Older Man/Younger Man: A Love Story

Joseph Dispenza
CreateSpace (2011)
ISBN 9781460956984
Reviewed by William Phenn for Reader Views (11/11)

 

I would just like to say that Joseph Dispenza presents his gay life in an extraordinary and interesting fashion. From his days in the Monastery, to years later; he covers a facet of his life that in another period in time, would have been considered very controversial. His story adds a contribution to our understanding of love, the search for true intimacy and commitment. His explanation of the depth and joys of love for another man and how he experienced a whole range of emotions was in fact, poetically done.

Joseph Dispenza’s book “Older Man/Younger Man: A Love Story,” has much of what it takes for a book that will attract your interest and keep you entranced till the end. It is a courageous and painfully honest memoir that the author presents with a heartfelt flair. His penchant for detail (especially when he described his medical examination of his Prostrate), enhances the readers enjoyment of this compelling novel. I would consider the book for the adult category and do not recommend it for anyone under sixteen as there are some intimate details that would not be understood by younger readers.
 
Now that I have given all that I can to the positive side of “Older Man/Younger Man: A Love Story,” I must also (in all fairness), reveal some of the drawbacks that I found to be painfully arduous. I gave it a B- on my scale because it had grammatical errors and too many flashbacks to previous years in his life. Every other chapter was titled, “Ten years ago, Eight years ago, Six, Five,” and so forth. I had to keep reading so as not to lose my train of thought. It did not have the smoothest flow that I would have expected from this accomplished writer. I looked, but could not find anywhere on my copy that it stated, “Unedited, reviewers copy.” So, I must assume that it was an edited and final released edition. That being the case, the reader will have to struggle through some editing issues.

Note from author: the reviewer mentions that there were typos in the copy he read...and there were, because CreateSpace didn't allow me to send out specifically identified 'uncorrected review copies' before the finished edition appeared. We now have a polished, corrected edition.

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