This is far and away the best edition of the original novel you could read. In addition all it's footnotes and explanations provide a trail for any curious reader to explore for just about any particular aspect of the novel. From legends of Vampires, historical facts of Vlad Dracul III, all the way to obscure but curious details of the lendary Scholomance School Of Magic taught by the Devil himself!

While this exhaustively (at times exhaustingly) annotated book may overwhelm the reader coming to Stoker's novel for the first time, those who are past reading for the plot alone will definitely appreciate Wolf's additions, which include detailed footnotes on everything from the train schedules to literary allusions to inconsistencies in continuity. Most chapters feature brief articles by modern fantasy writers, who comment on the novel's influence in their lives and writing. The filmography and introduction are excellent. Those who enjoy looking at the fine details will certainly appreciate this scrupulously researched book.

Few authors have ever been able to come close to this piece of absolute brilliance that surcomes even those with no foul thought on mind.A timeless concept of complete masterpiece.THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE HIGHEST STANDERD OF DARK INSPIRING LOVE.

Christopher Bram's debut novel remains my favorite. It is in the category of books that would have changed my life if I'd read it at, say, 22. It's 1970 and Joel Scherzenlieb is a young straight man at summer camp, full of dreams of brokerage houses, and fantasies of hobnobbing with financiers. This dream all comes to a crashing halt when his father decides against his returning to the Swiss school he'd been attending. In short order his whole life comes crashing down. He has to live on his mother's farm and discovers he is in love with a guy. The book follows the twists and turns of his life and love throughout his 20's.

This is the fourth book by Bram I've read, and his writing is just getting better! I found the story utterly captivating and compelling. Beginning in the later years of the American Civil War through the 1920s, we follow the life of Augustus Boyd, a.k.a Dr August. He falls in love with an ex-slave named Isaac, eventually convincing him to make it an intimate relationship. August becomes an improvisational pianist, inspired by his "spirits", with Isaac as his manager. While on a voyage to Europe, Isaac is enraptured with a white governess, and breaks off the love affair with August to pursue Alice. Isaac & August remain friends & business partners as Isaac weds Alice, and the two have children. The love triangle is a strain on all, and it snaps finally in Constantinople, when Isaac meddles in August's new love affair with a teen. The outcome of a tragedy causes the destruction of the trio, and its reconfiguration into a strange new alliance, without one of its core members. Beautifully exploring issues of race, sexuality, class, sprituality, and the notion of love, "The Notorious Dr August" is a magnificent story including fully-fleshed characters and a delightful rendering of history. Bram rocks!

I have been a fan of Christopher Bram's, and have read all of his books. This book takes him into totally new territory. Dr. August tells us his story in an easy, true, fantastic, old fashioned way. I read this book and believed that the narator had been there, back in a past that is long gone. It didn't feel researched. It's rare that contemporary fiction can give you the cosy feeling fiction of the 19th century that this book did. The love stories in this book are true, complex and deep. We see both the images the characters want to present to the world of themselves, as well as their inner lives. Christopher Bram has brought all of his talent to this book and promises important new discoveries in the future.

Christopher Bram pulls off a tour de force in his latest novel, "The Notorious Dr. August: His Real Life and Crimes". As a fan of his work, I eagerly awaited his latest contribution to my literary world, and found not the least bit disappointment in this story.

In the book, he spins the yarn of Dr. August, or Fitz, a musical spiritualist who communicates to his audience messages through playing the piano. At first reading, I worried this device would become overblown, but through some excellent writing and plot twists, it manages to keep the story focused without totally consuming it. Dr. August is a great character, gifted without seemingly so, and yearning for love and companionship that is just beyond his grasp. Throw into the mix Isaac, an ex-slave who bravely overcomes his upbringing and learns to lead with his heart, and Alice, a 27 year old "spinster" just brave enough to buck societal norms, and we have a triangle that is complex, and so much more.

You will notice upon reading "Dr. August" how quickly paced the story is. Never dwelling too much on any one moment, it is a brisk and consuming read. Yet Bram leaves nothing out, and creates a real world before, during, and after the turn of the century. Absolutely, spotlessly breathtaking.

Do not delay in reading this fine work!

In "Father of Frankenstein" author Christopher Bram presents a mesmerizing account of the last days of Hollywood (and British) film director James Whale. Bram's book provided the basis of "Gods and Monsters," a 1998 film which drew critical praise as well.

Bram provides us with an insider's view of Whale's life--itself something of a horror story. His turbulent life--and lifestyle--haunted him until his death in 1957 (an "apparent" suicide). Of course, such things that Whale suffered

were never publicized--or much acknowledged--while he was still alive. In this biography Bram seems to pull no punches, as he deftly presents the life of Whale that few outside Hollywood knew (his homosexuality, for instance), especially his background growing up in England, his experiences in World War I, and so on.

Whether a fan of Whale (the classic films "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein" still have a following!) or not, the reader can expect a mesmerizing

read--something out of "Time" magazine and not the "National Inquirer"! At times, however, it does resemble "People" magazine a bit, but Bram does not resort to bitchy sensationalism to carry the book. He gives us a very interesting--but not altogether revealing--look at Hollywood in the Thirties. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

Christopher Bram does it again with yet another brilliant novel. The depth and the intelligence of this book and his ability to bring the characters so alive shows his ability as a novelist. If you only read one or a couple of books a year make it this one.
Highly Recommended indeed.

I have not yet seen Gods and Monsters, but now that I've finally read Father of Frankenstein, I want to see how this elegant and poignant novel translates onto the silver screen. Christopher Bram really is a master writer. His writing style is delicate, simple, and strong--a perfect match for the distinct personalities of feature characters James Whale and Clayton Boone.

Father of Frankenstein is an elegant and poignant tale about the hidden gay side of Hollywood, war stories, and dementia. Like the Frankenstein movies of James Whale, the book begins with a dark and stormy night, only not in the cliched terms of 19th-century hack Paul Clifford. Nonetheless, I drew an instant parallel with Paul Clifford's words: "It was a dark and stormy night . . . and the rain fell in torrents--except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."

In its own way, Father of Frankenstein is based off these words. James Whale, famous director of the movies he'd rather not be remembered for, had a stormy life beginning somewhere around London. Somewhere between his inauspicious beginnings as a impoverished child in a factory and his mysterious demise near Hollywood, he lived a full and colourful life. The book begins at the end, really, after James Whale is an old and shattered man. He's recovering from a stroke. Well, he'd like to believe he's recovering, but his worsening mental state disabuses him of that notion rather quickly. His damaged mind dwells more and more on the past until he can scarcely differentiate between the present and events forty years past.

And then there's Clayton Boone. He's a moody loner, a presager to James Dean, I suppose. Young, muscular, virile, and not too bright, he's everything James Whale looked for in a monster. But like Frankenstein's monster, Clayton Boone won't do what his creator wants him to do.

This is a really nifty collection of Stoker's lesser known works. I contains numerous short stories from different periods of his career as well as some from Sir Henry Irving.

It also contains the original ending to "The Jewel of the Seven Stars." This portion alone is enough to purchase the book in my opinion.

If you are a fan of Bram Stoker or like Victorian/Edwardian literature, this one is for you.

Having interned at the State Department and knowing a bit about the Foreign Service, I find this book to be generally accurate, though at times stretching things a little. But I understand this is all done for the sake of a good fiction. And this is good fiction, thoroughly engaging and very vivid in its depictions of characters, places, and events. Even though the main character is gay, the themes challenge the minds of everyone.

Christopher Bram is among the most intelligent novelists working today, and this is his most ambitious attempt so far at taking the gay novel out beyond the ghetto. It includes a clear-eyed indictment of American foreign policy, that addresses - and by inference links - the horrors of American militarism in Vietnam and the more insidious but no less vicious diplomatic support for the Marcos regime in the Phillipines.

The central figure, Jim Goodall, is a Washington career diplomat at once homosexual but only 'almost' gay. In the course of the novel he travels from detachment to muted acceptance of his sexuality, and from detatchment to confrontation with the war machine that employs him. Unlike the attractive gay heroes in some of Bram's novels - Hank, in 'Hold Tight', for example - Goodall is not particularly appealing. But unlike Bram's better-known bystander, the James Whale figure in his 'Father of Frankenstein', Goodall is living at points where history truly is happening, and there are no sidelines. His urgent question is whether gayness and diplomat status do keep him only 'almost' complicit with the gung-ho male-bonding military that he's actively on side with - and the answer is (almost) 'no'. So it's not a simple book with a positive-image hero, but something braver. Like a lot of great big bold novels - from 'Middlemarch' to 'Lolita' - it takes the risk of centring on a protagonist who is never fully likeable. There are parallels for this too in distinguished gay writing, and I found myself recalling Angus Wilson's wonderful 'As if By Magic', which also surveys the disasterousness of first-world intervention in third-world countries - and does so through the eyes of a man coming to terms with gay sexuality while bonded more with a girl from a younger generation of his own family than with any of the men who happen to share his bed.

Bram's fearlessness is especially apparent in several extraordinary scenes that feature Imelda Marcos as a high-camp Dickensian monster. These are black comedy encounters testing out how far camp excess is tolerable when crisis is extreme. It's in the end a novel about responsibility, asking what happens people who have been written out of history - as for so long gay people have been - once they find themselves assimilated through turning-point events. Resolution is only on the level of the personal and the intimate, and the ending makes plain the dissatisfactions which thereby persist. In short, it's a story of personal revolution achieved in lives that stay tied to a culture that blocks off change and betterment on any broader level.

Among the great pleasures of this novel are its unfaltering commitment to awareness, always evident in the quality of its writing, which is never less than fluently elegant, and which again and again manages moments of lucidity and illumination that reach out towards a better state than the characters can achieve. Hence for me its re-readabilty.

This book is among the finest from one of the most interesting writers currently struggling to break out the straightjacket (pun intended) of "gay fiction." Though its author and protagonist are gay men, and a late-in-life "coming out" is among the themes, this is first of all a political epic that anyone can enjoy, set in a recent past that most of us watched on television.

Straight friends -- even some who aren't used to gay people, and who would never read "gay fiction" -- have found this book compelling for its core story of a diplomat whose career (driven in part by a denied sexuality) propels him to the edge of great moments of history -- from the Vietnam war through the Philippine revolution -- but who never leaves his mark on history itself. A great read.

I bought this book because the back cover synopsis made it sound like a good comedy; a political satire. Although the book was not quite what I expected, it was very good. I was unfamiliar with Bram, and did not know that this book was considered gay fiction. It was a very good read and the story definitely sucked me in with a few twists and turns that I never expected. The main character, Ralph Eckart, is very likeable and I found myself amazed at his unfortunate luck and stood behind him all the way. I plan on picking up Father of Frankenstein by Bram next time I am looking for something to read. He is a great storyteller and Gossip is a good, quick read.

OK, it's not a great classic or anything, but taken on its own terms, it's highly enjoyable. The premise (gay liberal male gets involved with gay conservative male) is just a variation of the Carville/Matlin phenomenon, but Bram gives it the humor and odd twists which are required to keep your interest.

As for the second half, the so-called "mystery", readers would be well-advised to take that on Bram's terms, too; he's not really trying to make a big socially significant point, but he's not just settling for a frothy Robert Rodi-type novel, either. (No offense to Rodi, whose novels I always enjoy).

In some respects, Bram's style reminds me of Peter Cameron or Nick Hornby. These authors clearly care about their characters, but in a somewhat detached way which may not appeal to everyone.

Don't mistake this detachment for disinterest or lack of conviction; it's all there, it's just that Bram is evoking the era a bit more effectively than we may be comfortable acknowledging. No, the loose ends are not all neatly wrapped up at the end, but when does that ever happen in real life anyway?

GOSSIP, by Christoper Bram, was the most exciting book I have ever read. It always kept me at the edge of my seat and in the end it blew me away. The book is about a gay man named Ralph Eckhart, who gets caught up in political life and in trouble with the law when he has an affair with Bill O'Connor, a closeted republican and journalist. Even though I don't pay much attention to politics or homosexual men, GOSSIP was a book that kept me wanting more and no other book has ever done that for me. Although I'm not much of a reader, the way Christopher Bram told the story made me love his book. It seemed as if everything in the book somehow had a connection to the other and it all falls together in the end. I loved the book and I'm sure you will too, so if you see the book GOSSIP in the bookstores pick it up and give it a try.

I found this book in the library when looking for information on the 1931 film Dracula, and was rewarded with all the material I wanted. The bulk of the book is about portrayals of Dracula on stage, screen, and in literature; although there are a couple of early chapters on the historical fact behind the legends they add little to what is generally known about Vlad the impaler, and make no attempt to trace vampire legends any earlier. Although one of the chapters is titled "The Ancestors of Dracula", this chapter is about literary ancestors of Bram Stoker's character. The main limitation to this book is that its publication date precedes much of the more recent interest in vampires, probably spawned by the success of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire. No mention is made of vampiric representations or appearances in the visual arts or music--an updating of the book might well cover the several versions of Dracula that have been done as operas or ballet. But as a reference to various media presentations of the Count up to 1975, this is fairly good.

There are passages of this book that are so wonderfully sketched out that they seem to play as black and white movie clips inside the reader's head. No mean feat, the author has a real gift for transporting his audience. And of course, what's not to like about Hank Fayette? Yowzer. I'm not too familiar with the author's work, though I did read Surprising Myself when I was in college, but I bet he has a great American gay novel inside him somewhere. (Insert Richard Gere joke here.). Nice work.

Christopher Bram writes extremely well however this is not Bram at his best. A few years ago I read Father of Frankenstein and was impressed with the depth that Bram gave to his characters and settings. He literally brought the reader into the now gone Hollywood world of James Whale. Hold Tight takes us into another world, that of early WWII New York but the characters leave us flat and the story becomes more romance novel than substance.

Bram's premise for this novel is a good one. Seaman Hank Fayette is arrested at a gay brothel while on shore leave in New York. Rather than court martial him they turn him into a prostitute in order to capture spies in the same brothel that he was arrested in.

If Bram had stuck to this plot line the story would have been much more interesting. Bram however uses the next third of the novel building a relationship between Fayette and the black houseboy, Juke. The Fayette/Juke storyline is the stuff of trashy romance novels and really does nothing to advance the plot of the novel. If you want to write a romance novel well and good but don't cloak it as as espionage thriller.

The characterizations in this novel tend to be disappointing as well. Characters drift in and out of the story with very little development and there is plenty of stereotyping throughout the book.

If the neding of this novel is supposed to show the redeeming power of friendship between the gay and straight worlds that point is missed completely. The ending is contrived and feels as if it were added just to provide a conclusion to the love story presented earlier.

Mr. Bram can write much better than this and I hope he will do so in the future. Overall the read was not a bad one but rather one that could have been much better had it been able to deliver what it promised.

Hank is a sailor during WW II, who comes from Texas and has had no problem is accepting his homosexuality!!?? While trying out a brotherl in NY, he gets arrested. Tied into this story is a movie projectionist and his daughter who are Nazi spies. A closeted queen who is a wannabe Nazi becomes involved with Hank who now is being turned into an American spy and whose boss is a Navy psychiatrist who intends to send him to a mental hospital after his tour of duty as a spy is over so he can be "happy" because homosexuals are sick and unhappy. Add to this list of characters a Viennese jew who has become an American citizen who has conscious qualms about the way the Navy is handling Hank, Juke an African-American teen queen and an appearance by Monty Whooley, Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa and one has a novel that has some possibilities, but has to finish too fast with an ending that raises more questions than it answers.

The characters are sometimes well drawn and interesting, but Bram does not develop them in a way that satisfies the story. Obviously Hank and Juke are attracted to each other. but Hank's attitude towards African-Americans is not overcome until it is too late. That is good writing, but why Juke's outcome happens is not.

This novel has some good passages, some interesting characters, but a plot that falls apart.

"In memory of Angel Clare" tries to deal with such vital issues as love, AIDS and the struggle of finding a personal space for living under all sorts of pressures and circumstances. It is unfortunate that the book eventually becomes an emtpy account of uninteresting events that happen to uninteresting and unsympathetic characters. Reading the book becomes very soon a tedious an uncomfortable experience. There is also another feature in this book that conveys an uneasy feeling to the reader, and it is the obsession of the protagonists (and the narrator) with age. It seems that in the narrator's (or the writer's) view, age is a sharp step function, its edge being somewhere around 30. Enough with this, please.

I'm an avid reader and tend to finish all books that I've started, be they mediocre, but this was just too much. It severely lacked continuity and substance

Having loved Mr. Bram's "Father of Frankenstein", I picked this book up and was immediately enchanted. The characters are deep and involving. The emotions are raw. The lingering and potent effect of grief hangs over this novel like the fragrance of a garden of blooming flowers. Mr. Bram is a writer of concise and stirring prose. I recommend this book highly.