BOOK REVIEW | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 37
APRIL, 2021 | ISSUE 322 | Qsaltlake.com
the bookworm sez REVIEW BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER
Let’s Get Back to the Party: A Novel BOOK BY ZAK SALIH ©2021, ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL, $25.95, 288 PAGES
The place is filled with balloons. They’re floating near the ceiling, strings just out of reach for now, some on the floor. The lights seem to be on a “twinkle” setting, and there are candles carefully nestled in centerpieces, so the entire room sparkles from corner to corner. The guest of honor isn’t there yet, but you are, and in “Let’s Get Back to the Party” by Zak Salih, you already wish you hadn’t come.
q scopes APRIL BY SAM KELLEY-MILLS
ARIES March 20–April 19 Choosing a new path is recommended. This could mean validating your current directory, but the process is crucial right now. Take a moment to figure out where you are going and where you want to be in the near future.
TAURUS Apr 20–May 20 There could be problems with your friends, and it’s making you grumpy. Even so, it comes down to helping, hurting, or taking a break. Sometimes a little alone time is the best way to go, so enjoy yourself no matter what you decide.
GEMINI May 21–June 20 Try doing what you can to take a mini-vacation, even if you can’t really go far. The scenery isn’t bad where you are. You are
Sebastian Mote hadn’t seen Oscar Burnham in a decade, not since they were kids, but the guy across the room at the wedding reception sure looked like Oscar. If it was, Sebastian wondered if Oscar would he remember him, or their once-close friendship, or afternoons together in the basement and the things they did to one another? Oscar Burnham was truthfully more interested in a cruising app than he was in rekindling a boyhood friendship. Sebastian was every bit as boring as Oscar remembered; he was probably one of those queens whose only focus, now that gay marriage was legal, was to have a husband and a bunch of obnoxious kids. It irritated Oscar that he was forced to exchange phone numbers with Sebastian and lame promises to hang out soon. Soon. More like not-soon, since Oscar was busy with
someone he met when an app-date didn’t show up. Sean Stokes was an older man, a writer, and though Oscar professed to dislike reading, he was captivated by Sean’s explicit tales of queer life before Oscar was even born. He couldn’t get enough of Sean — and vice versa, apparently, because Sean asked for Oscar’s stories and it eventually became clear that Sean’s next book would be about Oscar. There was no denying that Oscar’s ghosting hurt Sebastian, but he rather expected it. Instead, he threw himself into a friendship with a young student at his school, daring to let himself become obsessed with seventeen-year-old Arthur. It was painful, hopeful, and something he could never admit to anyone else. Least of all, his boyhood pal, Oscar… At first browse, “Let’s Get Back to the Party” can seem long and very wordy. It hangs
craving a new perspective. Go alone or with a friend and figure out a nice place to rejuvenate your mind.
about the degree of quality. In the end, you can fix the small stuff.
CANCER June 21–July 22 No one can stop you when you have your mindset on something you want. What you might not expect is pushback from someone who finds your methods shocking. Take a step back and talk with this person and laugh.
LEO July 23–August 22 Ever get the sense that others are out to get you? That might actually be true, but only because they have their own sets of agendas. Realize that what you do and what they do have nothing to do with each other. Try to have fun.
VIRGO August 23–Sep. 2 Grab life by the horns and go with the flow. Everything seems to be going okay, even if it isn’t perfect. Continue figuring out the best way to get results and worry less
LIBRA Sept 23–October 22 The problems you are facing seem big when they all come at once. Check tasks off one at a time. It’s all small stuff getting you down, so treat it as such. In the end, there are many rewards in these small packages of triumph.
SCORPIO Oct. 23–Nov. 21 You’ll be wondering what happened to your social life. The real answer is that it’s simply on hold. When things get back to normal, it’s going to be a blast from the past. Examine what matters and chill with a refreshing drink.
SAGITTARIUS
Nov. 22–December 20.
There could be some problems with a key relationship. While it might make you sad, there is nothing to be gained by crying over it. Instead, take a moment to allow yourself a do-over, or at the very least, a reflec-
on the lives of two men who are mostly not very likable, to themselves or to one another, and how they hold on to their history with fingernails on one hand, pushing each other away with the other hand. You’ll want to shake them, but the thing is, it’s hard not to want to watch them make their own lives worse: this novel is a little schadenfreudey, but with a degree of sympathy. The sympathy wins, as author Zak Salih shows sides of both Sebastian and Oscar that neither character would admit, and reasons why each becomes contemptuous with the other. The truth, for one of them, is a devastating shocker that slams the brakes on the tale but alas, getting there takes a while; you’ll want to ride that wave to this books’ fitting end. And in that end, “Let’s Get Back to the Party” really pops. Q tion of self.
CAPRICORN Dec 21–Jan 19
Get involved with a cause that speaks to you. This can be a personal one or a social movement. But in the end, the goal is to find focus in purpose. Even if you don’t get paid, the reward will be the feeling of gaining results.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20–Feb. 18 Calming times are bound to have you resting in the best possible way. Put aside anything that drags you from this place, whether it be a job or social obligations. This is your time to figure yourself out. Claim your time wisely.
PISCES Feb 19–Mar 19 It doesn’t feel good to look at your financial situation. Get your affairs in order and clean up the minor messes. Pay attention to everything that isn’t working and make it work. In the end, attention to detail is most satisfying.
