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Press & Reviews

"Hip and sexy....Dolby's writing is smooth and his flashy scene-setting spot-on....[the novel] could win Dolby a solid following."

-Publishers Weekly

"...what really makes Toby's world so familiar--along with the author's lively, often hilarious eye for even the most mundane social details--is the crisp prose and the snappy story. The directness of Dolby's observations have a way of nestling up to the reader....Toby's modest little corner of the center of the world is so accessible, it's not long before the pages begin to zip along, block by block, like a 5am cab ride home through the Village."

-The San Francisco Chronicle

"A breezy, sexy 'Bright Lights, Big City' for Generation Y by an ex-San Francisco writer."

-The San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller List

"[One of] a sudden spate of thinly veiled novels set in the rarified world of spoiled New York twentysomethings and the blind items that plague them."

-The New York Post

"It's glitter, gutter, and everything in between when 22-year-old Toby's dreams begin to come true in Manhattan. A celebration of ego, eccess, and the movie business in general."

-The Advocate, "Hot Reads"

"The tale reads like a juicy roman a clef of contemporary gay Gotham."

-HX Magazine, "Homo Dish" (New York)

"Tom Dolby's debut novel The Trouble Boy is an alternately funny, sexy, and serious chronicle of life lived on the guest lists of downtown New York....Career woes, substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, family matters, and social situations provide this gay male version of Bridget Jones or Carrie Bradshaw with enough drama to fill at least one book (but we're hoping for more). Dolby deftly handles his subject matter, keeping the pages turning and the intrigue stirring."

-Next Magazine (New York)

"Like Jay McInerney's hero, Toby gets caught up in the shallow but mesmerizing world of celebrity, high living, and low expectations. What elevates the book above predictability is that Toby is both charming and rather a cad, although he never seems to realize it....[His] egocentrism is counterbalanced by relentless charm and earnestness....[Readers] will like Toby Griffin in spite of their better instincts."

-The San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"[An] accurate depiction of gay-boy life in the Big Apple....the lesson of the book is that nothing good happens in life until you start living for the present."

-Out.com

"Like Tom Wolfe's everlasting satire Bonfire of the Vanities, Dolby's novel weaves a tale of someone whose moral compass is called into question in the aftermath of an accident--only this book features some hot boy-on-boy action."

-Instinct

"Tom Dolby's debut is an entertaining tableau of the lives and loves of struggling-freelancer-cum-aspiring-screenwriter Toby Griffin and his own vicious (or vacuous) circle....they'll keep you laughing all the way to Sunday brunch."

-Genre

"Finally, a book for gay guys that doesn't color everything like a TV movie of the week. From flashy characters to a vibrant New York we all want to know and experience, [the novel] is a memorable journey."

-Xodus

"...The Trouble Boy is a gripping debut novel that roars along at a cracking pace, delivering thrills and shocks, as well as poignant moments....Smart, sexy, and page-turningly good..."

-Bay Windows (Boston)

"Tom Dolby may have accomplished something very smart here--a book about veneer composed entirely of that veneer, but exposing, in its final moments, a sweetly beating heart."

-MetroWeekly (Washington DC)

"Breakout novelist Tom Dolby emerges as the new It Boy of gay literature."

-The Dallas Voice

"Dolby's debut novel--about being gay and 22, yearning for love but settling (for now) for sex, and striving for literary and monetary success in the shark pool of contemporary Manhattan--is both frothy and solid, a dandy fusion of hugely entertaining satire and seductively humane sentimentality."

-In Newsweekly (New England)

“[A] startling debut novel....this engrossing story of a young man's search for love...reads like a sexier Bright Lights, Big City for gay boys....The Trouble Boy is an utterly fresh, Real World-esque look at what twenty-something gay men (and many of us at every age!) really go through.”

-InsightOutBooks.com

“Debuts rarely go this well. Tom Dolby’s The Trouble Boy is a rare example of mature, seamless writing on the first time out. Not too much needless action, not too many quirky plot twists that don’t ever happen to anyone in real life. Just a solid, if flawed, leading man, and a well-written story.”

-OutSmart Magazine (Houston)

“It turns out that hip urban flashiness, when narrated by a slightly bumbling, less-than-glamorous, unlucky hero, is surprisingly fresh and fun.”

-SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle)

"Exhilirating....picture a male version of Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City....Tom Dolby does an excellent job depicting the nightlife of a young, handsome, up-and-coming twentysomething, who happens to be gay. His biting and harsh, yet realistic depiction of Toby is commendable....Readers, gay or straight, will relate to Toby's journey."

-The Nob Hill Gazette, "Bay Area Book of the Month"

"Local author Tom Dolby serves up a juicy tale in his debut novel, The Trouble Boy, about the ruthless world of Manhattan fame and glamour."

-7x7 (San Francisco), "Hot Picks"

"Dolby has come up with a highly readable, smart, often amusing take on the current rat race."

-Frontiers (Los Angeles and San Francisco)