Ilhem

To be totally honest, it's a 3,5 stars + 0,5 for encouragement.

It’s fast and sharp and bittersweet, and I liked it very much.

From the Korean war to the Vietnam war and the premises of the LGBT Rights movement, “Junior Willis” covers a man’s prime years – from first love and  first heartbreak to resignation, anonymous encounters and loneliness, then to hope again; from sexual awakening to self-depreciation and fear, then to candid seduction.

It doesn’t dig deep enough to be a character study, it is too short to be a chronicle, but it takes from both to brush a portrait touch by touch, Tom’s portrait. It’s about the supposedly best years of his adult life, the time he spent them in, the new era that is opening to him.

The writing style is journalistic, fast paced, more factual than introspective, but deft and clever. I suspect that it’s what seduced me the most.

Now, I feel like I should state that this is not a romance, since the main focus is not to lead two characters from point A to point B; but it is definitely about sexuality and love, and I am glad that  there will be an after-meeting-Junior-Willis life for Tom.

So, well-written, funny at times, touching and thoughtful : give it a try.