick has always been a funny writer, but his spin on the intriguingly popular trope of a gay English prince and his potential boyfriend is somehow special. It’s sweet, and touching, and absurd, and romantic.

Carter Ogden, a nice Jewish boy from Piscataway, New Jersey, is a hard-working assistant event planner, living with two roommates in an overpriced flat somewhere in Manhattan (or possibly Brooklyn, but they never say). Rudnick’s description of Carter’s job is worth the whole book. It’s also a very odd name for a Jewish boy, but no matter. Carter has a sort of awkward meet-cute at the United Nations while setting up an event for the Prince of Wales. This prince’s name in this fictional royal family is Edgar.

Michael Urie is one of my longtime old man crushes (I’m the old man), ever since I saw him in “Buyer Cellar” off Broadway. He is not just hilarious, but amazingly skilled as the book’s narrator. He gets the upper crust Brit accent as neatly as he gets the Jewish housewife voice. He’s brilliant. Even the secondary characters become important presences in this narration. They all matter. I love to read, but I can’t imagine this book without having heard it.

Rudnick uses all of his iconic tricks of snark and eye-rolling humor. But there’s this note of tenderness, of genuine affection and love, that runs throughout the book. It’s not just Prince Edgar and Carter Ogden, but Carter’s sublimely embarrassing family (yes, very broadly played, but side-splitting); and even the cantankerous old Queen Catherine, Edgar’s octogenarian nana, demonstrates a desperate and frustrated love for her wayward gay grandson.

The core charm here is that both Edgar and Carter see the other as more fortunate than the other is. Carter feels useless and a failure to be doing what he does and living as he does at nearly thirty years old. Thing is, Prince Edgar feels the same way. Both men have faced dark times when they were young, which makes them vulnerable – while making them fearful of being vulnerable. Both men seem to have a pattern of self-sabotage, even though, for the reader/listener, it is clear that either one would be perfect husband material.

With all the hubbub about a certain redheaded English prince and his American wife, this book seems almost inevitable; but it truly is a fantasy of what, in an ideal world, could be. It is funny, but it is not a spoof; it is a surprisingly serious look at “what if:” what if a romance were to challenge all of the apparent prejudices of not just the Royal Family, but the United Kingdom itself. The selfishness of people and the nastiness of the British press is not left out. This is a very gay book, and one that will resonate widely with anyone who has ever, even for a moment, felt unworthy of happiness.

Whilst I read (and enjoyed) the book Red, White & Royal Blue, I recently saw the film so decided a re-read of this sub-genre was in order. I did like the book Red, White & Royal Blue better but the film WAS fun and certainly had two charming leads.

From there I moved on to The Student Prince which recasts the Arthur myths with some Harry Potter elements and throws in a bit of the TV series Merlin. I actually preferred that one and the audiobook version read by author FayJay was great.

Now it's on to Playing the Palace. I've always liked Paul Rudnick's other works so I'm hoping for great things.