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Candy Everybody Wants
 
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Candy Everybody Wants (Paperback)

by Josh Kilmer-Purcell (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Candy Everybody Wants + I am Not Myself These Days + Beautiful People
Total RRP: £22.97
Price For All Three: £17.30

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Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Harper (28 May 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007301642
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007301645
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 495,248 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'Josh Kilmer-Purcell is funny funny funny, one of the funniest young writers in America. In Candy Everybody Wants, he trains his insightfully sardonic eye on the world of 80's pop culture, showing the roots that made us a nation of Britneys, American Idols, and Obamamaniacs' James Frey 'A balls out joy ride through eighties pop culture that enlightens as much as it exhilarates. As always, Kilmer-Purcell's astringent wit is nicely tempered by his obvious sympathy for human frailty." Armistead Maupin 'In a word, wonderful' Clive Barker on I Am Not Myself These Days 'A funny, enjoyable, feel-good romp...perfect holiday reading.' Bent

Product Description

Armistead Maupin meets Beautiful People in Josh Kilmer-Purcell's hilarious and yet poignant coming-of-age tale Jayson Blocher is fifteen years old with a wayward mother, a disabled brother and a neighbour who thinks he's the spawn of the devil. For so long he has worshipped at the feet of popular culture, but now he wants to be part of it, and let's face it, what's to keep him in Wisconsin? Even his own mother wants him to go. So Jayson heads off to find fame and fortune, accompanied by an ever-changing cast of quirky extended family members. From a New York escort agency to the glamour of a Hollywood situation comedy, Jayson searches for his destiny. Only to find that being America's sweetheart can leave a very sour aftertaste.
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62% buy the item featured on this page:
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Customer Reviews

34 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (11)
3 star:
 (10)
2 star:
 (6)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (34 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet & Sour Candy?, 4 Aug 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Thankfully the book's much more enjoyable than the 10,000 Maniacs song that gave it its name, but it has a similarly outdated feel. Of course it starts in the early 80's so the retro feel is deliberate but reading it now in a moment where gay adolescence is being increasingly portrayed in a more positive and less dysfunctional way, in TV series like Ugly Betty or the BBC's Beautiful People, it seems to hit a slightly bittersweet note.

Or maybe 'sweet and sour' is a better description, given the ups and downs of the main character Jayson Blocher in his journey toward celebrity. Josh Kilmer-Purcell doesn't quite handle the outlandish coincidences of the plot with the wit of Armistead Maupin - but he's not far off.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars not very original or whacky or zany just cliched, 16 Oct 2009
By pete "big blue pete" (edinburgh scotland) - See all my reviews
  
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
The book was very cliched for me. A view of gay people attracting zany, whacky sidekicks by virtue of their alternative lifestyle just doesnt ring true anymore. Homosexuality isnt an alternative lifestyle, it is valid. I felt Id read all this 20 years ago and even then it was a bit dated. I struggle to see whats new or exciting about it.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars *-*-*Amusing look back at growing up gay in small town America*-*-*, 15 Oct 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Poignant look back at growing up gay in small town USA during the years of Soft Cell, Nancy Reagan and AIDS.
Refered to as Armistice Maupinesqe is a good description, as he managed to evoke those heady years of teenage love, lust and confusion combined with the loneliness and isolation of growing up and realising you are gay, and having to cope and survive high school where everybody treats you like a freak.
How do you cope?... well, the awnser is here in this heart warming tale, and is guaranteed to raise a smile, gather a tear or two in poignant memories (for some of us at least) and help to lift the lid on what goes on in a teenagers mind.
A lovely book, and one I shall treasure and turn too again when I need a good read snuggled up in my duvet with a cup of cocao
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable.....but not terribly memorable
Ok this is enjoyable, I will admit that. But in general this is as others have stated a rather Cliched filled, sickly kind of book that doesn't remain with you for more than a few... Read more
Published 1 month ago by M. R. Jones

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as cute as it thinks
It is entirely possible to enjoy a book with an unlikeable main character- Humbert Humbert or Patrick Bateman spring to mind. Read more
Published 2 months ago by elmsyrup

4.0 out of 5 stars OK, I enjoyed this - just don't tell anyone!
Sometimes, you find yourself with nothing to read of an evening, and reluctantly - grudgingly - you pick up a book that your wife or girlfriend has chosen. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Russell Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars gay teenage rags to riches romance
Josh Kilmer - Purcell's novel set in 80's america is a joyous romp telling the story of gay teenager Jayson Blocher who longs to be a star. Read more
Published 3 months ago by J. Aitken

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun and different
Witty and different, this book is entertaining from start to finish. It's hardly a literary masterpiece, but Jayson makes a flawed, but engaging protaganist giving the reader an... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Cat

3.0 out of 5 stars decent
The first thing of note is that this book is a bit childish but it is pretty enchanting all the same,it is a rags to riches story where one lad takes on his own world and does all... Read more
Published 3 months ago by sean paul mccann

4.0 out of 5 stars Three and a Half candy?
I grew up gay in a small town so some of the situations are painfully familiar however some of the situations don't ring true. Read more
Published 3 months ago by B. J. Whitehouse

2.0 out of 5 stars Erm, I dont think so!
Erm? I really have no idea what to make of this book. The character development was appalling and to be quite honest, "Jayson with a Y" got on my nerves the whole way through... Read more
Published 3 months ago by C. Fisher

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun.
I really enjoyed this one, a genuinely fun and funny book. The story bounces along like an over-enthusiastic puppy, and like a puppy it's slightly mental and doesn't bear too... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Arheddis Varkenjaab

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
Candy Everybody Wants

I loved it! This novel has so much to offer because it is so different story wise. Read more
Published 3 months ago by S. Woosnam

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