Captain Swing

Depressed by the death of his gay lover in an auto accident, Johnnie Ray Rousseau is called to the deathbed of his disapproving father, where he meets Nigel, a second cousin who offers a new chance for romance

Despite its lackluster title, Duplechan's atmospheric work reverberates with familial warmth and love, overlaid with robust humor, unaffected sweetness and an earthy Southern sensuality. Though protagonist and narrator, Johnnie Ray Rousseau, is gay, Duplechan's writing is so assured and his scenarios so beguiling that gay relationships here are merely one aspect of a larger and richer whole. Readers' first encounter the 30-ish Johnnie Ray--a singer of some renown--"high above some spot between L.A. and Louisiana" as he returns to his Lake Charles, La., home hoping to make peace with his dying father, who is purportedly asking to see him. Fireworks fly when Johnnie Ray discovers the reunion was a ploy devised by his aunt (one of many colorful "down home" characters who impart considerable zest to the proceedings). More complications ensue when Johnnie Ray, grieving over the recent death of his lover, becomes attracted to Nigel, his 18-year-old cousin. Duplechan's ( Blackbird ) handling of their mutual attraction--and confusion--is at once graphic, realistic and tender without becoming mawkish. Indeed, the humorous interplay among all of these piquant characters buoys the action throughout, turning this book into a low-key charmer that quietly captivates.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A gay man finds the pain of visiting his dying homophobic father eased by some cousinly love, in this latest from Duplechan (Tangled Up in Blue, 1989, etc.) Los Angeles jazz singer Johnnie Ray Rousseau is a ``thirty- something-year-old black queer widow-man'' who hasn't sung a note since his lover Keith was killed in a hit-and-run; a year later, he's still having nightmares. Now he's experiencing even more trauma as he visits his cancer-stricken father Lance in rural Louisiana, their original home. Lance had always preferred his manly son David to the effeminate Johnnie; their relationship worsened after David's early death (a drive-by shooting), and nothing has changed, as Lance in the hospital again rejects Johnnie, who endlessly replays the pain. ``I can't believe I'm going over this territory again,'' he says. Nor can the reader, whose scant sympathy for the trembling, weeping, self-dramatizing Johnnie diminishes further when he shows a lack of respect for his cousin Athena, in whose house he's staying. Athena has long accepted Johnnie's gayness (the two share a ``spiritual bond'') but will not accept that her son Nigel is gay; the attractive 18-year- old has pressed himself on Johnnie, and the older man has swiftly if guiltily yielded to temptation and is soon ``head-over- butthole'' in love. Bringing news of Lance's death, Athena discovers the two in bed and goes berserk; meanwhile, the family's formidable Aunt Lucille keeps the peace long enough for Johnnie to sing at his father's funeral before he returns to L.A., reluctantly letting Nigel go and failing to make peace with Athena. Duplechan's women, whom he consistently draws better than his men, give some solidity to what is otherwise a silly and superficial tale. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Duplechan ( Tangled Up in Blue , LJ 2/15/87) pens a touching, warm-hearted story of a man returning home to his father's deathbed. Hoping for a reconciliation, "Cap" Rousseau is not surprised when he is again rebuked by his father. Gay, talented, black, and trying to adjust to life after his lover is tragically killed in a car accident, Cap attempts to readjust to the humidity of Louisiana and the eccentricities of his extended family when a totally unexpected event happens. While trying to sort out his feelings for a new love, Cap tries to understand his father's sorrow over the death of Cap's younger brother--the only son he truly loved--and his father's steadfast refusal to accept him, his gay son. Duplechan's novel is marvelous, sentimental but not sappy, pensive but upbeat, and told with a slow, sassy wit that will keep readers hooked. Essential for African American and gay/lesbian fiction collections and highly recommended for others.
- Kevin M. Roddy, Univ. of Hawaii at Hilo Lib.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.