''You Can Say You Knew Me When'' is a novel by
K.M. Soehnlein
K.M. (Karl) Soehnlein (born November 24, 1965) is the American author of the novels ''The World of Normal Boys'' (2000), a 1970s coming-of-age story that won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men’s Fiction; ''You Can Say You Knew Me When'' (2005 ...
(Karl Soehnlein) following his best seller ''
The World of Normal Boys''.
Plot
A thirty-something San Francisco gay radio journalist Jamie Garner reluctantly returns to his childhood home of
Greenlawn, New Jersey, and discovers secrets from his dead father's sexual past, including photos with a friend actor Dean Foster and entourage of
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
Of French-Canadian a ...
all covered by a 40-year secrecy. Upon his return to
San Francisco, Jamie though trying desperately to maintain a
monogamous relationship with his
venture-capitalist boyfriend Woody, falls into a series of promiscuous relations after a hurried sexual encounter with a man in the rest room of Newark airport. For all his faults, Jamie, a sympathetic, often frustrating character tries to make peace with his father's deep-seated
prejudices toward his
sexuality
Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
and come to terms with his father's mysterious long-ago alternative life.
Reviews
The novel has received mainly positive feedback, making it onto many lists such as
Goodreads. The novel has been widely praised for the tackling of sexuality and acceptance, with special focus upon the scene building in 1990s San Francisco. The
San Francisco chronicle summarized it as ""Engaging . . . the flow and intensity of the writing make it difficult to put Soehnlein's book down . . . With remarkably stylish and witty prose, Soehnlein keeps the reading convincing and compelling, displaying a knack for giving just enough detail to put the reader right in the scene."
References
External links
*
Karl M. Soehnlein official site
2005 American novels
American LGBT novels
Novels set in San Francisco
Novels set in New Jersey
Kensington Books books
2005 LGBT-related literary works
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