This is a collection of short stories about the different elements of the male gay life/experience. I really enjoyed Arnold’s story and was really engaged while reading it. I liked some of the stories better than others but I am glad I read them all!

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Arnolds story was wild, the first part, him being 7 and 14, for sure. I am unsure if I read a utopian version of a world which celebrates gay as something super special or if it’s some kind of cult with child abuse which shakes me to the core. I am not sure of it’s my lack of understanding the subtle notes bc I am no native English speaker, but the first story really didn’t feel right to me. Maybe it’s intentional, maybe there is no “right” way of reading all these stories. What’s true though is, that this collection is “remarkably wide-ranging in subject, mood and tone”. This part and the LGBTQIA+ part was, what got me into reading this one in the first place.

The other stories were strangely beautiful and bizarre. The liar who makes up stories so he himself stays hidden in the shadows and “bc you tell lies out of self-interest. You tell stories to entertain.” The son who tries to find a good memory to tell his ill mother, but only find ones that seem coloured the wrong shade, bc in a world where kindness came in such a steady flow the cruel ones stood out. The old woman ("Queenie & the Boy” which was my favourite) who survived Covid and finds an unexpected new friend and blueberries…

And as much as I want to really like this collection, bc I want to support LGBTQIA+ books and writers, the stories with queer characters had a bitter taste for me. Ofc there should be these kind of stories too, but I disliked especially the short story “lessons from cruising”, bc of how poc were described and in a way fetishized. So I am not sure if I can recommend this, but the truth also is, that all the stories stayed with me and kept me thinking. They touched me and that´s a quality of written art that means something.

Thanks to Barbican Press and NetGalley for the ARC, I still enjoyed this strange and wonderful book!

I found all of these stories (minus the religious one - I'm sorry, it probably went over my head but that sort of thing just isn't my sort of thing) so wonderful, touching and unique. I especially loved following Arnold's magical and wonderful life and the highs and lows. A truly fantastic collection of short stories.

I have to think the overall low Goodreads rating for this book has to do with reviewers being confused by it or unhappy with the emotional tone of the stories or maybe feeling misled by the title, because however else I respond to these short stories -- and I didn't exactly "like" or "enjoy" some of them -- it was always clear that Martin Goodman was up to something that was well worth my attention.

Especially challenging were the stories that make up "The Lovely Life of Arnold," set in a world where being gay is celebrated -- but the result feels dystopian. Perhaps it also feels dystopian to Arnold, who in "India, By Design," is found living in a cave. I'm not sure what to say about the Arnold stories except that they're unnerving, and oddly lonely.

Most of the others feel more grounded in the world as I know it and so land on the square marked "emotionally moving" rather than the one marked "disorienting." "Puffins in Flight" and "Billy Budd: Captain Vere's Account," maybe "Lessons from Cruising," might be the most inviting to start with; Goodman's take on Billy Budd left me in tears.

I think the best approach, if you're reading these stories, is to set aside any expectations you may happen to have formed, whether from the cover photo, from the title, or from reviews, including this one. I think, also, that it helps to take one's time; I read the stories one by one over the course of a couple of weeks, because I needed a little recovery time between them.

Thanks to Barbican Press and NetGalley for the ARC, in default of which I would almost certainly have missed this strange and wonderful book.

Weird, uneven short-story collection. I was intrigued by the premises of some of the stories, but as the case with most short-story collections I read, some stories are much stronger than others. The stories that I want more from end abruptly, and the ones I don't like seem to linger on for too long. The author's writing style is highly abstract and ephemeral, and many times, I didn't understand anything that was being conveyed over multiple pages. The running storylines concerning "Arnold" started interestingly enough in a gay, utopic sense, but later devolved into gibberish that I couldn't really follow until the last entry. Some standout stories were the titular one, an age-gap romance and possibly my favorite out of the entire collection; "Queenie & the Boy," a quaint COVID-19 story involving an elderly cat lady and a young boy who befriends her; and the final story, a gripping take on Herman Melville's "Billy Budd" from Captain Vere's perspective. Other than that, the stories were wildly meandering and plodding. As much as I actively strive to support LGBTQIAP+ content, I'm unsure what the end goal was here. I very much disliked how the author fetishized dark, male bodies. Numerous typographical errors throughout. I'd also argue that calling this collection "Lessons From Cruising" creates a negative connotation that I'd guess might offend certain segments of the buying audience, which might then be offset by the audience that it ultimately attracts. Not sure if this decision was made by the author or the publisher, but any title representing queer coming-of-age would have sufficed instead.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Barbican Press for ARC access.

Writing a story requires more than the desire to tell it. It also requires the author's technical and personal capacity, but also a theme that appeals to the reader, besides its development. Martin Goodman is undoubtedly a good and skilled writer, but I couldn't feel connected to these stories, except for "Letters to Parishioners", "Queenie and the Boy", and to some extent "Lessons from Cruising"; they made me feel like they could reach beyond the pages of the book, besides the fact that they exhale a sense of humanity. On the other hand, though I could understand the motivation for Arnold's many stories in the book, but they easily got worn off, plastic-like, and were some I least liked.

The impossible has happened - I liked a short story collection. The strength of the collection lies in the thread of stories about Arnold strung across the collection and especially on the immense queer joy of those stories. The first one in particular is so disorientingly queer-centric, grounded in an affirmation of joyous queer existence, that it reminded me of James Bidgood's 1971 film Pink Narcissus because of its queer solipsism, for want of a better word. That feeling stayed with me until the end of the collection, and that is something that rarely happens.

I was incredibly exited to dive into this collection of queer short stories. Now, I have to admit that shirt stories have never been my jam entirely. I find it hard to connect to characters in such a short time, getting to know them over only a few pages. Nonetheless I‘ve encounter a fair share of brilliantly crafted short stories. Once that were so incredibly well written and engaging that short story collections became something I no longer avoided but at least gave a chance more often. So was the case with this one by Martin Goodman. As I began to read the book I immediately felt drawn into the story. I enjoyed the absurdity, the humour, the writing. After a while I lost this feeling of excitement and I ended up now finding myself interested in picking the boom back up. The author truly lost me after that first story. I found the writing a bit bland. The strangeness that made so much sense in the beginning started feeling ridiculous and I lost interest all together. I do believe that this will meet some ones taste, but it feels quite niche and peculiar and must be found by the right audience. I certainly didn’t feel like it was the book for me but do hope it finds people that read it enthusiastically.

There is no doubt that Martin Goodman knows his stuff. I found his prose poetic and dreamy. But, are "Lessons from Cruising" my cup of tea? Nope. No. Nuh-ah. And the author has Barbican Press to thank for that, and their ludicrous decision to choose this title with this book cover.

If any of the stories stood out, it was Melville's Billy Budd retelling, but mostly because it's stylistically different then the others. It is interesting as a morbid curiosity, but nothing more than that. Couple of stories about Arnold were strings of beautiful words failing to work together in sentences, but with theme surreal enough to make you feel like in some kind of fairy tale gay haze. And when it tries to be grounded, again, it fails because it was not what was promised to be. No twists, just disappointment.

Short story that gave its name for the book was atmospherically grounded, and if I had to choose this would be my favorite one. But not like favorite favorite. I just disliked that one the least. The rest of the stories were uninteresting pain for my soul, or they just went straight over my head.

I feel these stories are very pretentious and that Goodman went out of his way to create something worthy of esteemed literary magazines as a showcase of his talents. But if I feel this way reading them - it doesn't seem genuine.

I want to thank NetGalley for this ARC, I chose it myself, I'll escort myself out to another reading adventure.

Martin Goodman's Lessons from Cruising is a collection of short stories centered around the protagonist, Arnold. The book offers a refreshing take on Arnold's life, particularly through the non-traumatic depiction of his relationship with his parents. This perspective is a notable strength of the collection. However, the book's cover and title seemed to promise a different kind of narrative, leaving me wondering if their intention was to create a misleading impression. The real challenge, though, is the inconsistent tone and execution across the stories. While Goodman’s attempt at diverse storytelling is commendable, the varied approaches often disrupt the narrative flow and depth of Arnold's character.

Overall, Lessons from Cruising has its merits, such as its unique portrayal of familial relationships, but its uneven storytelling and execution impact the overall experience. I would rate it 3 out of 5 stars.

Joke’s on me, because I picked up this ARC for the last story, a retelling of Billy Budd from Captain Vere’s point of view. I figured I’d sample the rest; instead I went down the buffet line and inhaled them all. Rarely do I like *every* story in a short story collection, but that’s what Goodman’s done to me. The cover and title are not helping the book find its audience, as indicated by the low ratings and confused reviews on Goodreads. I expected stoic litfic a la Garth Greenwell; instead there’s surrealism, hilarity, dream states, spec fic and fantasy, myth retellings, and my favorite: the disillusioned Anglican vicar Alan, writing letters from Tarsus and Antioch, heretically following the footsteps of St. Thekla and St. Paul. The writing buzzes with life, surreal, queer in every sense of the word, delightful.

These short stories offer a wild ride through different facets of gay life, with a standout narrative about Arnold’s journey from childhood to adulthood. Some stories hit the mark with vivid moments and engaging characters, while others felt a bit uneven. Despite a few offbeat elements and some stories that didn’t quite land, the collection is worth checking out for its diverse perspectives and imaginative storytelling.

Arnold’s story was a stand out for me and I wanted more! Unfortunately, the other stories didn’t grab me and I found some of them hard to follow!

Thank you for the advanced e copy!

Interesting but uneven collection of gay short stories

The title story is indicative of most of this uneven collection of short stories focused on (mostly) gay protagonists: in Lessons in Cruising, a Tamil man describes the non-romantic romance with his rich, white boyfriend, from inception to going on holiday with the man's son. Told in staccato bursts of prose in a distanced, opaque style. the title story and the others, including a psychedelic thread of utopian shorts relating the decades of a gay romance, epitomise my dislikes of short stories: sudden endings without revelation or action; characters that are nothing more than sketches; worlds that are flimsy and half-built. The best is the retelling of Billy Budd, saved for last but still with a whiff of unfinished narrative expectation.

One star.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

Well, this novel is a certainly memorable celebration of diversity.

Martin Goodman’s collection of stories, “Lessons from Cruising,” invite readers to embark on a voyage through diverse (extreme, in many cases) expressions of the gay male experience. These stories are set against the backdrop of Britain, the USA, and the seas in between.

“The Lovely Life of Arnold”: In this captivating narrative, we follow New York fashionista Arnold through seven-year leaps, from age seven to forty-two. Goodman deftly captures the nuances of Arnold’s life, revealing how his identity as a gay man shapes his journey. The story celebrates the beauty of authenticity and the power of acceptance.

However, Arnold's extreme celebration of his sexuality (not his identity, but rather an obsession with the intimate details of his member size and his sex life) were for me, decidedly cringe-worthy. A jar where their family "stuff is stored", gross! Yeah, the point the author is trying to make about contrasts, I get it, but it goes down the road to a degree which is disgusting, and that point, I do not get.

“Lessons from Cruising”: Against the early morning Thames backdrop, an Asian schoolteacher unexpectedly connects with a multi-millionaire businessman. Their shared adventure aboard the rich man’s yacht becomes a metaphor for life’s unexpected encounters. Goodman’s prose illuminates the complexities of desire and connection.

“Billy Budd: Captain Vere’s Account”: A Melvillian twist awaits readers in this reimagining of Herman Melville’s classic. Goodman takes us inside the ship’s stateroom, where Captain Vere confronts Billy Budd with the courtroom’s verdict. The emotional depth and vivid imagery make this story a standout.

“Lessons from Cruising” is wide-ranging in subject, mood, and tone. Goodman’s attention to detail and empathetic insight elevate some moments, however, even though I am gay - it just wasn't my cuppa, could be yours.

Martin Goodman's Lessons from Cruising is a collection of short stories that explore gay identity and love. The characters are diverse in age and experience, but I found it hard to connect with any of them. The collection opens with 'The Lovely Life of Arnold' and follows Arnold from childhood to adulthood as he navigates his sexuality and relationships. Other stories explore themes of loss, coming out, and gay love.

Goodman's writing captures the nuances of gay life with sensitivity and insight. The stories are light-hearted, yet they are also poignant and thought-provoking. However, the book does not explore the act of cruising, which is misleading, and there is no sexually explicit content (zero spice). Goodman's characters are well-described, but I sometimes found them uninteresting or dull.

Lessons from Cruising was not for me. I found the title misleading, and the book's structure gave me the impression the author had written a novella with some short stories sewn in between the novella's chapters, spoiling for me as they added very little to the book. Perhaps if it had a different title, it would be more successful. Even though the book was not for me, it is still a good collection of stories that celebrates the diversity of gay love and identity.

Many thanks to Barbican Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
2.5 stars (rounded to 3 stars)

An imperfect but welcome collection of short stories that I found very engaging. I didn't dislike any of the stories, though I found some more compelling than others. Like everyone else here, I enjoyed Arnold's story the most, though I was really impressed with "On Bended Knees" too. This won't be for everyone, but I'm glad I gave it a chance.

Like many collections of stories, it's a mixed bag. I almost wish for an entire novel of Arnold where Goodman could expand his supporting characters.

I absolutely adored Arnold’s story and I wish I had more of it. However the title Lessons from Cruising and cover art don’t feel like an accurate representation of the actual content.

Billed as a collection of stories, I don’t think it worked very well. As a queer person and a lover of literature, I felt like most of this was stodgy and disjointed. I thought the writing was beautiful, however, which is why I can’t give it just one star. The ability is there, I just don’t think the execution was done well.