The Extra Man

Jonathan Ames will always be Jonathan Ames, a beguiling voice, and he has a great character in Henry, but this novel is even more picaresque than his other books, a little repetitive and, though not without anecdote, plotless and drama-less. Are very rich old ladies, and transsexuals really enough to sustain a fairly long book? No, longueurs result.

Worth every penny. I love his style of writing and his character development. It's one of those books which you keep thinking about once it ends. A unique relationship beautifully presented. Could only recommend!

Fine novel by a very good author.

Brilliant writing, absorbing and satisfying.Looking forward to reading more Jonathan Ames!

Competitively priced and swiftly delivered.

Henry. What a character. Read his parts in a British accent though which makes it better imo.

The product was water damaged.

If you can, see "The Extra Man" movie first, then read the book. They are both very hilarious and absorbing, but I like the movie better with Kevin Klein and Paul Dano. Louis Ives is a very strange, may I say weird twenty-six-year old who thinks he wants to be a cross dresser. The book is raunchier than the movie, and I favor the book's rendition. Louis leaves a private school job in Jersey and moves into Manhattan to build a new life for himself. The reason he left his job was he was caught in the faculty room trying on a woman's bra. He becomes a roommate with 73-year-old Henry Hudson, a very eccentric screwball who has a very dirty apartment with mice, roaches, and fleas. Henry's beliefs, habits, lifestyle can only be described as oddball and bizarre. It's not really fair to make value judgments about the characters because many of them inhabit a parallel universe with different codes. Henry lives off the favors of older women who bring him to the theater, restaurants and put him up for the winter season in Palm Beach. He isn't a gigolo, has Platonic relationships and never accepts cash for his companionship; he's what older women need, a handy extra guy to be their escort. Sometimes he wear trousers that reveal his backside, he uses mascara to darken his hair, he dances in his apartment like an Isadora Duncan, he listens to Ethel Merman records, and sleeps on his disreputable living room couch. Louis adores him; Henry is his hero. Louis likes to go to a Times Square bar frequented by trannies. His sexuality is in flux, and Henry's is not quite clear. Henry easily makes enemies, and Louis becomes his only friend. They both have trouble with their old cars. Henry's religious beliefs are to the right of the pope's. He's penniless most of the time. A strange bird named Gershon lives downstairs, and he too worships Henry. He was played masterfully in the movie by John C. Reilly. I loved the book for its oddball characters and theater of the absurd quality. It does not require belief, only a good sense of humor. It's not so oddball to me because I recall living in New York in my penniless days and an eccentric older guy taught me how to make ketchup soup at the Automat simply by fetching a free cup of hot water and using the table condiments. The book is a hoot!

I read this book because I read a review that made the character of Henry Harrison sound interesting. I was expecting descriptions of parties and dates with rich people that would fill me in on a side of society I don't have contact with. It was not like that at all, but instead it was very true-to-life in comparison with my own experiences of being in new places.Ives' inner fancies of himself as the young gentleman are drawing him into an odd acquaintance with Henry Harrison. And Harrison is just exactly like some people I have known who try to live off of others' social status. There is something about the spacing of the episodes and the things that go unexplained or detailed that exactly mimics the feeling one gets when spending a lot of time in this half-world.And, interestingly, more and more of Ives' secret "predilections" become exposed, and his sense of shame and fear. He is such a sensitive character, and actually so well-rounded, that I felt the injustice of his fear of following his sexual curiosities and desires.The way the book unfolds is actually a mirror of how one comes to know better and better individual people. Also, for some reason, the descriptions of cars and parking arrangements in this book are exceptionally charming writing.

The Extra Man is a wonderful novel that explores not only a man's attempt to become a proper gentleman, but his struggle with his own sexuality. The two aspects of the plot converge in strange, funny, and complicated ways throughout and there is a gentle and warm charm to Ames's writing that draws you in from the first bizarre little anecdote. It felt like the basic premise, of a young man finding himself and being taken under the wing of an eccentric older man, had been written many times, but the often subtextual homoerotic elements were more fully explored which gave a sometimes shockingly honest picture of people whose sexuality and identities are not black and white. I highly recommend this novel and all of Ames's work.

I loved this book . It has everything going for it ,the characters are just fantastic and the dialogue is just wonderful . This is the second time I have read it and it is still great

The Extra Man by Jonathan Ames is an entertaining and humorous account of two bachelors trying to navigate through life in New York City. The protagonist, Louis, answers Henry's ad for a roommate in the City after being fired from his teaching job at prep school after being caught trying on a female colleague's under garments. Louis' sexual predilections are on the fringe of mainstream society and his frequent visits to a transsexual bar, cross-dressing business, and spanking service are laugh-out loud funny. Henry's eccentricities are hilarious and amusing. He is definitely a character to remember. Some of Henry's more comical peculiarities include his non-politically correct musings on every sub-set of society and his cheapness which leads him to find creative means of sneaking into the opera and seducing older, rich women so as to obtain free meals and places to stay in Palm Beach. Henry gets his exercise by dancing to Ethel Merman and lives by the credence that, "Ethel Merman cures everything".The problem with this book is simply that it is too long. I initially found The Extra Man enjoyable and funny; however, about half way through I was over it. Yet, it continued on and on for another hundred pages or so.In short, The Extra Man is a witty and comical novel that needed to be condensed into about 150-200 pages instead of the almost 350 pages it actually spans.

A great author. Imagery is vivid (I can still clearly "see" the giant stuffed lion falling from the overhead), as well as viscerally imagine some of the "club" scenes.. Really, a lovely story about being sweet, loveable, lonely, and perfectly imperfect.Here's to being Strange ... and learning that it's ok to be so.

I'm of two minds about this book. The cover clearly belies the story's kinky, seedy nature. It is told through the eyes of the mid-20-year-old, sexually confused protagonist, Louis Ives. The relationship between him and his new, eccentric roommate, Henry Harrison, is the enjoyable part of this novel. It was nice to read a story about characters on the fringes of society, yet, littered with many funny observations. New York City is the perfect and very believable backdrop for their quirky adventures. However, Louis Ives' journey into transvestism took me completely by surprise. His graphic forays into this world (which are lengthy and many) sent an unpleasant shiver down my spine. I have a very laissez-faire attitude about people's sexually-legal preferences. To each his own is my attitude, but it doesn't mean I want to get a ringside seat to reading about this stuff. It felt like the cover sold me a false set of goods. Mr. Ames' easy-to-read book made me run the gamut of laughter, anger, frustration and insight. It's art, all right, but this sucker left me with an unpleasant aftertaste.

I started thid book with high hopes but found it to be slow and boring. I made it through half the book before i gave up.