The Night Listener

Gabriel Noone, a writer whose late-night radio stories have brought him into the home of millions, is in the midst of a painful separation from his longtime lover when a publisher sends him proofs of a remarkable book: the memoir of an ailing thirteen-year-old boy who suffered horrific abuse at the hands of his parents. Now living with his adoptive mother, Pete Lomax is not only a brave and gifted diarist but also a devoted listener to Noone's show. When Noone phones the boy to offer encouragement, it soon becomes clear that Pete sees in this heartsick middle-aged storyteller the loving father he has always wanted. Thus begins an extraordinary friendship that only grows deeper as the boy's health deteriorates, freeing Noone to unlock show more his innermost feelings.

Then, out of the blue, troubling questions arise, exploding Noone's comfortable assumptions and causing his ordered existence to spin wildly out of control. As he walks a vertiginous line between truth and illusions, he is finally forced to confront all of his relationships--familial, romantic, and erotic. show less

Gabriel Noone is a popular late-night storyteller on the radio, with his hit show "Noone at Night" playing nationwide. He spends many hours writing and recording stories to tell all his listeners, but lately, his imagination seems to be blocked. His recent breakup with Jess, his partner of 10 years, may have something to do with it, putting up a wall that he can't seem to get through no matter what he tries. To bide his time while waiting for something to happen to the block or with Jess, Noone finally agrees to read one of the galleys from a young author named Pete Lomax.

Something about Pet's tale -- the struggle of a young boy through such physical and sexual abuse that it's amazing he's still alive -- tugs at Noone's mind and heart. show more It doesn't hurt, either, that Pete's a fan of Noone's radio show. He reaches out to the young boy, speaking with him by phone while Pete waits for more hospital treatments to assist with HIV-related complications, and they form a kind of Father-Son bond. Even his talks with Pete's adoptive mother Donna make him feel as though he's connected with and been accepted into a loving family.

Noone shares his new-found joy with Jess who is happy at first. But when he finally has a chance to speak with Pete on the phone, he asks a simple question of Noone -- has anyone actually met Pete -- that Noone's anger is aroused. How dare Jess doubt his feelings, but that anger slowly turns to suspicion. Noone and Pete have only ever talked by phone; what if Pete's story is made up? Noone's search to uncover the truth forces him to step beyond his comfort zone, to burst through the emotional block he's created since his breakup with Jess, no matter the outcome.

I hesitated at first to read the novel because I enjoyed the film version with Robin Williams and Bobby Cannavale, and my experience with reading books after seeing a film haven't been too good. (I still can't bring myself to read "Dune" after David Lynch's film version.) But I'm glad I threw caution to the wind and started reading.

Armistead Maupin's novel is the perfect blending of mystery and thriller. With as much communications as we do via phone (and blogs, email, instant messaging, etc.), what if that person we're talking too doesn't exist -- especially if you've invested so much personal time into it? What lengths would we go to discover the truth? Gabriel Noone allows us to take that journey. After learning of Pete's childhood, I felt the happiness right along with Noone as he stepped into a father-figure role, trying to give Pete the love he never had from his own father. And when that relationship is threatened, Noone acts as I would expect any father to do. Even so, Jess' little question put a seed into my own head and while I was reading, I started wondering about Pete. Which in turn lead to my questioning Noone's motives and finally cheering him on when he decides to find out once and for all. I enjoy getting into a novel like that.

"The Night Listener" is a fine mystery/thriller, with great characters and enough twists and turns to keep you from putting the book down until you're finished. Highly recommended! show less

Writer and broadcaster Gabriel Noone is asked to write a blurb for a book purportedly written by a 13 year old who was abused as a child and is now living with AIDS and who is a big fan of Gabriel.

I'm not a great fan of books with unreliable narrators, and Gabriel freely admits he is given to embellishing narratives, but I found Gabriel himself so engaging and he struck so many chords with me that I just kept going. My desire to know what had really happened was particularly acute in the part set in Wisconsin but after the ending I really didn't mind not being fully certain.

*The Night Listener* is gripping from beginning to end. Literally I am glued to the page. Writer and radio storyteller Gabriel Noone just broke up with his partner Jess who battled with AIDS. Things take a sharp turn as Jess' viral load plummeted to zero. As Gabriel noted that he would "like to believe there was a moment when I received this news with unalloyed joy...For the great love I'd longed for all my life had been a certainty only while Jess was dying." Anyway Jess moved out and found himself a new circle of friends and social etiquettes.
13-year-old Pete Lomax was the "godsend" who stepped into Gabriel's life at the perfect timing. Gabriel was asked by his publishing agent to review galleys of Pete's book and write a blurb for show more it. Immediately hooked to Pete's story Gabriel began a series of phone conservations with Pete who lived in Wisconsin with his foster mother Donna. Donna came to his rescue after Pete sneaked out from his folks' house in a blizzard. His parents had physically and sexually abused him, and prostituted him with pedophiles.

Donna (a psychiatrist) was the first person Pete ran into at the hospital. She already knew about Pete's HIV status and decided to protect him from strangers and most importantly, his painful past miseries. When Pete finally let down his guard and spoke to her for the first time a few months after his escape, Donna encouraged him to overcome this fear by writing his memories down on paper. Afterall, Pete "trusts voices more than he can trust a face." As Gabriel and Pete talked more on the phone, their relationship become like father-and-son.

As the publisher had no means to legitimate Pete in order to publish his book, Gabriel began to have doubt about the existence of Pete. He began to think if Donna and Pete, who shared the same high-pitched Wisconsin accent, are the really the same person. When the book was dropped finally, Gabriel made a trip from San Francisco to Wisconsin to locate Pete.

This novel is extremely imaginative. Some might have thought Maupin has gone too far with the idea a middle-aged gay man making a last attempt of fatherhood with a 13-year-old dying of AIDS. But I find this book very appealing and gripping. At first Gabriel Noone seems really pitiful and pathetic. He always looks at life in a pessimistic eye. His relationship with Jess wrecked only because he never acknowledged his true feelings and emotions inside. The search for Pete after Donna disconnected phone service turns the book into some suspenseful mystery. Pete really taught Gabriel a lesson of love: to believe and let go. And what makes this book on my A list is the ending that comes with a twist. Good to the very last page. I have to say Armistead Maupin has become a favorite author of mine after *The Night Listener*. Literature window-dressed as mystery. show less

This book entranced me. I devoured it in a couple of days. Maupin is a born storyteller. He made me care about his characters and even identify with them despite my never having been a gay man. And he knows a thing or two about suspense and how to create it. Only when I was finished with the book did I find out it was based on events that actually happened to Maupin. What a trip.

My God how I love this book. From Maupin's unflinching portrayal of a mid-life gay man on the edge, to the story that drew me in like I'd been shot with a harpoon to be reeled in for the kill. If I were in San Francisco, I'd look him up and offer to buy him coffee. Hell, the whole coffee SHOP for that matter. I read this book in two days and wanted to go right back and read it again. It drove me mad.

Maupin is an excellent story teller, and if his ending hadn't sucked so bad, I would have given him three stars. Still, you could a lot worse than listen to this book. I was totally sucked in, and the fact that I felt so betrayed by the weak ending is testament to how very sucked in I was. Also, you learn about "glory holes" in this novel, casually mentioned by the narrator, as if going out for a round of nine at the local course; and I'd have to say that this reader's little mind boggled for quite a while afterwards once he learned what exactly takes place at this kind of "club". However, that last isn't exactly germane to the story, but it certainly does lend atmosphere.