51 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Sometimes I think marriage can be the loneliest place in the world", June 2, 2006
This review is from: The Good Neighbor: A Novel (Hardcover)
Set in an upscale-gated community in Southern Florida, The Good Neighbor tells of what happens when two families cross paths and inevitably collide in unexpected and surprising ways. Rory Fallon and his partner Bruno have been living at the Venetian Vistas for about two years, when one morning, they meet Austin Harden, his wife Meg and their two young boys Noah and Josh.
Lately Meg has become the "boss" of the family, an aggressive corporate lawyer, and a self-admitted perfectionist; Meg is working hard to provide an elegant and stylish "trophy" home for her devoted husband and her children. Austin has just been retrenched, a victim of downsizing, he now spends most of his days loafing around, working part time pushing medical equipment whilst ferrying Noah and Josh between school and soccer practice.
Rory and Bruno have been off and on since college. Together for nearly seventeen years, they built a life together, spending their years living in family type neighborhoods as Bruno steadily works his way up the corporate ladder. They're both the first to admit they've never met more than a handful of neighbors, certainly none that needed anything other than a nod or smile in the way of interaction.
At first, the arrival of Meg and Austin is seen as a refreshing change. Austin even remembers Rory and Bruno from his college days, and sees them as curiously insular and comfortably coupled now as they had been then. He makes an instant connection with Rory, drawn to the younger man's youthful vulnerability and artistic temperament.
Meg, on the other hand, presents a veneer of pleasant respectably that thinly disguises her scathing homophobia. "Who'd ever thought we'd have gays for neighbors" she comments to Austin. And when she sees the two men out by their pool, she worries her sons might have full view of their lifestyle.
To Meg, homosexuality is an anathema - what kind of life is that no matter how devoted to each other - "no kids to love and raise; it just goes against the grain somehow." As the two couples get to know each other, they begin to pursue separate agendas, uniting in an addiction, determined pursue a type of emotional and sexual reinforcement.
One night, keeping a vigil at his office window, Austin spies Rory and Bruno making love. The incident ignites deep-seated and acutely closeted passions within him. The sight of Rory and Bruno's romantic coupling turning him on in a deeply "male kind of way;" their activities don't disgust him because they are personal, just as his interest is personal.
Austin's desire to be physical with Rory increases, growing from a mild distraction into an ever-increasing itch and he becomes ever more open to the possibilities of an abstract kind of sexual availability that Rory presents. He sees them both as outsiders, accoutrements to their respective partners whims. The friendship becomes intimate and in the growing sexual tension, Rory and Austin become embroiled in an affair, which will leave the weaker to suffer in stillness, an emotionally wrecked and confused man.
In rich, languid and perfectly nuanced prose, author Jay Quinn traces the arc of each character as they are steadily transformed by their experiences living next door to each other. Neither Rory, Bruno, Austin or Meg are particularly sympathetic or likable characters, all are rather fickle, status conscious and materialistic, and all are almost always wounded by their own faults.
Meg is perhaps the least likable. Hardened to the world of men, and often threatened by her husband and two boys - and the world masculinity she sees taking shape around her, she views the world through rose coloured glasses and is threatened by those she sees as different. Yet she's still a woman, and in one instance, she lets herself become flustered by Bruno's physical closeness, all too aware of Bruno's sweaty physicality and well-built mass.
Bruno is the butch he-man, a truculent pig-headed egotist - he disparages Rory's efforts to forge a career in rap music and carries on as though he owns him. Rory, however, constantly plays second fiddle, relentlessly feeding Bruno's ego, telling him he loves him because that's what Bruno wants and needs to hear. His real love for Bruno is a fierce loyalty formed over their many years together.
Materialism, masculinity and sexual fluidity are the central themes of The Good Neighbor, with Quinn ingeniously casting a unique spell over many of the assumptions and stereotypes that we tend make about suburban family life. These are shallow adults - both gay and straight - who've inadvertently mixed up sex, love and friendship, hoping that it all works out in a mature kind of way.
Quinn's characters eventually discover, however, that what really hurts and what really kills is the sense of betrayal that ultimately comes along with messing in this kind territory. This is an elegant novel that mines the murky underbelly of sex and suburbia, where bigotry and acceptance do a delicate dance, often lying uneasily side-by-side.
For Austin, there's a define price to be paid for touching and loving another male, and as these neighbors come full circle, his confusion appears to be far from resolved. Mike Leonard June 06.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: A Cautionary Tale, August 6, 2006
This review is from: The Good Neighbor: A Novel (Hardcover)
In an age of ongoing national debate regarding same-sex marriage, Jay Quinn's "The Good Neighbor" is a thoughtful look at modern-day marriage and brings home the idea that non-traditional marriage isn't really so different from traditional marriage after all.
The story focuses on two upwardly mobile couples living in an upper-middle class Florida suburb. Austin and Meg Harden move into Venetian Vistas with their two sons in tow and are somewhat surprised to learn that their new neighbors are the Fallon-Griffin's, two middle-aged gay men. But, despite Meg's initial discomfort, the neighbors cross their respective property lines and relationships develop. Austin, reeling from the loss of his job and plagued with insecurities about not being able to fulfill the role of breadwinner for his family, strikes up a friendship with Rory (Fallon). These two unlikely friends quickly realize that they have much in common - from controlling, career-driven spouses to shared insecurities and unfulfilled dreams outside of the suburban box they find themselves painted into by life.
Quinn takes the idea of neighbors crossing property lines and creates a cautionary tale of breached boundaries, as entanglements ensnare the four characters in an oft-uncomfortable yet believable way. Life and those we choose to share it with can be sticky, and Quinn doesn't shy away from exploring the effects of gender roles, bisexuality, infidelity, trust, and growing older on the modern marriage. This is a contemplative novel, and Quinn's prose is gentle and lulling. He has drawn believable characters and isn't afraid to make them flawed and imperfect, even ugly at times. But, in the end, the titular good neighbors are just like you and me - human. And it is in the humanity of Quinn's story that readers will leave Venetian Vistas feeling satiated from a simple, well-told story of everyday neighbors who could be yours or mine.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Good Book, May 27, 2006
This review is from: The Good Neighbor: A Novel (Hardcover)
My first review of The Good Neighbor for amazon.com was rejected. The absolute only reason I can think of is because I described major character Rory as "pussy whipped." Let's see if this one goes through. The interesting thing about Jay Quinn's story is that a gay author makes the seemingly-straight married couple the sympathetic characters in this treatise about life in suburban, affluent South Florida. Austin (inexplicably called David in the editorial reviews on amazon.com) is fully developed and explained. His wife, Meg, a bit of a stereotype, is believable. Their kids are adorable. The hottest scene in the book is on page 183 between Austin and his son, Noah. On the other hand, the gay characters, Bruno and Rory are pathetic. Bruno is completely obnoxious. Rory, as described above, is weak, helpless and a real loser. What redeems the story is the totally authentic description of life in a gated community outside Ft. Lauderdale, right down to the description of the bakery delicacies at the local Publix. Ah, the color! Jay Quinn is a serious contemporary writer. I look forward to more of his work.
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