Review: A romance like a big untrained puppy.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2012
Valerie Z. Lewis's "Epic Love Story of Doug and Stephen" is a goofy story.I am leery of "gay for you" stories. I don't believe them. But this one is as open and honest as it idiot main character, Doug, a gorgeous dimwit who, surprising even himself, falls in love with a man--and the scariest man in his office. Doug, who can't understand why he feels this way, decides that he's bisexual, and embraces his new love with a blundering fervor that is either adorable or irritating (depending on your viewpoint). Stephen is a sort of bitter gay everyman: never really oppressed or rejected for being gay, he has never quite lived up to his own self-imposed expectations, and thus is angry and bitter about everything. Like Doug, you either accept him or hate him. Doug, who has seen domestic violence up close and personal, has determined never to be mean or disrespectful to anyone.  He also is too dumb for hints and too stubborn to accept flat out rejection.  His love for Stephen becomes a metaphor for the ultimate truth that genuine love will conquer misery.I truly enjoyed this, but its very nature will not be to everyone's taste.  It was to mine.