One of These Things Is Not Like the Other [Hardcover]

D. Travers Scott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2005

Brotherhood is going to the dogs. You're your own man, Jake Barnes tells himself upon arrival at his father's isolated cabin in the Oregon woods. You are yourself. But in the strange world of One of These Things Is Not Like the Other, manhood and self are not so easily understood. Or trusted. Quadruplet brothers. Raised in rural seclusion by their identical, namesake father. Now in their twenties, the Jake Barnes brothers are shocked by their father s sudden suicide. More surprises come in the video he leaves behind, announcing that one of them is an unrelated outsider, and daring his sons to uncover the truth of their birth. From across the U.S. the brothers converge to find a woman who may be their mother, but twisted lust, murderous secrets, and shifting identities threaten their lives along the way. One of These Things Is Not Like the Other is the winner of the 2005 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's Fiction.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This gorgeous existential mystery is a page-turner, a grand novel of possession from beyond the grave... Father may know, but daddy knows best. --Robert Gluck, author of Denny Smith

Scott more than delivers on the promise of Execution, Texas: 1987. --Craig Lucas, writer/director of the movie The Dying Gaul

…a jagged and multifaceted backwater noir... --Stephen Winter, producer, Tarnation, Chocolate Babies

From the Publisher

Winner of the 2005 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's Mystery.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: Suspect Thoughts Press (May 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974638862
• ISBN-13: 978-0974638867
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,271,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For over two decades, D. Travers Scott has worked as a writer, critic, and artist, appearing everywhere from underground 'zines to Harper's and This American Life. He is author of two novels: the internationally acclaimed Execution, Texas: 1987 and the Lambda Literary Award winner, One of these Things is Not Like the Other. His most recent book is Love Hard: Stories 1989-2009. After many years in the advertising industry, left to earn a PhD at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. He and his husband live in South Carolina, where he is Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Clemson University.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who let the dogs out?, May 4, 2006

By 

Son of Nietzsche "Refuse orientation. Refuse ... (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One of These Things Is Not Like the Other (Hardcover)

D Travers Scott proved his exceptional talent with his debut novel, `Execution, Texas: 1987'. With this second novel, `One of These Things is Not Like the Other', he has further established his position as an arresting new author who is capable of hijacking his readers with the fluidity of his writing and its tantalisingly surreal qualities.

By way of brief synopsis: a survivalist father dies leaving his identical quadruplet sons with the cryptic message that one of them is not his real son. As the father predicted, this enigmatic revelation will lead the four 20-something brothers down a path of pain, jealousy and hatred. Old rivalries, bitterness, incest and murder will drag the reader down the same path.

Having said this, no description can adequately convey the force of this novel. It is unique. It is fast-paced. It is intense. An absolute - genuine - page-turner. Although a reasonably short work that can be read in a day, it is something that deserves time and attention. Personally, I was so captivated by the energy of the writing that I just flew through the final chapters, anxious to discover the `truth' about the four brothers. Consequently, upon reaching the last page, I confess to being completely baffled. I sat, stunned, trying to make sense of the myriad of ideas that were circulating around my different levels of consciousness. It wasn't until I took a breath and read the book again - slowly - that I began to store up clues to help explain what happened. Even then, many questions still present themselves.

`One of These Things is Not Like the Other' is an absolute masterpiece of suspense and originality. It is a book that lures you into another world and leaves you gasping for oxygen. Its complexity (of concept, rather than expression) means that one read through could never be sufficient. I've read it three times so far, and am still picking up nuances. I await D Travers Scott's next work with great anticipation.

Buy this novel now (and order his excellent debut novel while you're at it). This is a phenomenal work of fiction that will penetrate your mind for days...

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Novel Unlike Any Other, June 5, 2005

By 

Wayne Courtois "author of 'A Report from Winter'" (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One of These Things Is Not Like the Other (Hardcover)

It takes balls to appropriate the name of a Hemingway hero, but it's all in a day's work for Scott, who has fun trashing any cherished notions we may have on the great, grim subject of Identity. His quadruplet anti-heroes, spread across the country as they are, still can't escape the ties that bind them, even if the consequences are fatal. Compulsively readable, funny, and shocking, this novel will work its way into your consciousness like a time-release drug. And brotherhood will never be the same again!

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally Cool, May 19, 2005

By 

Neil S. Plakcy "Neil Plakcy" (Hollywood, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One of These Things Is Not Like the Other (Hardcover)

"One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other" is very cool noir. Set in a slightly alternate world (they use blimps instead of airplanes, for example) the book tracks four identical quadruplet brothers in their quest to discover which one of them is not really a brother. Atmospheric, creepy, clever, sexy and literate... and the last line totally blew me away and changed everything I thought about the book.