“𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒕, 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑺𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”

Another “Dennis (@ScaredStraightReads) made me do it” read - a raving review had me so excited to pick up Paul Rudnick’s newest release.

Based on the title and cover, I wasn’t completely sure what to expect, but this book is a lot of things. It’s humorous. It’s tragic. It’s beautiful. It’s unapologetically gay. It’s a love letter describing the journey of Nate and Farrell, told from their first meeting at university to old age with family interfering, successes, failures, and everything in between. Rudnick doesn’t shy away from the good, the bad and the STEAMY with Nate and Farrell, while creating a loveable group of friends that support them throughout the years (I particularly loved Sally and Jackson). Nate and Farrell’s love is tested, as they are often expected to reinterpret themselves, separate, and kept hidden away. There are moments of campy fun, and moments of heart wrenching sadness; the AIDS crisis of the Eighties was especially well written, hitting the right tone with lines such as: “𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒂𝒚. 𝑺𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉.” I did think that the book could’ve been a little shorter and tightened up in a few spots, and Farrell can be a bit much at times, but that didn’t stop me from treasuring this book.

Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style is a story of being gay, going against expectations, finding your group of people, fighting back against prejudice, triumph, and ultimately real love. Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada, Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style is a love story about two men who meet at Yale in the early '70s. Spanning five decades, the story is told from the point of view of Nate Reminger, an aspiring Jewish writer from New Jersey, who is besotted when he first meets beautiful, flamboyant Farrell Covington whose family is one of the country's wealthiest, WASPiest and most conservative. The first third of the book covers the development of their relationship during the Yale years as carefree, young gay men coming of age in the '70s. Post-graduation, they experience New York's hedonistic gay bar scene. Hollywood and the closeted gay actors, and the brutality of the AIDS epidemic. Farrell and Nate's 50 year long relationship provides a bit of a history lesson of the gay rights movement as it takes place against the backdrop of the changing social and cultural landscape in the US with respect to gay rights. But mostly it's a story of a love that endures even when they can't be together. The writing is very good - witty dialogue, full of heart and the story is touching - quite an enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.