Reviews for Dupont Circle

The average rating for Dupont Circle based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-02-03 00:00:00 Aiwa Jiji I sat down somewhere last month (I won't say where) and started reading this book again. I'd read it when it first came out and I remembered enjoying it. When it was first published in 2001, no states had approved gay marriage yet, so it felt fresh and funny and edgy. Now that we're more than a decade removed from the pub date and the country is becoming more accepting of legalizing gay marriage, some of the legal scenes in the book feel a little forced. Then again, maybe that's the luxury of hindsight, talking, paired with the benefit of living in a state where same-sex marriages are not just legal, but welcomed. But part of me wonders my feelings toward the book have changed because I'm now a better, more critical reader than I was 10-12 years ago. Something that struck me as clever back then might now feel more contrived. I have only the most passing of acquaintances with Washington, D.C, so I can't say with authority that DuPont Circle is an apt metaphor for the book, but I would like to think that it is. Anyway, I enjoyed my reread of this book--it's a quick read and I'd like to see some of these characters again. Or more precisely, now what I wish is to read the same book with these characters, but I'd like to see the issue serve the story, not vice versa, which seems to be this book's greatest problem.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-03-11 00:00:00 Svetlana Popelka Book about a modern, three generation DC family: judges, law students, the mentally ill, babies, gay marriage, etc. As other readers have noted, there was too much minute detail about gay marriage legislation. The book attempts to weave stories of diverse couples in love into an argument about why gay marriage should not be treated differently. If a rich, beautiful, meticulous woman can fall in love and marry a poor slob, why can't gay men marry? If a sixty-something man can marry a twenty-something woman, why can't gay men marry? If there are no laws preventing a mentally ill woman from having two children, why are there laws preventing gay men from adopting children? Kafka-Gibbons wrote this book about gay marriage and smacked the reader over the head w/ arguments from the courts rather than allowing the reader to come to conclusions based on experiences of the characters. It was a pleasant read but there was no real conflict and it thus fell a little flat. jon and Peter struggled to decide whether to become caregivers of baby Sam but it read like a foregone conclusion. Bailey argues for gay marriage, but it reads as if it is something the country will come to eventually on its own. No one has issue w/ Louisa hooking up w/ their father/grandfather? They accept her for herself out of the box? Not convincing.