Even though I know better, I am putty in the hands of book marketers sometimes. “Candy Everybody Wants” by Josh Kilmer-Purcell stands as a perfect example.

All the marketing department had to do was create a colorful, eye-catching cover and use the title to hearken back to a 10,000 Maniacs song – Michael Stipe sings on a live version so I have no choice but to love it. I couldn’t let this book sit on the shelf when I saw it at the library.

Never mind that I had nothing in common with the main character, a gay teenager who ends up living in an abandoned building in New York while chasing an acting career. The book was colorful and the title nostalgic. Good think that Kilmer-Purcell can write a damn good book or else I would have felt snookered. I picked up this one before our beach week and ripped through it in just over a day.

I knew nothing of his best-selling memoir which was released several years before this novel so the book had a sense of discovery for me. He crafted a strange, yet believable, universe of folks who supported and challenged Jayson Blocher in his journey of self discovery. The only difficulty I had was not using the kid I used to know who really had that name as the image I formed in my head of the lead character.

The book managed to make me laugh and worry about the characters at the same time. Even though he writes about a fairly flamboyant gay teen and has a background as a drag queen, Kilmer-Purcell didn’t go too over the top just for the sake of shock. Jayson had a weird family and found himself in some pretty odd circumstances, but he never rang false.

This ranks as Kilmer-Purcell’s only fiction publication, which frustrates me. I’m sure I would like his memoirs and the reality TV show he stars in with his partner, but I wish he would make up some more stories because he does it so well.