Breakfast with Scot: A Novel [Paperback]

Michael Downing (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2008

Sam and Ed live the high life, and see no reason to add to their happy twosome. Then 11-year-old Scot’s mother dies, and a wine-soaked promise pushes the couple into parenthood. They dutifully make all the usual arrangements, but Scot is far from usual, sporting makeup and enduring bullying at school. Soon Sam and Ed begin to question their parenting, their commitment to each other, and the compromises they’ve made to live in a straight society. Breakfast with Scot is a humorous, heartwarming novel about the true meaning of family.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What happens when your very own mincing, makeup-sporting Mini Me comes to stay--forever? In Michael Downing's highly amusing and hugely touching Breakfast with Scot, a couple takes on an 11-year-old with a difference. Sam's a prosperous chiropractor and Ed, the novel's narrator, works for the English-language edition of the highly pretentious magazine Figura. Almost 40, Ed hasn't followed through with much of anything, save his relationship. But now swishy Scot could be putting that at risk:

I never wanted a kid. Sam never wanted a kid. We were getting a kid because Sam believed a man is meant to make good on his word, and because I hadn't seeded and watered and weeded my garden, and now, when I needed it, I had no abundant supply of garlic to ward off the little vampire.

Let's just say that though the boy isn't even remotely a bloodsucker, when he utters that familiar complaint "Nobody understands me," he really means it--and he's right. Well, almost.

Within days of his arrival in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Scot's new guardians are "drowning in make-up policies and other moral imperatives," for he is an accessorizor par excellence, prone to wearing pantyhose, nail polish, and various other affronts to things masculine. He's also a catalyst for disaster, pointing up the shame and social booby traps that Sam and Ed have done their best to ignore. Nevertheless, their days slowly begin to take on a familial rhythm, and Downing effortlessly displays the depth and feeling that can come up in the most casual moments and conversations. He's equally good at overt disaster, and even as he never lets us forget the mortifications that may be just around the corner, the author makes us believe in his triumvirate. Downing can snap a line with the best of them, as those lucky enough to read his fine third novel will know. Breakfast with Scot, too, is a veritable garden of verbal delights--and a strong look at the apparent weaknesses and hidden treasures of family life. --Kerry Fried --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Two gay menAone a New Age chiropractor, the other an editor at an ultra-hip Italian art magazineAlive happily together in Cambridge, not too far from Harvard. Sam (the chiropractor) learns that his brother's ex-girlfriend has suddenly died and named Sam legal guardian of her 11-year-old son, Scot. What follows is a wry look at how Sam and Ed adjust to surrogate parenthood, which they had politely, drunkenly and hypothetically agreed to years before. When Scot arrives at their home, these two generous, good-hearted men discover that they have a prepubescent Quentin Crisp on their hands. Scot's flamboyant, androgynous flair makes for some school yard and neighborhood crises, but the boy's innate sweetness and open-mindedness endear him to several youngsters and most adults. The action centers around the adjustments everyone is forced to make during the first semester of Scot's fifth grade at Parker Elementary School, where Scot learns that he must stop wearing pantyhose, eyeliner and perfume. Narrated by Ed, both the action and the asides are loaded with wit and emotion. By the time Sam's brother, Billy, unexpectedly returns from South America, readers know that Scot, Sam and Ed are a real family, and that the two men, patiently immersed in the joys and pains of parenting, are the boy's heroes. The prose in Downing's (Perfect Agreement) fourth novel is melodious and lucid. This heartwarming tale nobly defines and describes a potent, realistic new configuration of contemporary American family values.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593761864
• ISBN-13: 978-1593761868
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244,107 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet but never cloying, a real find!, July 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Breakfast with Scot (Hardcover)

Although I am gay, I have to admit I am completely missing "the parenting gene," so when a friend recommended to me a novel about two gay men raising a child, I nearly tossed my cookies at the saccharine possibilities. Imagine my surprise to find this very funny, sharply written, richly characterful story so compelling that I blew off a day of work to read this book in one sitting. In the span of its too-short 194 pages, I became almost irrationally attached to the three main characters -- especially Scot, one of the most delightfully eccentric and least sentimental child characters I have ever encountered. This kid could melt the crusty resolve of W.C. Fields. Sorry, but I am just completely besotted with this book, and I will be seeking out everything else Michael Downing has written. BREAKFAST WITH SCOT is a small but perfect gem.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warm, Fast, Fierce... and Funny, January 15, 2000

By 

The Mighty Hudson "NYC-Hound" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Breakfast with Scot (Hardcover)

A rare and lucky find: sweet, sweet, sweet.

I plucked "Breakfast with Scot" (one "t") from the local library's "New Books" shelf. Read it first and then purchased my own copy, the highest praise I can give. That and the fact that I plan to follow up by reading this author's previous works.

Michael Downing's characters are as real and loveable as any by Anne Tyler, but without the latter's sometimes contrived zaniness. This last book I remember reading with this much heart and humor is Clyde Edgerton's "Walking Across Egypt."

Certainly nothing here to offend, and much to praise.

It's a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride, too. I had a tear in my eye at least once and laughed out loud (and I mean LOUD) more than twice. I even gasped a few times at the author's insight into life's little moments: looks, gestures, behaviors... Mr. Downing is a real writer, and "Breakfast with Scot" is a beauty. Highly recommended.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh and Cry!, November 17, 1999

By 

"cgenebrown" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Breakfast with Scot (Hardcover)

Ah, what a gem! Breakfast with Scot made me laugh and cry, frequently while reading the same sentence. When I grow up (if ever) I want to write just like this. Downing is a very gifted man with insight and compassion that can only come from more than one lifetime of experience. Much of the book derives from between the lines...between the chapters. It is about letting people be themselves and what can happen when you try to change them into something acceptable by society. It is about raising children.....it is about family.....it is about acceptance....and about how the human heart can so quickly become attached to another heart and never want to let go. Yes, this is a keeper! It ranks on the top of my 99' list and maybe even the decade. PS: I loved the cheerleading and splits scene! Bravo!