Us Ones in Between [Paperback]

Blair Mastbaum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2008

Lambda Award-winning novelist Blair Mastbaum (Clay’s Way) returns with a story of sexual obsession turned violent in Manhattan’s East Village. Kurt Smith can’t get over the split with his ex-boyfriend. When Kurt’s failure to reconnect becomes more than he can handle, the line between fantasy and reality is blurred-and even Kurt can’t be sure he’s not responsible for the killings making local headlines.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Blair Mastbaum’s debut novel, Clay’s Way was called “sexy, thrilling, terrifying” by Susanna Moore (In the Cut) and “a gay Catcher in the Rye” by John Rechy (City of Night), who mentored him through the process of writing and publishing his first novel. Clay’s Way won the Lambda Literary Foundation Award for Debut Fiction and was chosen for the New York Public Library’s “Books for the Teen Age 2005” list. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (May 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786720840
• ISBN-13: 978-0786720842
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,491,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Blair Mastbaum is the author of the Lambda Award winning Clay's Way and the Ferro-Grumley-nominated novel Us Ones In Between, as well as the co-editor of Cool Thing: Best Gay Writing by Young American Writers. A former model for such houses at CK and Versace, he is now writing a memoir of his modeling days called Hommeboys. Blair produced the Sundance Film Festival selection Ellie Parker, starring Naomi Watts and directed by Scott Coffey. He lives in Portland, Oregon and Brooklyn, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In Between?, September 3, 2008

By 

Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Us Ones in Between (Paperback)

I saw the writer Blair Mastbaum read from his novel at a bookstore here in San Francisco, where he gave a good account of himself and totally slipped into the voice of Kurt Smith, the narrator, so that in retrospect having read the book I find it hard to keep myself from collating the two, the man and his fictional invention. I guess the biggest difference is that Kurt is pretty severely disturbed, while Mastbaum seemed no more or less neurotic than any other novelist I've ever known. (He kept his cap on through the reading, claiming he had driven all day from Portland and his hair wasn't fit to be seen.)

Kurt's sort of a mess, halfway between a former career as an artist (well, a Cooper Union student) and a possible future as a novelist. I wonder why Mastbaum decided not to have Kurt continue on with his art, because his art school days and his reminiscences of his practice account for some of the book's sharper passages, while his jealousy of Sherlock, a former friend who is now one of New York's hottest young painters, gives the somewhat heavy book a leavening of good old-fashioned spite. Mostly Jurt just sits and stares (the book opens with him trying to get down the forty-eight wooden steps from his East Village apartment where he has been holed up for over a week), mooning over his former boyfriend, Billy, a talented musician who can't deal any longer with Kurt's Kurtness. Like his name implies, our hero is an unstable combination of Kurt Cobain and Elliott Smith, but picture those two roaming through the NYC subway system and fantasizing about doing away with cute guys by pushing them into the rails.

Up to a certain point we identify with Kurt, for who hasn't lost a lover to the arms of another? Who hasn't seen their dreams of a successful career run off the tracks? But then when the subway pusher plot comes into play, Mastbaum has a trickier game to play, keeping us guessing as to whether or not our little Kurt is capable of the heinous acts of a serial killer. Insofar as we believe it, we draw back from a once comfortable identification, and insofar as we doubt it, well, frankly it gets a wee bit annoying the constant Roger Ackroydism of the narration. It's like Kylie Minogue saud, "Stick, or twist, the choice is yours."

The brilliant David Rylance has put forward a convincing case for seeing US ONES IN BETWEEN as a poetic drama of the real vs. the "non-existent," while another reviewer has torn the book to shreds for its alleged resemblance to Mastbaum's first (a book I haven't seen). I didn't understand how the frighteningly grim and repressed Kurt could be mistaken for any of "us ones in between," but otherwise, I'll be looking forward to reading his previous book now, and any other of Blair Mastbaum's books that come thundering out of his brain like locomotives.

4.0 out of 5 stars No regrets buying this book AT ALL, January 7, 2009

By 

Carlo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Us Ones in Between (Paperback)

I just finished this book a few minutes ago. It was just what I was looking for. Since I'm only a teenager, I never really had access to gay novels, and this was my first. I loved it. It was enjoyable, and had an excellent main character. Mastbaum creates a very realistic and very dark mood throughout. It was thrilling, interesting, and very sexy. I drained myself in Kurt Smith's world and will probably do it all over again in a few days. Worthy of a sequel for sure.

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark tale of alienation and obsession, bordering on delusion, June 24, 2008

By 

Bob Lind "camelwest" (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Us Ones in Between (Paperback)

In his second novel (the first, "Clay's Way", won him the Lamda Literary award for best debut gay novel), Mustbaum sticks with telling the story of a dysfunctional, obsessed gay young man, in this case in the persona of Kurt Smith, a would-be artist/writer three years out of college with an art degree, living in a run-down Manhattan studio apartment. The somewhat naturally shy, introspective Kurt admits being obsessed by his ex-boyfriend, the bisexual and charismatic Billy, who is achieving some fame as member of a popular local band. Kurt's days seem to revolve around getting stoned and either remembering their times together, or fantasizing how he will "win him back" so they can be together again. Billy has made it clear to Kurt that reconciliation isn't possible, although he offers friendship, which is not enough for his obsessed and insecure ex. In between his bouts of depression and fantasies of getting Billy back, Kurt has started on a novel about an alienated young gay man who pushes strangers he desires to their death in front of subway trains. It becomes clear that this has also become a obsession and fantasy of Kurt's, one that his friends fear has become a reality, after several such incidents are reported. Has Kurt's frustration with not being able to have Billy resulted in his not only being incapable of considering a relationship with anyone else, but also compels him to enact revenge on young men he desires, hurting them before they can reject him?

Very well-written dark novel, though not exactly the thing to cheer you up on a cloudy or rainy day. Conveys an excellent NYC "vibe" in its characters and situations, and provides a good case study of how alienation and compulsion can ruin an otherwise promising young life. Not for everyone, but I give it five stars out of five.