Mari SanGiovanniRezensionen

I laughed out loud more times than I can count.

Very very funny. Great dialogue and characterization of all the members of a lovable and crazy Italian family!

Very very funny. Great dialogue and characterization of all the members of a lovable and crazy Italian family!

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Just when you thought it was safe to pitch your tent, the Santora family shows up. Lisa's taken over a rundown campground, baby sister Marie's been dumped (again!) by the actress, and the Santoras don't know the meaning of minding their own business. When the whole clan decides to fix things for their girls, it's a hilarious recipe for havoc. Camptown Ladies is the sequel to Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer.

Mari SanGiovani lives the crazy Italian family lifestyle and writes about it like no one else.

My Review: Okay, see, it started like this. A few years ago, I was having a discussion with an old, old, old dyke of my acquaintance (I mean, born in the first Truman administration! And not dead yet!) about how gay men don't support lesbian writers and publishers of lesbian-themed books, and fewer straight men do this than straight women support gay smexy-time publishers. (I suspect ZERO straight men read gay smexy-time books, they're too skittish about the whole thing, poor lambs.) (BTW, when exactly did you dirty, dirty ladies start using men together as bubble-machine starter? I am shocked, shocked!)

Back to my story. So after a somewhat spirited exchange, containing the words "do not!" and "you big stupid!" rather more often than is seemly for two people whose combined age reaches well, well into triple digits, a challenge was issued: Each of us would buy from InsightOut (GLBTQ book club) a novel wholly and entirely about the other's preferred romantic partnerings. I bought Greetings from Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer.

Oh blessèd day. I snorted, howled, giggled, and generally made unseemly noises the entire time I was reading...make that devouring...the book. My then-love interest, the lamented Mr. Man, got so curious he read it too. He laughed, or the relationship would've ended sooner.

I sent the book to another friend, and she howled her way through it. She sherpa'd the sequel, recommending it to me, and keeping me abreast (!) of developments in Mari SanGiovanni's personal life. The fact that I'm finally reviewing the book is due to the fact that I need to get it in the mail to yet another friend who read the first one after several of us pummeled him into reading the first one (he's a straight boy, poor thing, so it took a wee tiny bit of coaxing). Having done so, he's fallen for Marie, Lisa, and Lorn just like the rest of us, and is looking forward to reading more about them.

Little does he know. (Close your eyes, Mark! Spoilers from here on out!)

Mari has made Marie's life easier in this book: She's broken up with Lorn, whose career as a movie star means more to her than her love for Marie, she's got money, and her lunatic out-there Italian family (a lot like several Italian families I know, all up in each other's business and as full of questions and demands as any police interrogator) go to work together. Marie gets to leave Lorn's orbit and lick her wounds, Lisa the older sister who's also a dyke gets to hit on the girls around and about, and so does Vince the youngest child, a straight boy (such a pity, that).

Vince does bring Erica, his girlfriend, into the picture.

Oh well, so much for family harmony. Erica falls in love with Marie, Marie goes back to Lorn, Erica leaves for Italy, and there's a romantic ending that made me mist over. Not before, however, I'd snorted and guffawed a lot. There's the clamdigging scene, with Lisa at her inappropriate best/worst. Think I hurt myself laughing, retching, laughing, and shuddering.

So anyway, off this book goes to its new daddy. I hope he hides it from his wife, there is a goodly amount of lesbian sex of the detailed sort in it. I skimmed. Fast. Now if I can just read this address...I find it improbable that he lives in "Olympus Mons, JI" since we haven't colonized Mars yet. I must've written the address down while still laughing about the clamdigging scene.

I just reread my review of this authors first book..and I have to say that par of it
will fit the bill here as well. So, to quote that review:

"This is a book that you will want to read in one sitting because
it's just too good to put down. This is about an Italian family
with all the foibles of any family, anywhere. This family, however, takes
it all to a new level. The inside family jokes, the funky dad and the mean auntie.
Other books have all of these things but not with the flair and the humor of this one."

This time we find Marie and her siblings involved in restoring a campground that
her sister Lisa bought, on something of a whim. The story brings back the characters
from the first book, so you will want to read that one first, because it is too good to miss..
So once you have Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer, and Camptown Ladies next to your
reading chair, or bed.. or whatever.. prepare to be entertained. Where was I ? Okay..
so.. Mare, Lisa and Vince are working at restoring an old campground to serve the masses. In particular
it is meant to say the masses of gays and lesbians who are to lured in by good food, parades and all
sorts of gimmicky, and hilarious activities planned by the trio.

Erica is brought in from California to do much of the work, because she is the best, and
since inheriting all that delicious money, they can afford the best. So despite an sad
breakup with Vince, Erica packs her bags and climbs up to the roof and starts shouting orders
while looking quite decorative. Believe me, no one fails to notice just how decorative! Even
a previously taken for granted old uncle falls victim to her many charms.

Now I don't want to give too much of this away, but you will have a rollicking good time
taking side trips to Provincetown, Massachusetts and unbelievably, even more hilarity ensues.
I would not miss these books if I were you.. they have everything, and I do mean everything. A
huge part of Mari's gift is sharing laughter. And she shares it freely in her books. There is nothing
I would like better than to see movies made of her books, or at least a television series. We need more
laughter in this country and Mari is just the woman who knows how to get us there....

No.. I am not a friend of hers.. I do follow her on Facebook, and have been touched in many ways by her
life and her sharing. I am just a reader who enjoys reading and I have particularly enjoyed these books.
Treat yourself..

Recommended.

I reserve 5 stars for books that change my life in some way.... it is a personal thing.. but
when it comes to pure enjoyment factor.. this is a 10 star read .

This is a book that you will want to read in one sitting because
it's just too good to put down. This is about an Italian family
with all the foibles of any family, anywhere. This family, however, takes
it all to a new level. The inside family jokes, the funky dad and the mean auntie.
Other books have all of these things but not with the flair and the humor of this one.

Lisa, Marie and Vince are the siblings that everyone wishes they knew.
Bawdy, funny and most of all loving, the lesbian sisters and their baby brother
make for a lot of laugh out loud moments. The fun really begins when Marie
inherits a load of money from a grandmother who never really liked her, and
she takes the whole family on a two week vacation. This is right after she begins stalking a good looking actress, to have her star in what might possibly qualify for the worlds worst movie. The screenplay written by none other than, herself of course!

Things really get interesting when a jealous ex decides she wants, if not Marie
at least her money. Love is in the air though and if Marie isn't able to cash in
on it, someone will. Finding out is just more fun. I liked this family, and loved
this book.

Recommended for those who like a good entertaining, laugh out loud read.

I reserve 5 stars for books that change my life in some way.... it is a personal thing.. but
when it comes to pure enjoyment factor.. this is a 10 star read .

Rating: 4.25* of five

The Book Report: Marie Santora comes from a volatile Italian family. But when she inherits her grandmother’s estate and everyone turns nice and caring, Marie knows it’s time to hit the road to Los Angeles, but not before one final family vacation.

In Jamaica, Marie meets the woman who could change her life. But will she even talk to Marie after her family tells one too many of Marie’s secrets? Don’t miss this hilarious tale of lesbian love and family togetherness run amok.

Greetings from Jamaica is a runner-up for the first annual Bywater Prize for Fiction.

What happens when a rudderless, relationshipless, newly rich dyke decides to change her life, leave her hometown, and pursue the unattainable Object of Her Desire, a famous actress?

To put it mildly, hijinks ensue.

Marie hated her rich grandmother, as did anyone and everyone else who ever met the old bat. Unlike all the others in her family, though, Marie was honest in her dislike, and when the old lady kicks, Marie...the one honest person in the old lady's life...inherits.

This is an old-fashioned screwball comedy, a lot like Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth. It's a fast-paced, rollicking joy of a book to read.

My Review: What happens when a rudderless, relationshipless, newly rich dyke decides to change her life, leave her hometown, and pursue the unattainable Object of Her Desire, a famous actress?

To put it mildly, hijinks ensue.

Marie hated her rich grandmother, as did anyone and everyone else who ever met the old bat. Unlike all the others in her family, though, Marie was honest in her dislike, and when the old lady kicks, Marie...the one honest person in the old lady's life...inherits.

This is an old-fashioned screwball comedy, a lot like Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth. It's a fast-paced, rollicking joy of a book to read.

Oh hell. Here I've got an interesting life and an adorable boyfriend (since become an ex, more's the pity), and I've gone and fallen in love with a lesbian.

Well, can you blame me? This particular lesbian, author of the tome named above, has a wicked sense of humor and a snarky eye for characters and a good sense of timing. She's written, in this her first novel, a laugh-out-loud funny slamming-doors sex farce set in an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. I mean, really, go fight those odds! I'd fall in love with *Rush Limbaugh* under those circumstances!

(No I wouldn't, not a chance, but it's a good line so I used it anyway.)

Marie, our heroine, is in a miserable dead-end relationship with the once-gorgeous-to-her Jessica, a cold, cheating slime. Then one fine morning, Marie wakes up rich, with a legacy of $21 million - the ENTIRE ESTATE! - from her mean, evil grandmother, whose respect for Marie's honest dislike of her has paid off.

Marie's extended Italian-American family, predictably, goes into hyperdrive debating the use that they will make of (Marie's, and Marie's alone) money. This gets old, so she buggers off to Los Angeles to throw herself at actress Lorn Elaine, hoping to convince the said actress to be in the movie she's written. This fails spectacularly, and Marie slinks off to Jamaica with her entire clan, both to salve her screenwriterly wounds and to announce her decision about the division of the money. That was left to HER, mind.

So who shows up at the selfsame all-inclusive resort? C'mon, guess! Oh, all right...Lorn Elaine! With her mother in tow! It's now that the doors begin slamming, the sex (some pretty sticky stuff there!) begins not happening, and the entire cast runs around at warp speed trying to keep secrets and ending up telling lies.

If you're unsatisfied by the ending of this book, you're a prune-faced old moralizing killjoy. As for the humor quotient...well, the author's email is MariLaughs@cox.net. Go on, say it out loud. I'll wait.

Now, if that didn't make you laugh, don't read this book. Read one on how to get a sense of humor.

Marie Santora is a fairly happy 30-ish woman. Well happy, except for a few flies that have gotten stuck in her milkshake. Her girlfriend is cheating on her, yet Marie is financially trapped in the condo they uneasily share. No one at work is really interested in talking to her since her brother 'outed' her on the loud speaker system. Her slightly crazy Italian family is practicing, with various degrees of success, a sort of "don't ask, don't tell" policy about her affectional orientation...and her grandmother just died.

Now, don't feel too bad about the grandmother. She hated her grandmother and her grandmother hated her. She hated everyone it seems.

Marie's conversation with her brother Vince on the way from the funeral sort of sums it up.
"I laughed at him. 'It's not going to the same without Gram around to make the family events run less smoothly.'
'You know Marie, I've always been more than a little jealous about how you and Gram used to get along...'
'Yeah, I know. She always hated me best.' "

Well, she hated her enough to leave Marie her entire fortune. With the request that she give none to the rest of the family.
21 millions dollars folks. Someone should hate me like that!

Not surprisingly, being a millionaire changes a few things in her life. Her beautiful, soon to be ex-girlfriend seems to have forgotten the parade of women she had taken up with and is planning their future together. Oh, she is going to be so upset to see that is so not going to happen. Her job is very quickly given the deep six so Marie can start to follow her dream of being a screenwriter...and have a little time to do a wee bit of gentle stalking of the actress that she intends will play the lead in the movie. Off she flies to California to carry out her plan. "H.I.L.S (Homesick-Italian-Lesbian-Stalker)seeks Actress". Oddly enough, that does not go well!

So she shifts her sights for a moment and decides to take her entire family to Jamaica for a vacation and to announce how she will divide the money. You knew she wasn't going to pay any attention to her grandmother's dying request, didn't you?
Off the Santoras set for the islands...and the hilarity ensues. All manner of people turn up, all sorts of events take their turn and we are in the middle of a madcap, fun-fest. A virtual barrel of monkeys-rama. A laugh out loud journey of jocularity.
In case you don't quite get my subtle point, "Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer" is a very, very funny book.

I love a funny book. I love characters that have a sense of humor. And these folks are Characters with a capital C, and this book is Funny with a capital F.

Now, if Ms. SanGiovanni would just get her act together and finish that highly anticipated second novel....no doubt her legion of well deserved fans...and maybe Entertainment Tonight...are waiting.