novel, a young farm boy's childhood in Idaho
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
After a fitful start, Dennett's first novel, a coming-of-age tale, gains power as it intertwines two primary plot threads: the drama of a young gay teenager who comes out in rural Idaho and the saga of a broken-hearted wandering peddler who masters local Native American spiritual and medical practices. Dennett, a dance teacher at Western Washington University, starts out with an awkward variation of the second-person voice as the narrator, Clinton, talks to his younger self about his earlier life. As his feelings for a local farmhand, Corey, unfold, Clinton must also deal with Corey's abusive, alcoholic father, who menaces both boys. The second drama concerns Viktor, a colorful village peddler known as the "Vinegar Man," who reveals his past in a series of engaging frontier episodes related mostly in the third person. Viktor has a tragic romance with a frontier woman, Melissa, who eventually marries him and bears his child in a heterosexual bonding that delicately contrasts with accounts of Clinton and Corey's emerging sexuality. Merging poetic observations, passages about Native American values and the inner emotions of his characters, Dennett gets a bit melodramatic now and then, but readers who persevere through the tough early chapters will be amply rewarded for their diligence.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
This very unusual novel combines the tones and themes of--believe it or not--Stephen King, Tony Hillerman, and Edmund White. Set some years ago in Idaho, it tells, in the relatively rare second person, the story of Clinton, a young teenager from a very traditional farm family, and Corey, 17, whose father has abused both him and his older brother verbally, physically, and sexually. While working on Clinton's family's farm, Corey tells Clinton's mother about his father. Corey and Clinton become close and are threatened by Corey's father. In a development reminiscent of King's Pet Sematary, Corey finally kills his father to save a friend from being raped. In passing, a traveling salesman tells the boys some Indian legends, the boys have some mystical experiences, Clinton becomes a Dreamer like those in many a Hillerman novel, and the two have a brief sexual relationship and grow up--compare White's Boy's Own Story. Despite its resemblances to others' work, Dennett's is compelling. Its mysticism, especially, adds a flavor that will powerfully attract some readers, perhaps mystify (pun intended) others. Charles Harmon
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intricate. Simple. Powerful.,
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This review is from: Place of Shelter (New American Fiction) (Hardcover)
The love stories were intricately told, with a mystical overtone. The characters -- white farmhands, saloon keepers, Indian shamans, Cherokee Bob and Chinaman Sam -- were memorable. The entire book was told in second person; then in the epilogue the author came out: "What would you have me do, dad? Go through life alone?"
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good read,
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This review is from: Place of Shelter (New American Fiction) (Hardcover)
A coming of age story centred on two boys, around fifteen and sixteen years old, of very different natures. Clinton, the younger boy, sensitive and creative, is often the butt of teasing by older boys. Corey is physical and well built, and one of Clinton's primary tormentors in school, although around the farm he his more subdued due to his abusive father.
The relationship between the two boys changes dramatically the day Clinton's drunken father comes looking for his son and Clinton with no good intent . Following this encounter the relationship between the boys changes and they subsequently set off on an odyssey of mystical discovery with the help of the Vinegar Man. Interwoven with the boys' story is a parallel story from the past related in stages by the Vinegar Man. Clinton's account is told in the rare and rather quaint second person narrative, other parts in the third person. It is a strange mix in more ways than one, while not a long read I became a little impatient with the Vinegar Man's side of the story (and to be honest I did read through those passages very quickly), as much because Clinton and Corey, even with his damaged upbringing, are such likeable characters and I would have preferred to have read a lot more about them and their relationship. But it is a good read, with the inevitable in part tragic conclusion, but not with hope.
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