Metes and Bounds: A Novel (Southern Tier) [Paperback]

Jay Quinn (Author)

Book Description

Series: Southern Tier | Publication Date: October 9, 2001

Fiction. Gay/Lesbian Studies. In this unusual coming-of-age novel, author Jay Quinn surveys the expanding emotional and sexual boundaries of Matt, and eighteen-year-old surfer in coastal North Carolina's Outer Banks. The novel follows Matt as he leaves home after his high school graduation to work for his uncle, a land surveyor. Matt's story of claiming his place as a surfer and as a gay man in the small and large world of construction sites, fishing piers, and surf breaks is a triumph of storytelling.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The beauty of his prose and the strength of his characters are apparent from the opening sentence. This book is a sheer joy to read." - Lambda Book Report; "Quinn has written a treasure: a novel with a whole landscape behind it." - Jim Grimsley, author of Dream Boy

About the Author

Jay Quinn is the author of The Mentor: A Memoir of Friendship and Gay Identity and editor of Rebel Yell: Stories by Contemporary Southern Gay Authors. A native of North Carolina and frequent contributor to the Lambda Book Report, he now lives and works in Florida.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Southern Tier Editions/Haworth Press (October 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560231858
• ISBN-13: 978-1560231851
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #679,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surfing To Selfhood, May 9, 2002

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"[e-mail]" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Metes and Bounds: A Novel (Southern Tier) (Paperback)

Whether you are planning a summer retreat to the beach or just dreaming of one, Metes and Bounds by Jay Quinn would be an excellent cabana companion.

The summer before his graduation, Matt, a cute country boy in North Carolina, reconnects with Tiger, his uncle just eight years older, at Matt's grandma's death. Tiger's mystique has haunted Matt for the ten years since Tiger left-since the time Matt spied him making out at the movies with a handsome Air Force officer. With adolescence, and a particularly strong attraction to his friend Jeep, a football player, there are things Matt wants to talk about, and he's pretty sure his uncle is the one he can confide in.

Matt tells his story, and his voice has the authentic ring of coming from the heart with all the contradictions, emotions, and enthusiasms of an eighteen year-old. After Matt graduates, his father, wanting to help his gay son find his place in life, arranges for him to live with Tiger at Nag's Head, where his uncle teaches him surveying. Off work, Tiger introduces him to beach life and surfing, which becomes his passion. It's a laid-back life, and with his uncle and uncle's lover Mark as mentors, Matt-with considerable trial and error-takes the measure of his own metes and bounds and, discovering his own emotional parameters, becomes the man he has to be.

Metes and Bounds has no intricate plot or mystery; it's episodic-and that is not a fault, because it isn't about the story, it's about the young man telling it, a coming of age biographical novel. Though not propelled by surprises, it is filled with self-revelations about Matt's relationships to family, friends, and lovers. He's a real young man with dangerous and powerful lusts he gives himself up to, described in some of the most erotic scenes in contemporary gay literature. But he's a sweet kid too. Quinn draws his character skillfully, showing Matt's vulnerable and innocent nature in scenes when others use him and in situations when his fundamental goodness proves the quality of his character. Matt is neither saint nor sinner, but a wholly believable young guy whose jealousy, spite, curiosity, love, and compassion-indeed, the full range of human emotions-are what real boys are made of. The storms that rage within him are in stark contrast to the idyllic sun, sand, and surf of the novel's coastal setting.

Living with Tiger and Mark provides a stable and wholesome gay family environment where Matt is protected, understood, and valued. His ventures outside that matrix are not always any of those things, but they are the experiences through which a young man finds his way in the world. The contrast between the two worlds he moves in provides him just enough ballast to find his balance. With each mistake he becomes more sure-footed. Even romance, to his wondrous surprise, at last works out for Matt, and the promising happy ending is a perfect note on which to top your beach blanket holiday.

52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet, wise, gritty, sexy, and real, March 30, 2002

By 

M. FUSCO "yawnmower" (NEW YORK, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Metes and Bounds: A Novel (Southern Tier) (Hardcover)

Matt, the narrator of this wonderful, heart wrenching book, is trying to find his way as a gay teenager in homophobic surroundings: his religious mother think's he's sinful; even his boyfriend, Chris, just thinks of him as his pretty boy. When Chris goes off to college, Matt, who cannot afford to do so, goes to live at the beach with Tiger (his 'black sheep' relative) and Mark, his lover. Tall, slender, and beautiful, Matt learns the surveying business (terms from which the book's title is derived) and how to surf, as he searches for sex and love. Mr. Quinn has a natural, easy ear for the soft southern dialect of North Carolina, and that of teenagers. His descriptions are cinematic, and there is much poetry, wisdom, and warmth tucked away in his magical, down-to-earth tale.

Matt's surfing becomes a metaphor for his life: he takes of lot of hits in learning the ropes but, once he finds his balance, it is a real high. Still, he is reminded that he must respect its power to destroy as well. He maintains, despite some battering and life-induced skepticism, his innocent dream of security and warmth, aided by the watchful Tiger and Mark. The strength and power of their union is a beacon. A new family takes shape as Mark and Tiger take in two more 'strays' to care for. When Matt finds Jeep, he learns that love has the power to heal, not just hurt. And the reader is treated to some of the sexiest, and most tender, love making in literature.

Metes and Bounds is ultimately about families. Not the kind church and state preach, but those formed by acts of love.

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Joy of Coming Out................................., October 17, 2001

By 

Joseph J. Hanssen "Joe" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Metes and Bounds: A Novel (Southern Tier) (Hardcover)

There's a lot of coming-of-age stories being written today but many of them are not told in a very positive light. Most are told in a negative way with suffering, lost of friends & family, and rejection by peers. The young gay person finds himself usually moving to the big city, where he can find acceptance with other urban gay men. He no longer feels wanted in his small hometown. I was excited about Jay Quinn's debut novel because it tells the story of a young man, Matt, discovery he is gay and being accepted in an intelligent & positive way by the people who have always loved him before his coming out. More and more young people today are discovering their sexually at a younger age than ever before. It would be nice if all young people could be accepted like Matt is in this story.

Matt, the story's narrator, is an 18 year old from a small town by the coast in North Carolina. He's just graduated from High School and is not too sure what he's going to make of his life yet. So he goes to live with his gay Uncle Tiger and his lover, Mark, a pilot, at their house by the shore. He plans to work for Uncle Tiger's surveying business for a year and earn some money for his college education. Mark's son, Shane, who is straight, also lives with them. Matt finds total acceptance in his new all male family. He learns how to surf & finds great pleasure in his new sport. He goes to his first gay bar and has his first sexual experiences. All of his sexual experiences are written in a beautiful, exciting, loving & intensely erotic way.

If you're not from the South it may take a little while to get use to some of the Southern manners of speech. I believe this makes the story more authentic and totally realistic. It's great to read a book from a Southern gay perspective for a change. I think Jay Quinn with this debut novel, "Metes and Bounds" has proven himself to be one of the best new talented & engaging writers out there today. I certainly enjoyed his other two books, "The Mentor", a memoir and "Rebel Yell", a collection of stories by various Southern authors. I eagerly await his future endeavors. Make sure this book is on the top of your "To be Read list." A truly enjoyable read!