Customer Reviews

Bear Me Safely Over

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read a rave review that made me run out and buy this one, and I was not disappointed. I cant remember when Ive read such an impressive book by a first-time writer. Its told in multiple voices and moves freely over time, in a way that leads to a surprisingly round, lush understanding of the lives of the characters. I fell in love with Paul, an utterly convincing gay teenager trapped in a backwater Georgia town. Though he struggles with prejudice and an internalized religious shame, he never questions who he is or suffers through any predictable angst over sex. Hes flawed: selfish, bold to the verge of promiscuity, capable of hurting people who care about him. But Joseph shows that these are necessary defenses in his unsheltered world, and that Paul does the best he can to create himself from scratch and survive without guidance. His struggle is deeply affecting. Other characters take the stage more briefly but convey memorable glimpses of the larger narrative while letting us in on the fascinating, sometimes hilarious, stories of their own obsessions and foibles. The prose is meticulous, melodic, varied to fit each character in the collage. This is a talented young writer. I cant wait for her next book (and I really hope she will revisit some of the same characters because I miss them already!).

There is much to admire in Sheri Joseph's serious, contemplative debut novel, "Bear Me Safely Over." In a series of interrelated short stories, her characters sift through broken dreams, misdirected anger and fragile, evolving relationships. Ms. Joseph directs her energies to exploring the different perspectives men and women bring to loving each other, how homosexuality confirms and contradicts societal expectations and in what ways do children bring joy and anguish to their parents. "Bear Me" treats identity loss, existential despair and social intolerance with uncommon dignity and depth.

Although each character develops a distinct and believable personality, the two step-brothers, Curtis and Paul, rivet the reader's attention. It is through their dynamic that "Bear Me" creates dramatic tension and thematic resolution. Both men are broken and searching. The manly Curtis despises and is threatened by his step-brother Paul's promiscuous homosexuality. The former never achieves clarity as to exactly what his feelings are: rage, envy, frustration and revulsion compete with attraction, jealousy and acceptance. In turn, Paul wears his sexuality like Joseph's coat of many colors. At once deeply monogamous in attitude, he flaunts his numerous sexual partners in the face of both parents and his one consuming love. He is a broken young man, acutely aware of his familial status, despondent at the repressive, regressive rural Georgia social environment in which he must survive, shattered that he is not able to connect with Curtis.

As one of the women in "Bear Me" tartly notes, "Men aren't always fixable." This becomes one of the central metaphors of the novel. Paul's loving step-mother, perhaps the only older character who truly yearns to embrace him, is repulsed by Paul's tormentors, who "give her the creeps." These oft-violent cruel homophobes, "contained, self-righteous, humorless," include her own son, Curtis. This knowledge buries her under an intolerable weight of guilt and responsibility, yet she is unable to either reach Curtis or repair his own frozen heart. Nor can Curtis' vibrant, independent fiance, Sidra, control events with any more talent. Despite her open and refreshing friendship with Paul, one crafted to assuage the hurt of her own broken heart, she cannot open Curtis to the possibility of connection with Paul.

The structure of "Bear Me Safely Over" tends to diminish its power, however. Each chapter is told through a different character's point of view. While this provides a refreshing and dynamic series of perceptions to the narrative, it also saps the novel of cohesion and energy. Much of "Bear Me" reads as self-contained short stories, interlinked but independent. Nevertheless, this minor qualm pales in comparison to the integrity and beauty of Sheir Joseph's writing. Her brave examination of the dangers and possibilities of loving relationships has no easy answers, no pat resolution. It does, however, illuminate the terrible consequences of spurning affection and rejecting hope.

This is a novel told from the perspectives of each of its main characters, plus a few others. Though most of the reviews in the press seem to think that Paul, the seventeen year old gay character, is the main one, I am not sure about that. Not that it matters; perhaps he is the one that most readers would care about the most.

I think the main character is Sydra, who is in the middle of almost all the other characters' interactions and tries her best to mediate. (But maybe I think this because I am a middle child and that is supposedly the role of such people--though Sydra is not the middle child here.) She is dealing with a homophobic boyfriend who is Paul's stepbrother, a mother who is grieving over Sydra's dead younger sister, and Paul's new lover, who is in a rock band with Paul's homophobic stepbrother.

The story is set in rural Georgia in the '80s. I found a few things missing. For one, perhaps some reference to the so-called Atlanta child murders, especially in connection with Paul's black friend who is also gay and hitchhikes, as Paul does. The other thing missing is a chapter about Paul's relations in high school. There is a brilliant chapter about the religious enthusiasm of evangelical Christians and how young people get caught up in that. And another one portrays the frustration of Paul's stepmother who doesn't understand his "lifestyle". But another character/friend who is Paul's age, straight or gay, male or female, would have improved the book, I think.

Perhaps the most puzzling thing about the book is that the Paul character is portrayed as a promiscuous little slut, seeking meaningless sexual encounters in parks, rest stops, restrooms, etc. I don't find that believable, as I don't think that most gay people are like that, and it certainly does not make this character more likable. It borders on stereotyping. Paul's attempts to explain his behavior are not convincing.

Since Sydra's younger sister has died of AIDS, I kept thinking that there would be some kind of tension about this issue, maybe from a close friend who is the same age as Paul. Yet despite his evident intelligence and talents, he doesn't seem to have friends other than his family and their friends, so we do not get their perspectives on him.

As it is, a lot is left to the imagination, which is not necessarily a criticism. One does get to know the characters well enough to imagine what is not explained, for the most part.

The writing is elegant, yet simple. Despite the reservations I express above, I highly recommend the book.

As a gay man, what strikes me most about this book is the way a female author brings to life a young gay man with such extraordinary sensitivity and insight. Seventeen-year-old Paul Foster, a complex and often headstrong character, seemed absolutely real to me; I believed in him completely. Likewise, the chapter "Brain Fever" captures, in two pages, not only the inner thoughts of a gay man but also the entire gay lifestyle with absolute accuracy. And Joseph describes the relationship between Paul and his somewhat reluctant boyfriend, Kent, with such depth, subtlety, and subdued sensuality that I felt as if I were in the room with them as they grappled with their feelings for each other. The fact that Joseph is able to do this is a testament not only to her talent as a writer but to the universality of the emotions, desires, and hopes of the people she portrays. This is not a "gay" novel. It is a novel about complex, troubled, and very human people, some of whom happen to be gay. I recommend this book to anyone, straight or gay, who has ever loved another person and struggled to understand and express their feelings.

I happened upon this book in the store and was completely taken with it--I couldn't put it down. Joseph interweaves multiple perspectives and stories into a beautiful tapestry of a book, painting a portrait of passion, love, and loss that grips you till the final page. I can't wait to read whatever Joseph writes next. It's a rare and special book.

This is an astonishingly good first book, written in the tradition of great Southern novels but also inventive and wholly original. The voices circling the central characters are reminiscent of Faulkner, each one ringing true to itself and providing a different, often quite distorted, angle on the others. Paul Foster, the book's gay teenage protagonist, simply lights up the page as an unusual, complex, and heartbreaking boy-although one or two small-minded characters imagine him as a stereotype, the intelligent reader will not make this mistake. Each section of the book is told from a different point in time, leading to a broad and nuanced understanding of how change occurs and how bonds are formed between all sorts of unlikely people, more than seem possible in a book so brief. It's the work of a mature vision: hopeful but also stark and unblinkingly honest. I really can't say enough good things about this book.

This book is amazing. Dr. Joseph's prose is beautiful, and her portrayals of the characters are acute and heartbreakingly sad sometimes. This book is about how we try in the end to look for love and belonging, whether this is with a lover, friends, parents, children, or our siblings. What makes the books so wonderful is that the author very successful tells the story of each person's lives in their own perspectives, without confusing the voices. After the book, I really felt like I walked for a day in the shoes of Marcy, Sidra, Paul, Kent, Curtis, and the many others. Her characters are not always likeable, and you may not want to meet them in real life. However, you are glad you know where they came from and how they came to be.

Compelling and enjoyable, this novel lends credible voices to the adolescent-to-twentysomething characters that, in various examples of contemporary literary fiction, often sound contrived to me. The chorus of narrators employed by the author to relate the stories of protagonists Curtis, Sidra, and Paul sometimes distracts from the plot--a few too many points of view make things unnecessarily complicated here. But the complexity of Joseph's characterizations more than makes up for this. Her sketch of gay teenager Paul is especially sympathetic, without being condescending or cheesy. I found the story smart, relatively straightforward--even with the non-linear narration--and ultimately well worth reading.

An incredible read-- like the horses that appear frequently in the collection, Ms. Joseph writes with quiet grace and solid power. She deftly explores the myriad intricacies that permeate the characters' daily relationships, with parents, lovers and self, shedding light on their growth and pain. I stayed up well into the night to see what would happen next, and highly recommend this debut author.

Dr. Sheri Joseph's first book will present you with a good warm read. You will get intertwined within all the characters lives and I loved the fact that book is presented in a nonlinear way. In the beginning of the book you will be sent back and forth in time much more than you are in the end of the book. The ending of the book deals more with "the now" and this kind of bothers me. I know by this point I am familiar enough with the characters to not need background information anymore to make "the now" understandable--but because I had grown accustomed to hearing about "the past" mingled with "the now," I still wanted more of that.

As a reader, when time was limited for me, I felt I could just read a chapter and be satisfied with that for awhile--and then go back to it later. Each chapter felt like a separate story that could live on its own. In the beginning of the book I felt as if every word meant something--that no filler words were added and I could tell that the the book had been edited in a way so that every word should count--like in a poem. During the last 1/3 of the book I didn't think this happened as much but that didn't bother me so much. I did feel I wanted to hear more about Marcy and how she was related to the story. I think I enjoyed the narrative voice of Marcy the best--although at times some of the other voices seemed to mingle together for me. In the end I didn't want to leave the characters, I wanted to stay with them and know what happened next. So, Sheri did a good job of getting me inside the character's heads! I was a little reluctant to buy that Curtis was beginning to accept Paul's homosexuality . . . I was looking for more of a very stubborn toleration from Curtis than anything else.

I believe this is a great debut for Dr. Joseph and when her next book is released I will be one of the first in line to snatch up a copy. I hope the characters that appear in this book will reappear in future novels by Joseph.