The Night Listener (Taschenbuch)

Jess, his lover, has moved out and has provided no explanation for his desertion. Noone misses him desperately, and is ever hopeful that his partner will return. Since Jess features so much in Noone's fiction (under a somewhat shallow disguise), this contributes to Noone's pain about his writing. And then Pete Lomax's galley proof arrives. Noone is resistant to read it at first, since he's well used to editors pleading for his endorsement of celebrity cookbooks. However, Pete Lomax's narrative is far weightier, because it is a tale of unpalatable suffering. Noone's emotional anguish seems trivial in comparison with this boy's pain. Noone is more than a little flattered also that his radio shows are mentioned with great admiration in Pete's book, and it's clear that the boy regards Noone as some kind of hero. So Noone contacts Pete's editor to give his endorsement, and is sucked into Pete Lomax's world.

It's not long before Gabriel and Pete are exchanging involved phone calls, supervised by Donna Lomax, the psychiatrist who adopted Pete. Pete asks if he can call Gabriel 'Dad', something that Noone readily agrees to. Noone's somewhat detached father visits town, and Gabriel is reminded of his mother, and the mysterious death of his grandfather, (also named Gabriel like he and his father). Gabriel never thought he would have someone who he could call 'son', and yet he's now embracing this young boy metaphorically over the phone. Pete seems even more poignant now that he is dying. Naturally enough, Noone turns for advice to Jess, who's thriving despite his illness due to a cocktail of drugs. Jess readily agrees to talk to Pete about treatment. However, the more Noone becomes attached to Pete, the more suspicious his friends become about the boy. So doubtful are they that even Gabriel begins to asks questions, which lead to a catastrophic turn of events in his relationship with Pete. Overcome with guilt with what he has done, Noone sets out to prove that the disembodied voice at the other end of the phone really does exist.

According to Pete's narrative, he is solaced by Gabriel Noone's nightly shows. And it appears that Pete is more than prepared to play the role of listener on the phone. It almost seems as though it's Noone, with his broken heart, who needs comforting, rather than this poor sick boy. The plot of this novel twists and turns excellently, and constantly keeps you captivated over its three hundred and so pages. I think what's most attractive is the veracity of the text, and the honesty of Noone - he doesn't hesitate to reveal his petty betrayals. Maupin has created a protagonist who is very human in his selfish failings, and all the more likeable for that.

Those readers who like closure are going to be in for a frustrating time though, and a good thing too! At times, it seems very much as though Noone is Maupin. Jess at one point suggests that Noone gets over his block by writing about the emotional travails of the Pete Lomax situation, and you can't help but wonder if Maupin had a similar conversation, and experience himself. What if there really was a 'Pete Lomax' character out there? This is one of the loose threads that Maupin dangles before us at the end. Those who have read James Hogg's bewitching tale of multiple personality, 'Confessions of a Justified Sinner', will have become enamoured of this type of closure though. Besides, as Noone relates, what else would you expect of a narrator who cannot but help jewelling the elephant in his tales? For that lovely metaphor, and exquisite prose, Maupin's thrilling tale of detection gets full marks.

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