The Filly [Paperback]

Mark R. Probst (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2007

Escaping into the fantasy of his books when he's not working in the general store, Ethan Keller has lived a sheltered life in his mother's boarding house. One day, an enigmatic cowboy passing through the small Texas town takes an immediate liking to the shy seventeen-year-old. Ethan is intrigued by the attention, and the cowboy eventually charms him into signing on to a 900-mile cattle drive. Ethan soon finds that his feelings for this cowboy run deeper than just friendship. He never knew that this kind of love even existed; and now for the two of them to make a life together in the untamed west, they must face nearly insurmountable odds if they are to survive.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...This book has the warm, technicolour feel of one of John Ford's later films. The author admits to being a fan of the big Hollywood films, and if you are too, you will love this, because there are touches of them all here. You can feel the sun beating on your neck, the tamed frontier towns, the grit from the summer heat, and the fresh wind of a stranger who blows into town..." --Erastes - Author of Standish

"...this is a book that could be given without a qualm to anyone open to a love story between men, but especially to a gay teen..." --Ruth Sims - Author of The Phoenix

"...If you're looking for a feel good gay romance, I highly recommend The Filly..." --Blake Fraina - Author of King of Cats

About the Author

Mark R. Probst has been a life-long fan of the Hollywood western. In his first novel, a contemporary take on his favorite genre, he decided to pay homage to the films he so fondly remembered.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Cheyenne Publishing (October 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979777305
• ISBN-13: 978-0979777301
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,355,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark R. Probst lives in Washington State, works in the computer industry, and writes in his spare time. He is an avid movie buff, and has a special admiration for the western films of the classic era. He's had a life-long interest in writing though his first novel, "The Filly," was published in 2007.

His favorite novels are The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Maurice, and Gone with the Wind. He is currently working on several writing projects.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Technicolor Western Gay Romance, December 7, 2007

By 

Blake Fraina (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Filly (Paperback)

Believe it or not, Mark Probst's charming debut novel about a couple of gay cowboys who fall in love on a cross country cattle drive has a lot more in common with your dad's favorite Western novel than Brokeback Mountain.

And that's a good thing.

The world of the young shop clerk Ethan Keller and ranch hand Travis Cain is a vivid Technicolor creation that harkens back to the Western films of Hollywood's Golden Age. I've never been a fan of Westerns - in literature or films - but was pleasantly surprised at how quickly Probst's breezy style and likeable characters drew me in. The writing itself is sturdy, masculine and free of flourishes, making it perfectly suited to the genre. And while he tends to paint in broad strokes, the settings he describes - the general store, the boisterous saloon, a spinster schoolmarm's genteel parlor, the Rocky Mountain vistas - are all so iconic, it's impossible not to picture them perfectly in your mind.

The downright wholesome love story between the two main characters develops slowly with just enough tension to keep the reader turning pages in sweet anticipation of the inevitable. A refreshing change in this day and age when it seems most modern romances involve the couple falling into bed first, and love later. Both protagonists are well developed and complicated, particularly the adorable Ethan, an upright, bookish young man who struggles to understand his desire for Travis at a time when homosexuality was never spoken of. But it's with some of the secondary characters that Probst really shines. Miss Peet, the lonely school teacher who shares her love of books with Ethan and hopes to share her life with Travis, and Willie, Ethan's ne'er-do-well older brother, both take surprising, uncharacteristic, turns late in the story that prove them to be multi-dimensional real-to-life human beings.

The book is broken into three major sections - the first dealing with Ethan's life at home and the second chronicling the treacherous 900 mile cattle drive. I must admit I got the most pleasure from these. In part three, the story takes on a darker tone and the author injects a bit of Twenty First Century proselytizing that the book might've been better served without. Nonetheless let me just say, without giving away the ending, overall the story left me pleased and satisfied. And definitely eager for more from this budding talent.

If you're looking for a feel good gay romance, I highly recommend The Filly.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Love Story, December 27, 2007

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Filly (Paperback)

Rating first novels is a different assignment than rating novels by authors whose output allows comparison with a gamut of works: usually a five star rating denotes a major work of genius. But to encounter a work as simply beautiful as Mark R. Probst's THE FILLY makes such a positive impression (and a suggestion that this may be the opening work in a significant career) that it requires a heads-up to the audience. And so a five star rating for this book, for this reader, is justified. This is a work of courage on the part of subject matter, but it is also an example of clarity in writing and in technique that deserves applause.

Probst takes us back in time to 1878 and to the age of the Westerns so rhapsodized by the films of the 40s and 50s, western tales more interested in the grandeur of the frontier and the simple purity of the feelings of characters isolated from the more decadent big cities. With a keen eye for vocabulary and scene setting, Probst takes us to Texas and introduces us to a gentle, bookish lad named Ethan who supports his mother and older brother Willie (whose activities include drinking, whoring, and crime) by working in a store. Into this gentle time enters a handsome cowboy Travis, looking for a place to stay while he waits for the job of the summer - driving a herd of cattle to Colorado. Travis causes an unfamiliar response within Ethan, an emotional and sensual feeling that is as new as spring rain. Through a series of conversations and incidents, Travis convinces Ethan to accompany him on the cattle drive and Ethan makes his first break from his family to follow the mystery that he finds in Travis.

What follows is one of the most understated love stories on paper, and that is not to say that this novel fears commitment to gay love and expression of feelings physically: Probst writes with dignity and subtlety and in doing so he manages to weave a truly romantic novel instead of a story of descriptive lust. The two men fall in love and when the cattle drive is complete they return home to tell their families of their plans to move to the Rockies to raise horses. A surprise tragedy occurs, one that causes the ugly head of homophobia to threaten the story's end, but Probst guides the bonded couple through a perilous experience, assuring us that the sun always rises in good westerns.

The story may sound simplistic, but it is peppered with very well drawn secondary characters, each of whom plays a significant role in the story. There is no 'filler' here, no meaningless meandering through sidebars that squelch the momentum of the story. Probst writes beautifully and while some may criticize the Romantic approach of his writing, the poetry fits the melody - and the song is a fine one! THE FILLY is a strong novel by a fine writer and for a first work, this book will be a standard by which his certain subsequent novels will be judged. Grady Harp, December 07

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Young Adult book - Shame on Amazon!, April 12, 2009

By 

Ruth Hadad "Ruth Hadad" (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Filly (Paperback)

This is a beautiful coming-of-age, learning-oneself story -- what a shame Amazon has seen fit to remove its ranking because it's classified as gay/lesbian fiction. Shame on Amazon! I'll direct my friends elsewhere to buy this book.