On Lily's Bookshelf: Almost Like Being in Love by Steve Kluger

You never know what you’re going to find in the $1 bookshelf. At one of my favorite used bookstores, Half Price Books, they have their Dollar Bin towards the back of the store. When I peruse the books on that bin, I approach it with the acumen of a seasoned poker player.

Let’s face it…the books in the Dollar Bin are there for a reason. The store either has too many copies (which means you’ve probably read it) or the book bombed. So in essence, you’re gambling with your fist full of dollars. However, every once in awhile, you pick up something that sparks your interest and it ends up (in your mind) being frigging brilliant!

Such was the case for Steve Kluger’s second novel, Almost Like Being in Love. I had read parts of Kluger’s Baseball-centric first novel, Last Days of Summer and really enjoyed the easy going writing style that the author presented. When I saw Almost Like Being in Love, I recognized the name and flipped to the first page. Ten minutes later, Lenny was asking if I was ready to go and I was tossing the book into my basket and heading out to the checkout stand while asking him to drive so I could read!

NEVER in a million years would have thought that this book would end up in my Top Ten favorite books of all time. First of all, it was a dollar! How good can it be? Second, the story was not something that mainstream fiction is popular for. The novel is a romantic comedy. There is a wonderful cast of characters that grow near and dear to your heart. Great characters, great writing. So, what’s the big deal? The star-crossed lovers are both male.

Travis “Smerko” Puckett is the class nerd at The Beckley School in upstate New York. The year is 1978 and it’s his senior year of high school. He managed to spend four years in the shadow of his classmates mostly because his brilliance was the subject of ridicule. Craig McKenna is the BMOC at Beckley. All-star quarterback and shortstop, Craig was also the biggest catch in the area.

Craig asks Travis to assist him with an English assignment and then the unlikely duo are paired to help with the drama department’s staging of “Brigadoon.” A friendship starts up between the two, which blossoms into some odd feelings. By the end of their senior year, the two have cooked up a way to be together for the summer before Craig heads off to Harvard and Travis starts at USC. And as fate would have it, they drift apart.

Twenty years later, Travis (now a professor at USC) realizes that Craig is the love of his life. With the help of his longtime roommate, Gordo, Travis treks across the U.S. trying to find Craig who has settled down in Saratoga Springs, NY.

When I usually recommend this book to other people, they look at me sideways and say. “Lily…gay fiction?” Trust me on this one. Kluger’s writing in this book transcends the fact that it’s two guys falling in love. In the hands of another author, this book would fall on its face and remain forever in the Dollar Bin. But that’s how good a writer Kluger is. When reading his work in Last Days of Summer, I had no clue (nor did I care) that Kluger was gay. And in Almost Like Being in Love, he manages to get us to root for Travis and Craig to get back together.

The characterizations are phenomenal. Travis is so neurotic and spastic, you just want to reach out and hug him and say that everything is going to be okay! Craig, while the more confident of the two, shows that even the toughest guys have a soft spot for love. The supporting cast is numerous, but they are written richly and with lots of depth.

Another great feature of the book is the style that it has been written in. Unconventional love story has an unconventional format. Kluger tells the story not only in standard book narrative, but also in series of letters, notes, lists, and even court proceedings! The humor in the book was very spot on and very real in terms of emotion and relation.

I could go on and on about the book, but I’d be giving so much away! Almost Like Being in Love was a joy to read. Thanks to Kluger’s storytelling skills, it would have been a great book if it was about a man falling in love with a baboon. The characters and format make for a great read. So, either scour the Dollar Bin for this one or breakdown and buy it at full price! Either way, you will enjoy it!