Customer Reviews

Leave Myself Behind (Alex Awards (Awards))

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bart Yates writes a poignant and somewhat believable account of the Noah York, a seventeen-year-old high school student who falls in love with his neighbor, J.D. Noah's mother is a bucketful of dysfunction, but she must be as an accomplished poet. While she's at times permissive and at others psychotic, Noah must navigate the waters of his adolescence without losing his own sanity, or losing his life. Though Yates writes with style and insight, there are a few places where the boundaries of believability are stretched thin...yet, he manages to avoid stepping completely past those points and does so without coming across as schmaltzy or trite. It's been a long while since I've read a novel with a gay central character that hasn't covered the same ground that everyone else has. "Leave Myself Behind" is that break-through novel.

We have seen so many coming-out novels published in the past few years that one could say it's starting to be overdone, but this new novel about 17 year old Noah, is very effective and shows great originality. There are so many issues going on in the lives of these well-developed characters, that it takes a while to grasp it all, but you will, and it's quite a story from the beginning to end.

Noah, a closeted gay teenager, is dealing with his father's death, his adjustment to living in rural New Hampshire after moving from urban Chicago, and his mother's growing madness as she discovers a terrible dark secret in the new house as she finds mason jar after mason jar between the walls filled with letters, poems, and other strange things while renovating the house. On top of all this, Noah's blossoming love for his new neighbor, J.D., a handsome 16 year-old, creates more issues as well. J.D. is living a horrific home life, with an alcoholic father and a bigoted mother. Yes, there's much, much more to this story. You'll have to discover the rest for yourself. Yates has the creative touch to explore all these issues, and many more not mentioned, and still bring it all together in the end.

If you want an honest, intelligent, well-crafted story to read, this is the book for you. Yates is a fine writer, who has a great future ahead of him. This is a book to really get absorbed in, and forget the world around you for a while. Spend some time with these dysfunctional families, and your own life will take on a whole new light. Highly recommended!

Joe Hanssen

I don't know what it is about the way Yates writes - but I become obsessed with the characters and story and just hate putting the book down. I recently read Brothers Bishop and felt the same. Right now I feel sad because I finished the book and fear I will not find anything as engrossing any time soon. This is not a typical coming of age novel - the characters are well developed and the story is one that any reader would enjoy! Keep on writing Mr. Yates!

Whoever compared this book to Catcher in the Rye was right on the money. Bart Yate's Noah York, is witty, insightful, opinionated and wonderfully sarcastic. His narrative is never dull and the story unfolds with ease.

I liked Noah immediately, and loved J.D just as much when he came on the scene. Both boys will pull at your heart strings with this riveting tale of coming of age in a world that won't accept you for who you are. Noah's grief over his father was poignant, it showed how hard it really is to lose someone you love and to have your life so drastically changed at the drop of the hat. I reccommend this book to anyone who likes a good story. Noah is definitely right up there with Holden Caufiield as a literary character not to be forgotten

Not since Joseph Olshan's "The Nightswimmer" have I been so totally and thoroughly engrossed in a gay fiction book.

The protagonist in this novel, Noah York, clearly has the voice of the author's life experiences but with the comical and "reality bites" point-of-view of a 17-year old boy.

At times funny, at times poignant, and even psychotic, this simple story about a boy and his mom and the twists and turns their lives take after the death of the father/husband is just plain beautiful. As Noah comes to terms with his father's death, his sexuality, his mother's mental illness and the intolerance of his peers, we are treated to his witty and highly insightful interpretations of what it means to be a human being in a complicated world.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough - it's well-written, has deep and richly-drawn characters, and a main character that will keep you engaged as he goes on his journey of being a boy yet becoming a man. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

You might have read the other reviews "about" this book--the story of a 17-year-old gay man finding his way in the world. The story is extremely well constructed and the voice of the narrator is sheer perfection. I think this is better than Edmund White and even on a level of the breathtaking writing of Charles Frazier ("Cold Mountain"). The voice, the narrator of the novel, comes through crystal-clear.

Case in point: the main character does not describe his looks until page 78. He doesn't reveal he's gay until several dozen pages in the book. The characters unfold so organically to the story that it all meshes beautifully. It's engrossing, involving, and poignant. Bart Yates is the type of writer whom I will follow--I will watch for his name and look for his books for years to come. His talent shines through and makes a premium novel.

This is an incredibly engaging novel. Some may find the subject matter difficult; I found it refreshingly honest. Much like Mark Kendrick's "Desert Sons," "Leave Myself Behind" is direct and realistic in exploring the highs and lows of young gay men coming to terms with their emotions and their sexuality while they're in the midst of surviving abuse within their dysfunctional families. Unlike "Running With Scissors," which seeks to shock and sarcastically amuse in its account of adolescent turmoil, "Leave Myself Behind" never loses focus on finding ways to survive, heal, and even flourish in spite of the odds (not that there isn't any sarcasm coming from Noah, the narrator -- but he's not consumed by irony). I highly recommend this book to lovers of gay literature, mystery (yes, there's a mystery happening in here, too), and all who know what it's like to find yourself as a teenager who has to become their own parent when the biological parents don't do the job.

What a great book. Excellent writer that really knows how to bring a character to life. This is probably one of the best books that I've read!! Bart Yates has found a reader for life!

This book was truly a great read. What struck me the most about this story was that the characters were your average, everyday person. They were not flamboyantly gay, nor were they overly masculine to the point of disbelief. They simply were who they were, and I felt that that particular feature mad this book stand out from the others that I have read in the past several years. And of course the sarcasm and out-there senses of humor simply added to the book. I couldn't put it down untill I finished, and even laughed out. A refreshing novel.

The dust jacket swears that this is a debut novel for Bart Yates, but I've now read the book twice (in a couple of days) and I have trouble believing that so fine a piece of work is not the follow on to many previous works. The plot, characterization, dialogue, comedy, tragedy, pathos, fear, shock, etc., all point to maturity and insight by this author. The major characters (even the ones you're not supposed to like) are well developed and human. Beware: Noah will steal your heart and will not give it back. I ached to have the chance to raise a kid like Noah. I'm not sure that he and his boyfriend, J.D., are right enough with each other to make it work for a lifetime, but after all they go through together in this novel, I suspect that they build a strong enough relationship to give it a go. The romance between the boys is deeply touching: in one scene, Noah sits on his porch and sees J.D. coming toward him; the author's description of the reactions of both boys when J.D. sees his honey will take your breath away. The sex scenes are not graphic or gratuitous, but they are sufficient to contribute to the development of the plot. This is one of the best novels I've read in a long time and I look forward to more books from Yates. I DO wish he'd do a sequel to this one and show how the boys are getting along about 10-12 years in their futures. Strongly recommend for anyone into romance; see no reason why older teenagers wouldn't benefit from reading this one.