Lawnboy

This is a story told from the point of view of a young man who is exploring his own identity. They all believed me to be kind, kind, affectionate, and upright. Of course, I could be all of those things. However, there was much more to me than that, a side that even I found unsettling, and this side involved William.
The story begins with seventeen-year-old Evan agreeing to mow his next door neighbor's lawn during the summer. This employment leads him into more than just a summer job, but introduces him to an erratic world of desire and treachery. He moves in with 41-year-old William after being estranged from his parents and older brother. This starts a series of unsuccessful attempts to create a new home. He must decide whether to put show more his family or his passion first. Lawnboy by Paul Lisicky traverses the lush and turbulent landscape of the early 1990s, its south Florida environment as fertile and problematic as Evan's inner turmoil. It was first published to widespread acclaim in 1999. show less

Very well-written, but not particularly interesting. The style is euphorious, all the time, but nothing to make is more lasting. There is too much sparkle, but no story.

After about 200 pages, I felt it was too long. The last 3 chapters are weak, as if the author is tying up loose strands, some of which appear out of nothing, such as Evan's green fingers. As a book written in 1998, it deals very unconvincingly with the issue of Aids; it more seems the author wanted to avoid it.