War Against the Animals: A Novel [Hardcover]

Paul Russell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 2003

Cameron Barnes, formerly of New York City, lives in a small town in upstate New York. After having nearly succumbed to AIDS, he's recently regained a measure of his health but his long-term lover has moved away and faces the daunting prospect of learning how to live with the idea of a future in mind again. As a tentative step, he hires two local young men, brothers Jesse and Kyle Vanderhof, to do some renovation work on his property.

With the depressed economy of the area, the changing population of the town in which they live and the recent death of their family, the Vanderhofs are facing hard times and tough decisions. The older of the brothers, Kyle, sees an opportunity in Cameron, pushing Jesse to befriend Cameron and take advantage of his boredom and directionlessness. Caught between the opposing worlds embodied by Cameron and Kyle, Jesse is torn by the demands of his brother, the expectations of his community and family, and his own mix of volatile, contradictory emotions towards Kyle, Cameron, and himself. Mirroring the community's own increasingly tense split between long-term residents and new arrivals, this trio moves inexorably towards crisis and potential tragedy that will transform each of their lives.

Widely praised for his deft prose and brilliant characterizations, over the past decade Paul Russell has become increasingly regarded as one of the finest contemporary American novelists. Now, with War Against the Animals, he returns with his richest, most accomplished, and most compelling novel yet.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Russell (The Coming Storm, etc.) eloquently explores the divide between gay and straight culture in his latest novel, a thoughtful, provocative study of an attraction that develops between an upscale, retired garden designer who is HIV-positive and a young redneck in a fast-changing upstate New York community. Cameron Barnes is the Manhattan transplant who thinks his love life is over after surviving the barrage of illnesses that come with full-blown AIDS, but Barnes's quiet, idyllic life in Stone Hollow is disrupted when he hires a pair of young brothers, Kyle and Jesse Vanderhof, to fix his dilapidated barn. Initially, Barnes has little contact with the brothers, but a strange attraction slowly develops between the former landscaper and Jesse, who is more sensitive and open-minded than his crude older brother. The backdrop for the romance is a struggle to control the town and its values, filtered through the prism of a mayoral election in which the leader of the powerful Vanderhof clan, Roy, battles a close friend of Cameron's named Max Greenblatt, who represents the interests of the rapidly growing liberal gay community. Russell is a patient, masterful narrator, dexterously alternating scenes featuring Cameron and his gay friends, Jesse grappling with his sexuality and Jesse's controlling brother's scheme to extract money from Cameron. In the hands of a lesser writer, this might have been a clumsy, obvious book, but Russell's compassionate, insightful prose illuminates the differences that help define us under the umbrella of community as well as the sparks that fly when boundaries are violated.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

If confusion over sexual identity, family roles, community allegiances, and future ambitions form the heart of Russell's accomplished and haunting novel of one young man's coming-of-age, an older man's reflection on past relationships and acceptance of an uncertain future constitutes its soul. In Jesse Vanderhof, Russell portrays a bewildered youth, adrift and susceptible to both the influences of his domineering, redneck older brother, Kyle, and the open friendship and unexpected attentions of Cameron Barnes. Cameron, whose own AIDS is in remission, mourns the loss of former friends and lovers as he settles into a circumspect life in a quiet country village. Hiring Jesse and Kyle to help renovate his property, Cameron finds himself powerfully drawn to Jesse and justifiably wary of Kyle's menacing control of his younger brother. At Kyle's devious insistence, Jesse cultivates Cameron's patronage, yet when the relationship evolves beyond a professional level, both Kyle's and Jesse's worlds unravel in unexpected ways. With uncommon sensitivity, grace and compassion, Russell charts a richly hypnotic voyage of discovery. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 358 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (August 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312209355
• ISBN-13: 978-0312209353
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #162,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plot, Theme, Character, Style, and Subtleties of Loving, August 19, 2003

By 

Brian Kevin Beck "infovoyeur" (Whitewater, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: War Against the Animals: A Novel (Hardcover)

So why could I not put this book down, to save some of the pleasure until later, without soon picking it up again? Apparently plot, theme, characters, style-and two looks at love.

Plot. Lively conflict between smalltown New York redneck villagers and the influx of gay-male weekenders. (Hetero majority vs. homo deviancy.) Also conflict between young native Jesse and his emerging desires within himself, and his straight-culture family tradition. Nothing new there, a universal plot. (Think Romeo-and-Juliet conflicts.) But Russell does it well. He splices nicely the "timely" (the still-present terrible conflict between gay urges and their psychological and sociocultural repression) with the "timeless" (any conflict between Self and Society).

Theme. With gay character Cameron being seropositive and having lost lovers to AIDS, it's also about mortality, the most universal plot of all. And one done before. But Russell also does that well. He somehow weaves seamlessly the HIV-specific (Cameron's viral loads and T-cell counts, his lost lovers and friends) into the so-general precariousness of everybody, you and me.

Characters. Russell paints people well, both the pencillings of har-de-harumph traditional lowerclass culture, and also the Portrait Gallery of pretty, precious, prissy gay male microculture. Again, done and done again before. But once more, Russell does it well.

Style. Throughout the book, Russell can interweave thematically, the echoing motif of "animals" hunted, from vegetarianism to roadkill to Jesse's tortured dreams to symbolic gay-straight warfare.

But what I found especially great are at least two other elements worthy of the skill of Russell (especially as seen in his The Coming Storm). Two facets of lust/love.

First, the yearning of fortysomething gay AIDS widower Cameron for the local boy-man Jesse. Poignantly done: not neurotic, just natural attraction to his youth and beauty-but also to his own appealing self. Is this love? Russell superbly re-creates oh the pain and ah the pleasure.

But especially, the depiction throughout the 300 pages of young Jesse's emerging, awakening, personal (sexual) identity. Never before in any gay fiction have I seen such a superb job of not telling about, but actually showing, "coming out." Of monitoring felt/unfelt urges; of tracking hidden/re-hidden feelings; of tracing ins-and-outs of emotions. On almost every page, Russell inserts superbly this hint and that tint, of Jesse's response, feeling, awareness, denial. It's like sophisticated military intelligence, a Distant Early Warning system... ... or a powerfully-penetrating medical x-ray or MRI... or a chemical test sensitive to slight changes, hues, stains... or a Case History which misses not one intricate step in the unfolding pattern. For me, this depiction of identity-emergence is Russell's top achievement here.

And so the book became for me, "literature." Meaning, it did not just discuss (important and enduring) issues and emotions, but it actually "languaged" them-it installed emotions into language so that we readers not only are told, but also feel, those emotions. Simple definition of literature. But rare to achieve in practice. And for me, War Against The Animals attains a level of quality attained only by 10-15% of gay fiction. Well-the book seduced me, captivated me. I unfortunately finished it in 24 hours; its power made me intermittently pause to savor what I read and to save the rest, but then its power soon drew me right back to continue. After The Coming Storm, I was apprehensive. Would Russell write as well? Bravo, and thanks, Paul.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intense and provocative masterpiece., August 30, 2003

By 

M. J Leonard "MikeonAlpha" (Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: War Against the Animals: A Novel (Hardcover)

We've anxiously waited three years for another Paul Russell novel, and luckily he doesn't disappoint. Just as The Coming Storm addressed the controversial issues of underage gay sex, War Against the Animals also addresses the similar theme of the kind of relationships older gay men can have with younger men who are struggling to come out. Both novels are such wonderful and intricate studies of modern gay America, that readers will be wondering just what Russell will come up with next! War against the Animals is indeed worth waiting for, as it's an astounding piece of work and a fine literary achievement. Russell writes with a mature, and serious voice - a voice that is really needed and rarely found within the current dearth of quality fiction for gay men.

The story shifts so dramatically between the two main protagonists, Cameron Barnes and Jesse Vanderhof and the story moves so explicitly towards its inevitable climax, that the reader is left feeling emotionally exhausted. Russell does a wonderful job of addressing the needs and issues of older HIV positive gay men; Cameron is lonely, wealthy, and solitary, and wistful of his life spent with his one true love, who has died of AIDS. He meets Jessie - young, confused, rebellious, and a "red neck" - they develop a tender, kind of mismatched friendship, which seems to flourish against all odds. Russell does a great job of telling the story from each character's perspective, and many of the secondary characters are startlingly realistic. There's Perry - young, sexy and provocative; Jesse's brother Kyle - rough, suspicious of Jesse's sexuality and resentful of the changes taking place around him, and Cameron's friend Max - ambitious, politically active in local government, with a drive to change the community for the better. War against the Animals also has some astute familial observations, and I was amazed that even though her husband had just died, Jesse and Kyle's mother was so detached and unaware of her sons' problems.

War against the Animals is not just a story of unintended friendship and a young under-educated man trying to find his way in a hostile and confused world. It is also a story of a "war": a war of class, education and money - a war of different worldviews, and a war over sexuality. The politics of small town life is one of the wider themes of the novel. Older communities are changing and the disparate poorer people are being pushed out as the wealthy, many of them young affluent gay men, are moving in, buying up the housing stock and gradually remaking the communities. Russell addresses these issues and themes with resounding honesty and compassion, and paints a beautiful picture of a world undergoing unstoppable change. Russell's command of the language, his use of metaphor and symbolism and his vivid descriptions of the natural world are unsurpassed in contemporary American literature. This is a fine piece of literary fiction from one of America's greatest authors, and one of the literary highlights of the year.

Michael

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A triumph, August 17, 2003

By 

pm444 "pm444" (Okemos, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: War Against the Animals: A Novel (Hardcover)

Paul Russell has demonstrated his gift for developing unforgettable characters in his previous work, but in his latest novel, he reaches new heights. The plot focuses on the uneasy interactions between the local citizens of a small town in upstate New York, and its growing faction of gay transplants from Manhattan and other urban areas. Russell manages to avoid any of the usual pitfalls inherent in such a plot in several ways.

First, he steadfastly refuses to allow any of his characters to be totally good or totally bad. Instead, he allows their actions to show us believable human beings, all of whom have strengths and weaknesses.

Second, he has captured the language patterns of the local populace with an uncanny ability. Anyone who has been among people like this will immediately recognize how accurate Russell's ear is. The result is that the contrast between the dialogue of the local people and the gay "elite" is all the more striking because it so truthfully reflects what one would really hear. Russell effectively underscores the differences between the two groups by literally allowing them to speak for themselves. This level of finesse is extremely difficult to achieve and most authors are wise enough to not even attempt it, at least not as thoroughly as Russell has done. That Russell not only takes on the challenge but succeeds so completely is a high tribute to his talent.

Finally, his characters themselves seem to rise above the plot, which could have devolved into a simple "us versus them" story in less gifted hands. The novel is never totally plot-driven, but it's not just a series of character studies, either. Instead, Russell has integrated character and plot in a way that one rarely sees.

The most amazing thing about all of these accomplishments is that Russell manages to achieve them almost effortlessly. The book is a joy to read, written so beautifully and skillfully that you don't want it to end, but you cannot put it down.

"War Against the Animals" joins a handful of other novels that are so outstanding that they surpass the confines of gay-themed genre literature and instead are classics that stand on their own merits.