The House Beautiful
In the follow-up to 2003'sChristopher, screenwriter Burnett continues the story of B.K. Troop, a hilariously repugnant and flamboyant middle-aged gay novelist. Living on a small trust, B.K. is tickled pink when a friend dies and bequeaths him a Manhattan brownstone—until he crunches the numbers. To cover taxes and mortgage payments, B.K. rents rooms on the cheap to young painters, writers and actors, turning the home, in effect, into an artists' colony he calls "The House Beautiful." Discreet peepholes and B.K.'s penchant for snooping allow him to keep tabs on his lodgers; some find success, others founder, and interpersonal relationships are frequently tense. The balance of the house changes with the arrival of Adrian Malloy, a poet from the Midwest whose good looks make him the unwitting object of B.K.'s lust. The novel's main dramatic thrust hinges on Adrian's story—essentially the tale of a young man's creative awakening in the big city—and on the gradual disclosure of his past, which bears surprising connections with B.K.'s own. Though B.K. is exquisitely realized, his narcissism short-changes secondary characters. However, lively prose and gonzo humor pick up the slack.(Nov. 5)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.