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Title: Leave Myself Behind by Bart Yates ISBN: 0-7582-0348-9 Publisher: Kensington Pub Corp Pub. Date: March, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.68 (28 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Dazzlingly Brilliant Debut Novel
Comment: Bart Yates, where have you been hiding? According to the book jacket blurb he is a teacher and a freelance musician. But somewhere along the line Bart Yates learned how to write extraordinarily well. His first novel LEAVE MYSELF BEHIND is not only well written, it is at once hilariously comic, disturbingly sad, achingly profound, and just plain good reading!
Noah and his mother Virgina York (a poet) move to New Hampshire from the big city of Chicago when Noah's father has suddenly died. Once transplanted to New England, Noah slowly comes to grips with his sexuality, Virginia as slowly becomes crazed with the house they've purchased since it is the former dwelling of another woman poet and contains mysterious Mason Jars within the walls that unravel an entirely different (and equally entertaining) novel!, and the small town of Oakland, New Hampshire peels away secrets of gay bashing, incest, rape, alcoholism, insanity and any number of bizarre twists.
The solid anchor of this book is the language and tone and insight of the narrator - Noah York - who at seventeen has a rich imagination, a wry outlook, a way of thinking and expressing himself that makes all the madness of the dysfunctional world fall into place for us, the readers. This could be called a gay novel, but though it very sensitively and sensuously relates the blossoming of love between Noah and the boy next door J.D. and then incorporates the reality check of being openly gay in a small town highschool, it is much more than that. This novel has many rich and surprising stories and comments on our world today and presents all of this information not in an offensively preachy manner, but in a way that reveals exactly how vulnerable and needy we ALL are when it comes to loving and being loved, being without love and groping for it.
Some novels just get to you and this is one. Bart Yates, please write another and another. You have so much innate talent and gift for story telling that it is simply mind boggling! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED reading for just about everyone who loves good books.
Rating: 5
Summary: This Is Just A Terrific Coming of Age Novel. Wow!
Comment: Leave Myself Behind is probably the finest book I have read this year. Bart Yates, a first time author has created a remarkably well-written story that deals with a variety of complex issues in one family's life.
The narrator, Noah, tells the story of he and his mother moving from the big city to a small town in New Hampshire after his dad dies suddenly.
The story deals with Noah's sense of genuine grief over his father's death. His recollections are not at all self-pitying. If anything, Noah is not the self-pity sort of 17 year old. He senses the moments when he most misses his Dad in the "ordinary moments" they used to share together and perhaps comes to treasure his Dad all the more.
Noah's Mom, a poet and professor, is clearly much more paralyzed by the loss of her husband and Noah describes the loneliness of two people dealing with a common death they share yet unable to speak about it to one another.
In addition to dealing with Dad's death, Noah is becoming clearer and more accepting about his own sexuality, finding himself gay after many attempts at being otherwise. Yates nicely deals with this issue and Noah comes across as a levelheaded normal kind of kid who happens to be gay. He's not a freak. He's not a screaming fairy. He's young man keenly aware that while he may not have chosen it, he's gay and he needs to accept it.
Finally, there is the house Noah and his mom move into. It's kind of haunted and it plays into Noah's mother's unresolved problems at childhood. While an unlikely convention, it works remarkably well. Yates uses the house as an incubus that protects Noah and his mom, and eventually Noah's boyfriend, from their loneliness and isolation. It also is a way for the reader to envision the interplay of the family dynamics and the unfolding of the story's events played out again Noah's smart remarks about much of it.
Noah is an intelligent, engaging, comical and very likeable character. He speaks his mind and at times he is rollickingly comical and profane. At the same time, he is a loving, honest, even-tempered, and pretty dead on accurate in his take on things as they happen.
This was a book I just didn't want to end. Bart Yates is a significant talent. He has created a beautiful character in Noah and his writing style is crisp, comical and very comfortable. This is a story with a hopeful ending and it's a nice contrast to so many of the downer reads that are available these days.
Spread the word! This is a must read and an important addition to anyone's favorite coming of age books! Bart Yates is an author I am certain we will hear more and more about.
Highly recommended.
Daniel J. Maloney
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Rating: 5
Summary: An Excellent Story
Comment: This is one of those books I just had to keep reading. I couldn't put it down. The mystery of what is buried in the house plus the blossoming romance between Noah & J.D. made me want to keep going. Also, the writing is very, very funny even though it is a somber story. I found myself laughing out loud several times. The protagonist, Noah, is a lovable smart-ass dealing with a wacky mother, who is hiding a secret. There are many secrets in the book and their unfolding makes the book a page-turner. You won't be sorry you bought this book.
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Title: Desert Sons : by Mark Kendrick ISBN: 0595191304 Publisher: Writers Club Press Pub. Date: 24 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $20.95 |
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Title: The Year of Ice: A Novel by Brian Malloy ISBN: 0312313691 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Into This World We're Thrown : by Mark Kendrick ISBN: 0595214681 Publisher: Writers Club Press Pub. Date: 30 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Last Summer by Michael Thomas Ford ISBN: 0758204051 Publisher: Kensington Pub Corp Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: It Takes Two : A Novel by Elliott Mackle ISBN: 1555837549 Publisher: Alyson Pubns Pub. Date: 01 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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