Review: Hilarity
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 30, 2013
Andy Sexton's debut novel Head in the Clouds Much? is a nonstop stream of well-crafted insults, humiliating pranks, and hurtful sarcastic remarks. One character tells another who's been seeing a psychologist: " That must be a tough job, trying to find something in your head."I loved reading this book--although I feel I should warn potential readers they might do as I did and spend more time laughing than reading.Lou is a 29-year-old gay man, still living at home with his parents in a small town in southern England working for what Americans call the "postal service." And despite his desperate attempts to land a boyfriend, not one has yet made even a shadowy appearance in his life.Lou's fatal flaw: he falls in love with straight men, although "fit" gay men who act like straight "blokes" can tempt him as well. Unfortunately, none of the men in either of those camps appears to have much interest in Lou--except to bask in his attention and manipulate him for their own purposes.Fortunately, on the other hand, that doesn't stop our feisty Lou with his self-admitted "stalker-like tendencies." Another ingenious scheme always arises from the ashes of the last one to go down in flames.I should also note that Lou is the epitome of an unreliable narrator, and that only adds to the fun. Consider this: "I was struggling to get served due to the barmaid taking an instant dislike to me. She could clearly see that I thought I was too good for the place." The last nine words of those remarks are the only ones the reader can be sure are true. One suspects the busy barmaid simply hadn't noticed him, and that was what made him feel he was "too good for the place."One word seems to stick to Lou. When his sister-in-law Christina chides him on his total lack of success in finding a boyfriend, he says: "I'm waiting until the right man comes along. What's wrong with that?" Christina sees her chance: "There's waiting and there's being delusional." That's the word: "delusional."Even Lou admits he was at his happiest when his "head was in the clouds." And so was I.I highly recommend Head in the Clouds Much? to any reader in search of hilarity.(As originally reviewed on Rainbow Book Reviews. Please visit  for other reviews [...] that may be of interest.)