Anonymous
Posted October 23, 2007
If you're looking for a heart and flowers gay romance, you're barking up the wrong tree with 'The King of Cats.' If you want a well written, disquieting, ugly, beautiful life story, then Jimmy Strange is your man. Only, it won't be easy to get to know him. It will be a painful struggle, much like his life. He's charming, he's gifted, he's elusive. All part of the author's devious plan to unravel a life. The structure of this novel is very unique, and can be difficult to adapt to at first. Five novellas is a trifle misleading. Each is a chapter in the life of Jimmy Strange, but they are not chronological, nor are they always directly about him. Often, we learn more about a person through the people they know and Fraina makes good use of this. The first novella takes place in 2002, where we meet a not very likeable British chap who starts a liaison with a young man named Elliott. Elliott is not all he appears to be and I quickly felt like I had fallen down the rabbit hole. To top it off, Jimmy doesn't even appear until the last couple of paragraphs. But, what we learn about Elliot is integral to understanding Jimmy. Each novella does the same in a different way introducing first Elliot, then Lisa, then Adam, in a weaving path to get to Jimmy. It begins in 2002, jumps to back to 2001, then further back to 1995 before ending in the 'present' of 2003. But, we are not left there. The last novella gives readers what most biographies give us in the beginning - the beginning. In 1987, we finally learn the uncomfortable story of Jimmy's childhood and how it shaped him. And, the impact will leave readers stunned. Sure, this book could have been put in chronological order, but that is not how we meet people in real life. We learn about them from themselves, we learn about them from others, and rarely in sequence. So, the style is ideal and implemented flawlessly. There is sex in the story. How could there not be? Sex, drugs and Rock n' Roll. Jimmy is a musician and he has the stereotypical musician's life, at least on the surface. But, the sex is not gratuitous. It has an influence on this story, on this life, and it is often not the least bit erotic. It can be hot, but more often leaves the reader feeling unsettled. As happens to people who aren't certain about the sexual choices they've made, like Jimmy. The writing in the book deserves five stars, hands down. It was obviously edited with care, and the writing was smooth. I continued to think about the book long after I finished the last page. But I gave it four stars for a reason, albeit a personal one. Jimmy Strange's life is almost too real. This is not a feel good book. There is no happily ever after, there is only living. So, while the book was incredibly engaging and undeniably genuine, I was not satisfied at the end. I was left sad, because this life may very well exist for someone out there, and I want them, wanted Jimmy, to be happy. I highly recommend 'The King of Cats' to those looking for a thought-provoking, sometimes harsh, sometimes disjointed, but always honest look at life. I'm glad I read it. But, those that need a happily every after will be quickly disillusioned.
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Posted February 2, 2007
An interesting, well-written story told through five different stories, each set in a different period of life of the musician Jimmy 'Strange' Lyons. The basic question Fraina asks is, what makes anyone interesting. Is it what is revealed, or what is hidden? In truth, both add to the complexity of the human being so one without the other would be like a turtle without a shell. What we reveal shelters us from what we would prefer to hide. I wasn't sure if I would get into this tale (I'm not big on rock n'roll stories), but this one grabbed me. Fraina has a very easy style. It sweeps the reader along at a good pace. The dialogue is used sparingly only when needed. Otherwise, it's as if we are watching the characters like subjects. Which goes well because we are first introduced to Jimmy in the first novella through the discussion of a two-dimensional painting. I can see this book gathering a cult following if it got enough attention. It's a bit off-putting at parts (the characters seem to switch from like-able to hateful to absolute pricks in the course of a few pages, and then back again), but that makes perfect sense in this instance. These are damaged folk, and damaged folk can fall to pieces at any momnt. One can only understand the subject in front of them if they study the trail behind.
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Posted April 23, 2004
Blake Fraina (note, and remember, the name) bounds onto the literary scene with a finely written, mesmerizing story that is as much an occult visit to an Analyst's Office as it is beautifully written story. KING OF CATS: A LIFE IN FIVE NOVELLAS is, in retrospect after reading the book, a suggestion of what Fraina seems to be about. The 'expected' meaning of 'Novella' is extended short story, usually addressing completely different subjects and ideas. Not so, here, as Fraina suggests in his wise Preface. He has written five non-consecutive years in the life of a Rock star - one Jimmy 'Strange' Lyons - and the development of this main character from the barely suggested character in the first novella to the gradual disrobing and analyzing the whole person by the end of the book is in keeping with the book's premise: 'Ultimately, it's our secrets that define us'. Fraina places his character on the prosector's table and then proceeds to reverse the time machine in a most satisfying way. The first installment 'King of Cats' Fall 2002 deals with a narrator Sam (presumably the author) who becomes obsessed with an exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of the paintings of Balthus - one painting in particular being 'The King of the Cats'. During the course of his involvement with understanding the seductive aspect of this painting, he encounters a young man, Elliott, as elusive and enigmatic as the painting, and eventually has a torrid affair with him. By the end of this novella we discover that Elliott is not the inexperienced 'first-timer' Sam thought and the concept of Elliott's past rises from the fog in the persona of Jimmy Lyons. In the subsequent novellas, Sam is not longer present as a person (though one thinks he is in actuality the writer). Instead we are gradually shown Jimmy Lyons in 'The Bargain' Spring 2001 and how he became involved with the strange Elliott as he attempts a straight life with Lisa. In 'Kissing the Gunner's Daughter' Winter 1995 we find that our Jimmy Lyons, as an established Rock guitarist, has entered a relationship with Adam who to this point has been a verbal homophobic member of Jimmy's band - the Mogs. Elliott remains in the picture as a shared love interest but by the end of the fourth novella 'My Father's House' Summer 2003 the triangle plays to an unfortunate but not unexpected end. The handsome, popular, famous, drug dependent Rock star Jimmy Lyons, who has seemed to be utterably and almost cruelly self-sufficient, is finally revealed in the final novella - 'Hidden History' 1987 - where we discover the roots of Jimmy Lyons in his poverty belt in England, his abusive-parented childhood and his break into the escape world of popular music. Described by one of his would-be female lovers Cass, upon seeing the scars from his father¿s repeated beatings, 'It occurred to her that he wasn't unlike one of her flea market finds, seemingly so flawless yet secretly damaged.' 'His public persona...was merely a defense mechanism. Inside he would never lose his fear of being exposed, used, humiliated, hurt.' And so by shifting back and forth in time, stumbling on clues of who the real Jimmy Lyons might be, Fraina has painted an indelible image, a character that will stay with you long after the 'Novellas' are over. Yes, this is a book about gay relationships and Fraina writes as well about the intimacies and the varieties of lifestyles as anyone writing today. He does not make it a point to scream out that this is a 'gay novel': it is simply a novel that is peopled with a significant number of gay people. No AIDS traumas here: the sex scenes, while sensuous, are an integral part of the storyline, not lurid decor. Blake Fraina, first and foremost, writes extremely well. And for a first novel, this book is quite extraordinary.
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