The Moralist [Paperback]

Rod Downey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2004

Fifty-year-old "spin doctor" Red Rover volunteers for a creative writing mentoring program and falls in love with his twelve-year-old protege Jonathan. Over the next year and a half, as their relationship and the boy matures, Red becomes outraged by the witch-hunt hysteria gripping the nation. When his best friend's house is burned, he decides to act, even if it means threatening his love for Jonathan.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Provocative... nicely wrought...The Moralist romps... through contemporary homosexuality ... and the rhetorical challenge of defending eros across an age difference." -- The Guide (Boston area), November, 2004

The Moralist is worth reading because it brings much needed light to a subject generally considered taboo. -- Key West Celebrate!

The Moralist takes on the child-abuse witch hunt with a comic vengeance." -- In Los Angeles

The Moralist...expresses a radical moral perspective that challenges contemporary ethical thought..." -- Dr. Frits Bernard, author of Costa Brava

About the Author

Rod Downey is an author, playwright, journalist, and communications consultant. His plays include Dirty Pictures, The Boy Lover, and The Black Orange. His short stories have appeared in Gayme magazine. He has also written articles and critical reviews for numerous newspapers and magazines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: Factor Press (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887650407
• ISBN-13: 978-1887650403
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,537,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take 2: A more detailed review, July 13, 2004

By 

Pat (Karachi, Pakistan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Moralist (Paperback)

This book is subversive...
... only because love and true morality have come to be so in society. The Moralist is not so much about boy love (though there is much of that too) as about answering the question "On what should morality be based?". Hume and Locke demonstrated long ago that the good could never be based in pure reason. Downey, a true Romantic, argues that "the error of moral principle is that it's nothing more than cultural! bias." (This is Nietzsche taken to his logical conclusion, though he didn't himself, as Downey points out.) So, instead of doing the dubious "right thing", why not do (wink, wink!) the loving, the beautiful thing?

The Moralist tells a tremendously riveting story of an always erotic, though not always sexual, relationship between a man and a boy. And about the man's life. And the boy's. The moral struggle between good and evil, between self and society, is masterfully brought out in the tensions and travails that man and boy encounter on their brush with society. In less sexually-hysterical times, when the boundaries of love weren't so politically dictated, the quality of storytelling itself would have sufficed to make a compelling case for love and compassion as the only guideposts for morality-- even with their obvious pitfalls.

But Downey knows that he is fighting against the weight of centuries of a philosophic tradition, whose "dirty little! secret of moral principle is that all righteousness is self-righte ousness." So the 500-plus pages of The Moralist take you on a guided tour of not only Ethics but Epistemology, Sexology, and History!

The manner in which the author weaves philosophy into the storytelling is reminiscent of Pirisig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. And like that great work, this book, oozing as it does with insight and challenge from every page, truly does have the power to change your life.

Of course, Downey would remind you of the Socratic maxim that the only true learning is remembering the forms we have forgotten. "If you want to be moral person," exhorts Downey, "don't ask what is the right thing to do. Instead, think back to when you were five years old and find out what made you feel good then; that is your true moral self."

Such simplicity in method will probably be dismissed by most moderns as mere cant. Ironically, that is perhaps why this book most needs to be read.

Others will question the author's wisdom expressed in statements such as "The moral struggle is not between good and evil, right and wrong, but self and society"! Society, after all, might be seen as merely "other individuals." But Downey's protagonist is no misanthrope. In pitching the battle as he does, Downey is merely averring the truth of how society-- that monolith that is much more (or less?) than the sum of its parts can rob one of
beauty, love, truth and ultimately, of self.

Wasn't is Einstein who said that there was nothing to be honored in the herd; that all that was noble and good and right was to be found in the individual?

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tour de Force, October 1, 2005

By 

John Mackay (Stuttgart, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Moralist (Paperback)

I just finished reading Rod Downey's novel The Moralist and couldn't help but be impressed with his tour de force presentation of the taboo subject of modern day pederasty. What is most striking is his remarkable blend of politics, history, philosophy and love. He does through protagonist "Red Rover" as he winds his way through his interactions with friends, colleagues and the developing relationship with his young, smart, admiring protégé - Jonathan. Red, a communications professional, becomes incensed as friends and associates who share his belief that working with and cultivating positive relationships with youth benefit all concerned are persecuted and jailed. Downey works his way through the story by pointing out that the (based on the actual Rind Studies) social research has produced evidence quite contrary to the hysteria generated by the recent pedophilia scandals (There is a difference between pederasty and pedophilia in that pederasty deals with the sexual relationship between an adolescent boy and an adult male, and pedophilia dealing with children who have not yet reached puberty. That subtle yet important difference in definition is invariably lost on almost all who report on the issue.).

The brilliance of the story is in its wry humor, satisfying dual with a conservative talk show hostess, exposure of a "moral" hypocritical politician, and reaffirming ending. At times the novel can be a somewhat pedantic and even challenging to follow the philosophical underpinnings which support the foundation of Downey's beliefs. Nonetheless, they also provide an important element of the story, leading back to the Moralist's obligation to be truthful, to do what feels good, and challenge biased assumptions. The story is certainly going to have a favorable audience among those who believe in the beauty and positive nature of mentor/protégé relationships and hopefully with open minded individuals who also may recognize the benefits such relationships have for youth, and eventually society in general. By stepping back from the usual hysteria surrounding the presentation of the topic, Downey has focused on the positive and has shown us how we may all benefit from a more nuanced approach in discussing pederasty.

Stuttgart, Germany

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A disturbing delight, January 9, 2007

By 

The Bookworm Sailor "Richard" (All at Sea) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Moralist (Paperback)

This is an extraordinary book. I have been happily straight all my life, but have always been deeply uneasy with the whole attitude of the baying masses who seem to want blood for any but the most distant relationship with the young. All cases must be judged on their merits rather than by the knee-jerk response of hell-fire and damnation.

I can perfectly understand that not all man-boy relationships are abusive, although of course some will be just as inter-adult ones can be. I also know that very young men (having been one myself) are highly sexual in thought and deed: the more the better! And I know, too, that love can take many forms, along a spectrum from full-on exclusively erotic to the purely Platonic.

Rod Downey's book travels the road of the developing love between a teacher/mentor and his pupil/disciple. At times it is the youngster who is leading the relationship, mostly it is the older man, with tact and care and love. The tragedy that is always lurking below the surface is that they are living in danger of being hounded and imprisoned (or worse) by the lynch-mob mentality of the politically correct masses, even before there is any sexual contact, and suffer too from the hypocrisy of society. And Downey adduces many arguments in support of his contention that not all relationships between men and boys are harmful, bringing in the behaviours and attitudes of the Classical Greeks (and other successful societies) as well as the thoughts of philosophers through the ages.

I found this a wonderful and uplifting book, but at the same time a very depressing commentary on the workings of what is supposed to be a leading democracy, the USA (more can be said about that particular premise!). I can absolutely see how the religious and conservative factions must loathe Downey and his book and it is for that very reason that I think this book should be compulsory reading for all who care about the kind of love that our children are exposed to.