Book ~ "Still Life with June" (2005) Darren Greer

From Amazon ~ The people in gay bars on Christmas Day are so desperate for basic human contact that they'd go home with a Doc Marten shoe if it made a move, and maybe even if it didn't.

So begins the story of Cameron Dodds, a disenfranchised writer who visits gay bars on Christmas and works at a Salvation Army Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center in order to steal the stories of the people he meets there. But when Cameron finds a patient hanged in the utilities closet, his infatuation with other people's stories becomes an obsession. Assuming the man's identity, Cameron seeks out and forges a relationship with the victim's mentally challenged sister, who lives in a home uptown. As Cameron becomes more involved in the woman's life, he begins to discover truths that will challenge him to the very core of his existence.

I had read Greer's first novel, Tyler's Cape, last month and enjoyed it. I enjoyed this one too. If I can use one word to describe it, it would be "bizarre".

It's funny, sad, sarcastic, ironic, sleazy, self-indulgent and more.

There are other lies and deceptions in addition to the one with Cameron pretending to be Darrel in order to steal his life to have writing material. BTW, how sleazy is that?!

I didn't see the ending coming ... it was quite a surprise. I can see why some reviewers have said they had to reread it to pick up what they missed.

I'd definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something different and not fluffy.