2 Big Gay Book Reviews: The Celebrants, by Steven Rowley, and Big Gay Wedding, by Byron Lane

What better way to review two books by married writers Steven Rowley and Byron Lane than together? It’s the start of Pride month, so let’s check out these reviews from husbands Rowley and Lane. – Mark/Editor

By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez

The Celebrants, by Steven Rowley
c.2023, Putnam $28.00 308 pages

Everybody will say nice things about you when you’re lying in a box in front of them.

They’ll say you were everyone’s friend, you were funny and wise, even when you weren’t. You were the greatest person ever, just the best – and don’t you wish they’d say those things now, while you’re alive to hear them? As in the new book “The Celebrants” by Steven Rowley, those sentiments might completely surprise you.

Jordan Vargas felt like a time-traveler.

It had been almost three decades since he, Naomi, Alec, Marielle, Craig, and Jordy were thrown together by a student-transfer algorithm, which turned out to be a lucky accident. More than twenty-five years since they’d lived together in the same dorm. Over half a lifetime ago since Marielle found Alec on the dorm’s common-room floor, dead of an overdose that marked the lives of his best friends.

Time flies. So much had happened since then.

Just before graduation, Jordy and Jordan had realized their attraction to one another. After trying a long-distance relationship, they came out to their friends, moved in together, got married, and “The Jordans” were now business partners.

All her life, Naomi had struggled with her straight-laced, unaffectionate parents and their expectations. As the only heir to their business and a high-level national record executive, she never wanted for money. Love, well, that was another thing.

Never one to buck the rules or ignore instructions, nerdy Craig’s upright adherence to detail got him the nickname “Nana,” a lot of teasing, and a months-long stint in prison for fraud. And sweet Marielle was a caretaker-type who gave and gave of herself until there was nothing left and she needed her friends.

Sooner or later, they all did: years ago, stunned by Alec’s death, the Jordans, Marielle, Naomi, and Craig made a pact that each could ask for a “funeral” for themselves, just once, to reaffirm their lives. Naomi had hers. Marielle had hers. Craig had his.

And now it was Jordan’s turn, before it was too late…

It seems unfair, in a way, that your life isn’t celebrated until it’s over. What would people say about you when you’re gone – and why don’t we say those things now? “The Celebrants” tips that question on its side and leaves an answer hanging.

Though it sometimes lags a bit and though the plot can occasionally dip into silliness, this book is good: a little The Big Chill, a little St. Elmo’s Fire, the kind of buddy-book you want for the summer. The timeline is perfectly crafted, and author Steven Rowley packs a lot of characters inside it while still leaving the tale uncomplicated, which makes it one of those easy stopping-and-starting books you know you often need on a busy vacation. Still, bookmarks are optional; reading it all at once on a happy staycation isn’t inadvisable.

Try to predict the ending of this book and you’ll be somewhat wrong. Instead, just relax, let yourself imagine what-if-when, and enjoy “The Celebrants.” You’ll say nice things about it.

“Big Gay Wedding” by Byron Lane
c.2023, Holt $26.99 336 pages

Few things are cast in stone.

Which means that you’ve usually got time to change your mind. Do a little research, listen to other voices, get educated, think about things, and pivot. No one will criticize; you may, in fact, be commended for your new open-mindedness. As in the new book, “Big Gay Wedding” by Byron Lane, you might like the new outlook, too.

Chrissy Durang, “Farmer Mom” and owner of the Polite Society Ranch near New Orleans, checked two things off a list in her notebook. The school bus filled with noisy children arrived for their tour of the ranch, check. Barnett should be arriving later, check.

Thirty-four-year-old Barnett was the light in Chrissy’s world, her son, her only child, the near-exact image of his late father. She was excited for his homecoming; surely, Barnett was flying from California to tell her he was ready to take over the ranch now, take care of the animals, take care of her.

Instead, not long after he arrived, Barnett dropped a bombshell about “The Big Thing” that they never discussed: he was engaged. To be married. To another man. And he wanted to do it there in Mader, at Polite Society Ranch.

Chrissy could think of a million things she didn’t like about Barnett’s intended, Ezra, and they all went into her notebook. Hair a mess, check. Controlling, check. Butt-kisser, check. Dream-killer, check. And yet, Barnett loved Ezra. It’d been a long time since Chrissy’d seen her son this happy.

She talked to her priest about the situation, but he disappointed her in a terrible way. It was clear that her father-in-law, Paw-Paw, was supportive of Barnett and Ezra, which was no surprise; Barnett was always Paw-Paw’s favorite. Chrissy didn’t have many friends in her small Louisiana town, but she was absolutely sure of three things: nobody would approve of any sort of gay nuptials, Ezra’s family was downright weird, and everybody in Mader would blame her for what was about to happen…

At face value, the story inside “Big Gay Wedding” seems awfully familiar: homophobic mom, gay son, wedding, Kumbaya moment, the end. Keep thinking that, though, and you’ll miss one truly wonderful novel.

From the paraprosdokian sentences to the Misfit Toys cast of characters, author Byron Lane takes readers from a deep dive into a box of tissues to a good snorting belly laugh, often in the same paragraph. So many unexpected, delightful things occur inside this story, in fact, that you may become disappointed when something conventional occurs.

Which it does, often enough.

Gay bashing, protesters, haters, misunderstanding, it’s-a-phase thinking, all the bad old tropes show up in this story, alas. Still, readers will be happy to know that they’re dealt with properly, just as you’d expect from a prissy mother, an alcoholic society matron, two men wild in love, a light-fingered grandfather, and a dying sheep named Elaine.

Summer is always a time for weddings, and it’s a great time to enjoy this sweet, funny, excellent novel. Simply, “Big Gay Wedding” rocks.

The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was 3 years old and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 13,000 books.

If you enjoy what you find here, SUBSCRIBE to LGBTSr for weekly email weekly delivery.