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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Remarkable debut - remarkable new talent - give us more., February 24, 2006
Last year I read Michael Cunningham's 1995 family saga "Flesh and Blood," and was blown away by it. Little did I expect to come across a book every bit its equal so soon. Author Patrick Ryan, in a brilliant debut, has thoroughly and lovingly drawn each of his characters in a style both bold and original. Not a story collection or a novel, but rather a series of interralated vignettes, "Send Me" is an engrossing and audacious portrait of an American family.
Teresa is the matriarch of a family that consists of Matt and Katherine (her children by Dermot), and Joe and Frankie (her sons by Roy). Both men abandon Teresa and their children while remaining important characters within the continuing narratives. With dysfunction their unifying characteristic, the broken family scatters to various cities across America.
Gay inclusive, with chapters set in and around the FSU campus, Ryan beautifully illustrates a myriad of complex family dynamics and desperate personalities. The interactions between his characters seem drawn from real life, with each scene complete with its own drama and epiphany. I especially liked the chapters dealing with Frankie and Joe. These two younger brothers share a special bond that is well communicated. Theirs is the story that takes place in Tallahassee. Frankie is a genuinely special young man, eccentric, open and extreme. The final story is a gem, the final paragraphs heartrending in their purity.
The author's obvious affection for his characters, his appreciation for the absurd and his use of levity have resulted in a masterpiece of conception and execution. I can't recommend this enough.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling stories of members of unique dysfunctional family, July 22, 2006
To call this a novel is not really accurate, as it is more a collection of short stories about the members of a uniquely dysfunctional family from a suburban island in Florida. The central focus is on Teresa, the matriarch of the family who tries to hold everything together, with varying results. Her first husband, Dermot, was essentially running away from his powerful Italian-American family in upstate NY, and eventually went back to them, after the birth of Teresa's oldest children, Matt and Katherine. She then was courted and wed by Roger, who worked at the nearby NASA space center, and who became the father of Teresa's other children, Joseph and Frankie, before he leaves her for another woman.
Each chapters focus primarily on one character at a time, be it one of Teresa's two husbands or one of the children, as they grew into teenagers and adulthood. Most colorful of the latter is Frankie, a dreamer obsessed with space travel and aliens as a child, who becomes a gay party boy when attending a Florida university. His older brother Joseph is an introspective, serious boy, outwardly disapproving of Frankie's antics, but secretly envying his "I Am What I Am" bravado as he copes with his own confusion about his sexual orientation. Katherine, who ditches her name earlier and insists on being called Karen, is a teenage rebel who marries at 21, looking for the love she feels she didn't get at home. Oldest son Matt was most affected by the departure of his birth father, and moves to NY at age 18 to become his caretaker.
Although brilliantly conceived and written, the book is not that easy to follow, as the chapters don't follow logically from each other,but rather arranged in the order in which the author wanted to tell the story. They aren't in chronological order, aren't labeled as to what character is becoming the narrator of each chapter, which puts a burden on the reader that I found uncomfortable at times. My feeling is the author's disjointed, frustrating tone was intentional, to mimic the state of mind of the characters throughout. The final narrative, by Teresa, ties up loose ends and recaps what happened to each of the characters, and reinforces her role as the individual who did as good a job as possible for her family, despite the obstacles and lack of appreciation. We can also appreciate the author's originality and skill in presenting an admirable first work of fiction. Five stars out of five, including a bonus for originality and gritty realism.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The story of a family., January 6, 2007
I truly enjoyed this book.
Patrick Ryan uses a family as his cast, which allows him to focus on specific characters for different sections of the work. The result resembles a collection of short stories that often seem unrelated-- though they share common characters. Each chapter chooses different people to focus on, and jumps forward and back in time. In the end, the varying stories all help to illuminate the history of a remarkable family.
In particular, I felt that the chapter entitled "That Daring Young Man," was quite masterful. Not only does Ryan address the complex relationship between two brothers (one who is gay, the other also gay but closeted), but really gets at the desperation and frustration of discovering one's own sexuality. It was unlike any gay "coming-of-age" story I'd ever read-- truly unique.
A unique and thoughtful read. Highly recommended.
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