BONUS NUMBER 125: AND INTRODUCING MARK B. PERRY
(Did You Sleep With the Models?)
You can judge this book by its cover — and by every page inside. It’s the best gay-themed novel I’ve read in years. Why? Well, what’s gayer than Hollywood? But it’s more than a gay novel, or a Hollywood novel. It’s everyone’s story who fantasized about glamour and fame and dazzling romance and star-studded sex…and whose dreams came true, or didn’t come true. To paraphrase Emily Dickinson, success is counted sweetest by those who don’t succeed. Those who do succeed, like Dexter Gaines — but I leave that verdict to you.
This novel feels like a return to the work of real writers in earlier decades, writers like Christopher Isherwood, Gore Vidal, Andrew Holleran, and a few others — unlike the current fiction assembly line of toothless fluff, most with covers as unsurprising as a cereal box.
By contrast, who can forget Dexter Gaines once you’ve seen those penetrating eyes? Perhaps the man’s seductive gaze conceals a sinister secret. Does the fictional coverman match the fictional protagonist of the novel? Again, that’s your judgment call.
Others who read the novel before publication share my intrigue and enthusiasm. Here are a few of the jacket quotes, including Dolly Parton’s and my own:
“Mark is a wonderful writer and I’m sure we will all enjoy his novel And Introducing Dexter Gaines...as well as anything else he puts his mind and talent to. I was very proud of the “Two Doors Down” episode he wrote for my Heartstrings series on Netflix.”
– Dolly Parton
“Take me to Mark Perry’s Hollywood party! The one that opens his sensational new novel, And Introducing Dexter Gaines. In fact, I insist. You like a page turner? You got it, sweetheart. Tell Zanuck I said so.”
– Sam Staggs, author of All About All About Eve: The Complete Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Bitchiest Film Ever Made; Close-up on Sunset Boulevard; Finding Zsa Zsa: The Gabors Behind the Legend: and The Return of Marilyn Monroe.
“Forget the studio backlot tour at MGM. Mark Perry’s deft and deliciously immersive And Introducing Dexter Gaines is the only guide you’ll need when it comes to getting inside those fabled walls (plus a few bedrooms, poolside cabanas, and ocean liners) from the Golden Age of 1950s Hollywood. You’ll feel for his main character, stud-to-star wannabe Dexter Gaines, who dares to be himself; you’ll even feel for the studio big-wig who shapes Dexter’s career, who can’t be himself. In Perry’s hands, the research comes alive; he feels what the period must have been like, and his characters come alive too, with hilarity and heartbreak. And Introducing Dexter Gaines is like a wonderful weekend binge on TCM: you don’t want Monday to come.”
– Kim Powers, Author of The History of Swimming and Rules for Being Dead
"Mark B. Perry’s odyssey through the glamour and danger of Old Hollywood draws you in from the first page to the last. And Introducing Dexter Gaines is a mesmerizing journey through a world where the air is thick with cigarette smoke, sex, and betrayal. Perry’s prose expertly conjures the haunting allure of old Hollywood, where love and ambition intertwine. Sun-drenched romance bleeds into booze-soaked revenge in this pitch-perfect debut novel."
– Luke Yankee, Author, Just Outside The Spotlight: Growing Up with Eileen Heckart
The official publication date for And Introducing Dexter Gaines is May 6. On Thursday, May 8, Mark will do a reading from the novel, followed by discussion and book signing. This event takes place at Book Soup in West Hollywood, 8818 Sunset Boulevard.
From his website - www.markbperry.com - a list of selected places to buy the book:
Amble Press
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Book Shop
Book Soup
Chevalier's Books
Skylight Books
Vorman's Bookstore
Published by: Amble Press
Release Date: May 6, 2025
Pages: 370
ISBN13: 978-1612943138
Finally, also from Mark’s website, a synopsis of And Introducing Dexter Gaines.
Emmy, Golden Globe, and GLAAD Award-winning writer Mark B. Perry deftly weaves fictional characters with well-known personalities of Hollywood’s golden age into this powerful novel about broken dreams and mended hearts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOLLYWOOD, 1952: Blessed with the smoldering good looks that destine him for the silver screen, the unfortunately named Dan Root arrives as a naïve but ambitious 21-year-old, fleeing a troubled past and determined to take his place in the motion picture galaxy. Mentored and exploited by a powerful Svengali-like producer and his beguiling wife (a movie star whose career is on the tragic cusp between fame and fade out), Dan is transformed into the promising young actor, Dexter Gaines.
Soon their three lives become dangerously entangled by sexual awakening and unrequited love, but when their passion and deceit lead to a crushing discovery and attempted murder, Dexter is forced to choose between stardom and survival. Four decades later, a heartbreaking event compels Dan to return to the city of broken dreams and confront his past. It is only then he begins to unravel a long-ago emotional mystery and make peace with his past and his foiled chance at stardom.
Mark B. Perry's alternating timelines explore the corrosive confluence of fame, sexuality, and ill-fated romance in this captivating Capote-esque novel.
Thanks for the book recommendation.