Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Candy Everybody Wants
    Unavailable
    Candy Everybody Wants
    Unavailable
    Candy Everybody Wants
    Ebook326 pages4 hours

    Candy Everybody Wants

    By Josh Kilmer-Purcell

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “A balls-out joyride through eighties pop culture that enlightens as much as it exhilarates.” —Armistead Maupin, New York Times bestselling author of Michael Tolliver Lives

    From the critically acclaimed author of I Am Not Myself These Days comes the very odd adventures of a starry-eyed young man from the Midwest seeking fame and fortune in the flamboyant surreality of New York, Los Angeles . . . and everywhere in between.

    Jayson Blocher is tired of worshiping pop culture; he wants to be part of it. So he's off, accompanied by an ever-changing cast of quirky extended family members, on an extremely bumpy journey from rural Wisconsin to a New York escort agency for Broadway chorus boys, to a Hollywood sitcom set. Somewhere out there his destiny awaits—along with the discovery of first love, some unusual coincidences, a kidnapping mystery . . . and the sobering truth that being America's sweetheart can leave a very sour aftertaste.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJul 1, 2008
    ISBN9780061732614
    Unavailable
    Candy Everybody Wants
    Author

    Josh Kilmer-Purcell

    Josh Kilmer-Purcell is the bestselling author of the memoir I Am Not Myself These Days and the novel Candy Everybody Wants, and the star of Planet Green's documentary television series The Fabulous Beekman Boys. He and his partner, Brent Ridge, divide their time between Manhattan and the Beekman Farm.

    Related to Candy Everybody Wants

    Related ebooks

    Contemporary Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Reviews for Candy Everybody Wants

    3.5/5

    40 ratings7 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Picked it up at a conference, read it in a day. It's kind of like reading a lot of People magazines at the hairdresser. Fun, fabulous, fame-addicted, sordid and sentimental.
    • 4/5
      Jayson, with a Y for effect, declares himself gay at the age of five, while still at school he is filming his own soap, a cross between Dynasty and Dallas, with the next door twins, Tara and Trey, playing the roles Jayson himself is not. Jayson's family can at best be described as disfunctioanl, his neurotic mother has been married so many times he has no idea who his father is. His younger brother suffers with Prader-Willi syndrome, at it is Jayson who maintains some control over his eating.But Jayson has a dream, to be a famous actor, and despite his disadvantaged background it seems he just might make it, but there are many pitfalls on the way. Jayson also has something to learn about his priorities and human relationships.This is without question and immensely funny story peopled with a diverse range of characters from a retired actor running an escort agency with chorus boys as the escorts, to an outspoken and frequently drunk ageing actress; and includes a cute and famous boy actor, a fanatically religious mother and a too butch trainee policewoman. Jayson is an appealing young boy who can be a little too full of himself initially (all part of the desire to be in front of an audience), but he learns a few lessons over the duration of the story and comes out a better person for it. Despite occasional weaknesses in the prose, Candy Everybody Wants is delightful and very entertaining read.
    • 3/5
      The Book Report: The author himself describes this as his childhood and coming-of-age as he'd've liked them to be. I can see no point in adding to that description.My Review: Oh dear.
    • 4/5
      Candy Everybody Wants is a light-hearted and easy-t0-read book, set nostalgically in the early 1980s. Jayson (with a distinctive "y") Blocher wants to be on T.V. He wants to be really famous. The only problem, he lives in Wisconsin where he films his own soap operas using an old video recorder with a separate tape recorder for sound. Oh, and he's gay, with a somewhat dysfunctional set of family and friends.When events in his home town don't end well, Jayson finds himself in New York, where he sets himself firmly on the path to fame. However, things aren't quite that easy, and Jayson has to learn to come to terms with himself and his family.The book is an easy read and makes a perfect flight or beach read. It is quite funny at times, but has the overall lightweight feel of candyfloss. There's something to watch with this author - he clearly has a flair and wit (well, he was a very famous drag queen).
    • 4/5
      Josh Kilmer-Purcell tries to build a tongue-in-cheek novel around the narrative conventions of early-80s television, but his slight story is too frequently drowned in excess of sit-com schmaltz. The high-spirited conflation of high and low culture feels forced, and reeks of bathos -- when characters use a cheesy television catch-phrase to confront real-life pain and heartbreak, the effect is more stomach-turning than amusing. Still, Purcell has managed to create a winning and strangely believable cast of characters, despite their "quirkiness". And it's hard not to root for his endlessly plucky hero, fighting his way toward greatness on pure, indomitable will.
    • 3/5
      Candy Everybody Wants is a fun, fast read, like a comic book without the pictures. So what if there isn't much character development and the plot is a little (okay, a lot!) implausible? Josh Kilmer-Purcell still delivers a rollicking story that provides easy entertainment.
    • 2/5
      Fun, a light romp, it was a perfect beach read on my vacation