Up With the Sun

A novel

By: Thomas Mallon

Narrated by: Lowell Byers

A WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • Through the curious life of Dick Kallman—a real-life celebrity striver, poisonously charming actor, and eventual murder victim—the unforgiving worlds of postwar showbiz and down-low gay sexuality are thrown into stark relief in this “page-turning blast” (James Ellroy, author of Widespread Panic)

"Engrossing…[A] keen portrait of 1980s New York…a pensive, often gorgeous depiction of…gay life in Manhattan before Stonewall and life on the cusp of the AIDS epidemic." —The Washington Post

Dick Kallman was an up-and-coming actor in the fifties and sixties—until he wasn’t. A costar on Broadway, a member of Lucille Ball’s historic Desilu workshop, and finally a primetime TV actor, Dick had hustled to get his big break. But just as soon as his star began to rise, his roles began to dry up and he faded from the spotlight, his name out of tabloids and newspapers until his sensational murder in 1980.

Through the eyes of his occasional pianist and longtime acquaintance Matt Liannetto, a tenderhearted but wry observer often on the fringes of Broadway’s big moments, Kallman’s life and death come into appallingly sharp focus. The actor’s yearslong, unrequited love for a fellow performer brings out a competitive, vindictive edge in him. Whenever a new door opens, Kallman rushes unwittingly to close it. Even as he walks over other people, he can never get out of his own way.

As Matt pores over the life of this handsome could-have-been, Up With the Sun re-creates the brassy, sometimes brutal world that shaped Kallman, capturing his collisions with not only Lucille Ball, but an array of stars from Sophie Tucker to Judy Garland and Johnny Carson. Part crime story, part showbiz history, and part love story, this is a crackling novel about personal demons and dangerously suppressed passions that spans thirty years of gay life—the whole tumultuous era from the Kinsey Report through Stonewall and, finally, AIDS.

Engrossing, enchanting, historic, often hilarious

A historical novel about Dick Kallman? Really? Who knew -- who he was, let alone that his life as a marginal show biz figure and, later, a somewhat sketchy antiques dealer, could provide grist for such a wildly original and entertaining read. It's a detective story, of sorts, as Kallman's real-life murder provides the springboard. There's lots of spring in that board, as we learn about Kallman's association with A- and B-listers of the day, with 1950s-through-1980s New York gay life providing the irresistible backdrop. Delores Gray -- yes, the real one -- figures prominently, and hilariously. Mallon's peppery style keeps the story moving swiftly, with only a bit of sag when he gets bogged down in detective work details. Mostly, this is a witty and ultimately warm and poignant story. The narration is by Lowell Byers is near-perfection. 5 stars all the way.

Sophie Tucker: Worth the Price of Admission

Dick Kallman, the novel's "star", is a perfectly dreadful person - and everyone else, so absolutely perfect just being themselves, makes this an extraordinarily amusing romp. The scene with Sophie Tucker? Perfect.

Beautiful and evocative of several eras important to aging gay male boomers (AGMB)?

This perfect “fictional bio” of an agonizingly real and severely flawed mid century Demi-celeb and later entrepreneur/ grifter is a true delight. I lost many close friends in the 80s & 90s who would have adored this book even more than I do.
This novel and Audible production became like a dear friend as I listened- highly compelling and highly recommended 👏🏻😘💜🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I thought it would be more fun

I dont know why i thought this book would be more fun given that there is a murder at the center of it.
I just thought you know hollywood hey day, gay actors, their glamorous female actress friends. Selling fabulous antiques. . That sounds like a party. But it wasn't that. I heard the author on Fresh Air and it made me interested in the subject. But it wasn't my cup of tea.

hysterical fiction?

I haven't read anything else by Mallon but it strikes me that calling "Up with the Sun" a historical fiction does a disservice to both disciplines. So much is made up gratuitously about a subject and a person who cannot defend himself that one wonders why he didn't just make something up out of thin air. I was turned off in the first scene when the fictional narrator, supposedly the moral compass here,, refers to Dick Kallman, the subject of a 13 hour slander to follow, as never being sincere about anything. At no point does Mallon suggest we make up our own mind about a closeted gay man trying to make it on stage and screen during a difficult time. No, he will tell us how to feel every step of the way, that Kallman was a monster whose positive traits should be buried or treated like they are non existent, just to help Mallon's agenda along. This could have been a decent offering with more balance, but it's still got so many issues that I can't really recommend it except to navel gazing gays, even better if they are self loathing Jews as well.