Wrestling with Jesus by Stephen Osborne

[reviews_and_ramblings]

I was quite intrigued by this novel’s blurb, but at first I thought it was only for the “cinderfella” subplot, a young and dumb professional Wrestler falling in love with a slightly older bookstore owner and the trouble with meeting his boyfriend conservative family.

And I have also to pay homage to the author’s choice to plunge the reader right in the middle of the story, something that had me a little startled, and I even went searching the backlist of this author to be sure I hadn’t missed a previous book. But no, Randy and Kyle are already a couple, they met sometime before, and we don’t know how and exactly when. Now the impeding threat is the meeting with Randy’s BBF, Debbie, a woman that measures men considering their bank statements, and Randy’s family, a former-military man father and an social conservative obsessive mother.

The author pushes on the light humor, the novel is never too much funny, but it’s nevertheless a comedy. Kyle wants to please Randy in any possible way, and since Randy is a non-smoker, Kyle decides he will use the hypnosis to stop smoking too. Only that the session goes beyond is expectation, actually Kyle reverts back to a previous life, way back, when he was… Jesus Christ. Doesn’t help that Kyle’s mother is indeed named Mary, that his father is, more or less, non-existent, that he is born on December 25th, and that, apparently, he has healing powers. Not Randy or Kyle believe in this reincarnation thing, and all they want is to be able to live as an ordinary gay couple.

I liked that the author didn’t downplayed Kyle’s naiveté: he is a 100% “simple” guy, he hadn’t the chance to study, but even if he had, probably he wouldn’t have been a very good student; Kyle is all for his wrestling career, that is his only true dream, and it was since he was a little kid. Randy knows that Kyle is not an idiot savant, he is not trying to make him different from who he is, Randy likes Kyle exactly as the guy is, innocent, a little dumb, but really sweet and protective. The sex is great, even if it’s not at all graphic, it’s more of listening to Randy’s praises to Kyle. Randy and Kyle’s relationship is not at all balanced, Randy has often to make Kyle feel good, to praise him, to reassure the boy he is doing good. I don’t think that will change, but that is also what it makes their relationship so special.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2882

Amazon: Wrestling With Jesus
Amazon Kindle: Wrestling With Jesus
Paperback: 210 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (April 16, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613724500
ISBN-13: 978-1613724507

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle