Bob the Book [Paperback]

David Pratt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2010

Just what is a 'gay book'? -A book attracted to books of the same gender! Meet 'Bob the Book,' a gay book for sale in a Greenwich Village bookstore, where he falls in love with another book, Moishe. But a freak accident separates the young lovers. As Bob wends his way through used book bins, paper bags, knapsacks, and lecture halls, hoping to be reunited with Moishe, he meets a variety of characters, both book and human, including Angela, a widowed copy of Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park' and two other separated lovers, Neil and Jerry, near victims of a book burning. Among their owners and readers are Alfred and Duane, whose on-again, off-again relationship unites and separates our book friends. Will Bob find Moishe? Will Jerry and Neil be reunited? Will Alfred and Duane make it work? Read 'Bob the Book' to find all the answers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Pratt has published short fiction in Christopher Street, The James White Review, Blithe House Quarterly, Harrington Gay Men's Fiction Quarterly, Velvet Mafia, Lodestar Quarterly, and other periodicals, and in the anthologies Men Seeking Men, His3 and Fresh Men 2. He has directed and performed his own work for the theater, including appearances in New York City at the Cornelia Street Cafe, Dixon Place, HERE Arts Center, the Flea Theater, Theater of the Elephant, and the Eighth Annual New York International Fringe Festival. He has collaborated frequently with Rogerio M. Pinto, and he was the first director of several plays by the Canadian playwright John Mighton. David holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School. 'Bob the Book' is his first novel. He is currently at work on the book of a new musical.

Product Details

• Paperback: 202 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea Station Editions; First edition (October 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0984470719
• ISBN-13: 978-0984470716
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Pratt won a 2011 Lambda Literary Award for his debut novel, "Bob the Book." His story collection, "My Movie," will be released by Chelsea Station Editions in March 2012. It will include new work and will also draw on short fiction previously published in Christopher Street, The James White Review, Harrington Gay Men's Fiction Quarterly, Velvet Mafia, Lodestar Quarterly and in the anthologies Men Seeking Men, His3 and Fresh Men 2. David has directed and performed his own work for the theater in New York City at the Cornelia Street Cafe, Dixon Place, HERE Arts Center, the Dramatists Guild, the Flea (as part of a workshop directed by Karen Finley), on WBAI-FM and in the Eighth Annual New York International Fringe Festival. His collaborations with Rogerio M. Pinto include "Os Tres Porquinhos," "Chapeuzinho Vermelho," and "Branca de Neve," Brazilian Portuguese versions of, respectively, "The Three Little Pigs," "Little Red Riding Hood," and "Snow White." In the 1980s, David was the first director of plays by the Canadian playwright John Mighton. David holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School. He is currently at work on two more novels and the book of a musical.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely delightful!, October 2, 2010

By 

Tree Hugger - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bob the Book (Paperback)

Bob the Book is funny, touching, adorable, and good looking! I fell in love with him instantly! And so will you the moment you meet him! Both boys and girls, gay and straight will fall in love with Bob, because Bob transcends every boundary of gender and sexual orientation. Being a book, he makes it easy for anyone to get to know him, his friends and a world where books have a life outside their titles and their content. This is a very clever device: by personifying Bob and his book friends, the author can more freely (and us with him) explore the subtleties of social realities that keep us all apart. Bob the Book tells the story of other books and the people who buy and read them; people who give them as presents and about readers who use them for other creative purposes. But you need to read the book, in order to find out how!

I was particularly touched by a passage dealing with a gay book burning and the terror felt by the books as they were piled up, made fun of, and threatened by the fire. Does this sensibility sound familiar? But some books survive and we get to know one of their stories, a story of love and survival. And Bob the Book is also very witty and knowing about relationships.

Between laughter and a few tears, I finished Bob the Book thrilled that I met him and desperately wanting to talk to all my booka, assure them that I treasure them, that I'd protect them from harm, and ask them what they thought of me, and how they felt about the way I treated them. As a teacher, I will recommend that all my students read it!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clever, amusing novel will change the way you look at books., October 12, 2010

By 

Bob Lind "camelwest" (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bob the Book (Paperback)

Bob is a gay book, specifically a treatise on male pornography from pre-Stonewall to 1979, and he is in love with another gay book, Moishe, about Orthodox Jews who are gay or bisexual. They are living a cozy life in an independent West Village NYC bookstore, until they are bought by different people, and are forced to abandon each other and learn to get along with their new owners' books. They both make friends along the way, have some disappointments (Bob is jealous of his author's new book, a best seller) and good times (Moishe is proud to be underlined and highlighted by his owner, a college professor using him for research.) And they find themselves involved in the lives and loves of the people who have chose to take them in their homes, and worry not just for their happiness, but what impact it will have on them in the future.

This is Pratt's first novel, and he immediately merits an extra star for what is - by far - the most creatively original idea for a novel I have ever read. It's written to be best appreciated more by an avid reader, who can get the subtle and witty characterizations of the other books they encounter, who take on a personality suited to their subject and origin (including a homophobic, religious book, whose name is Fred.) You'll smile at what your books may be saying about you, behind your back, and apologize if you drop one on the floor. Four stars out of five.

- Bob Lind, Echo Magazine

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUY BOB, September 30, 2010

By 

Oma (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bob the Book (Paperback)

Saw this guy at a reading and honestly, I had my doubts about the premise, but my husband and I were both in hysterics by the end--as was the entire crowd. Bob is a lovable, wonderful character whom I, for one, couldn't help falling in love with. I'm rooting for him (and copies of him) to fly off the shelves!