Holt, Timmothy J. Square Affair. Christine F. Anderson Publishing & Media. 2014. $15.60. 238 p. Paperback. ISBN 978-0692350645.

This sensitive, compassionate novel depicts a small Illinois farming town’s gay sex scandal when five upstanding male citizens are caught enjoying sex in the county courthouse restroom. Unfortunately, the book is terribly marred by annoying typos, and not just the typical misspellings or grammatical mistakes which readers can easily overlook.

Character names are often mixed up and used incorrectly. For example, in one chapter, a mother either changes or forgets the names of her children and husband several times. One chapter heading incorrectly announces the characters to be discussed in that section. Errors of this kind continue to the very end. For this reason, I cannot recommend this book unless the publisher actually proofs and corrects the text.

This saddens me, and makes me angry, because this is a potentially great novel, sensitively told. The stories of every participant are included—not just those of the five men directly involved, but also those of the wives of the three married men, along with parents, grandparents, and even a homophobic pastor who recites all of the discredited Biblical texts during a sermon just after the men’s trials begin.

The stories are told in the third person, with much dialogue. The author writes well. If not for the terrible lapses in the production of this book, I would give it the highest praise. As it stands, I cannot recommend it to anyone.

James Doig Anderson
Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Science, Rutgers University