Hold Me Closer by David Levithan

Hold Me Closer

by David Levithan

Larger-than-life character Tiny Cooper, from the bestselling novel Will Grayson, Will Grayson, finally tells his own story the only way he knows how - as a stupendous musical.

This is the full script of Hold Me Closer, the musical written by and staring Tiny Cooper, from the New York Times bestselling novel Will Grayson, Will Grayson, written by David Levithan and John Green. Filled with humour, pain, and 'big, lively, belty' musical numbers, readers will finally learn the full story of Tiny Cooper from his birth and childhood to his quest for love and his infamous eighteen ex-boyfriends.

David Levithan is the New York Times bestselling author of many novels for young readers including Every Day, Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with John Green), Invisibility (with Andrea Cremer) and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (with Rachel Cohn), which was turned into a feature film. He's the editorial director of Scholastic Press, and has edited hundreds of books including the mega-hits The Hunger Games and Shiver. David lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Reviewed by ammaarah on

3 of 5 stars

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"It's always easy to blame other people for holding you back. But sometimes, the only person holding you back is...well...you." (Tiny Cooper)

Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story is the musical script of Tiny Cooper's life. If you loved Tiny after reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson and wanted to see more of him, then Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story is the book for you. If you don't know who the hell Tiny is, I suggest that you read Will Grayson, Will Grayson before reading Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story.

Tiny, the director, producer and lead actor of Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story is huge, gay, loud and larger than life and his musical is just the same. The musical is happy, campy, humourous, sad at times, hopeful, unapologetic and entertaining. David Levithan knows how to write a musical script. I could easily see Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story being performed on some huge theater .

However, I wasn't invested in Tiny as a character. If I hadn't read Will Grayson, Will Grayson and had no idea who Tiny was, I wouldn't have cared much for Tiny and his musical. However, Tiny's personality shines through the explanations of each scene and the hilarious stage cues.

Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story is entertaining and fun to read, but once the last page is turned, it's forgettable.
"Fade to black. Or whatever color you like. If you can find a way to fade to pink or purple, please do." (Tiny Cooper)

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 28 April, 2018: Finished reading
  • 28 April, 2018: Reviewed