cover image Big Gay Wedding

Big Gay Wedding

Byron Lane. Holt, $26.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-250-26714-6

Lane (A Star Is Bored) channels rom-com zaniness in his frothy if uneven latest. Chrissy Durang, recently widowed, hopes her 24-year-old son, Barnett, will leave his MRI technician job in Los Angeles to move back and take over her animal rescue farm in rural Louisiana. Instead, Barnett reveals he’s engaged to the flamboyant and woo-woo Ezra Tanner. Though Chrissy has long known Barnett is gay, she balks at the news and is hostile when Ezra arrives to meet her. Her emotions ramp up even more when Ezra’s parents, domineering socialite Victoria and taciturn Winston, invite themselves to the farm. Egged on by Ezra’s flighty twin sister, who has ambitious ideas for a farm wedding, the men make hasty preparations. They have fun brainstorming for a while, until their presence sparks outrage and hateful vandalism from locals. Then Chrissy, in an underdeveloped turn, shucks off her Catholic-influenced hesitancy and goes full bore into the planning. Lane’s broad humor moves fast, with occasional winning lines, but most of the players read like caricatures and the more serious moments fall flat. While diverting, this feels a bit aimless. (May)