Customer Reviews

The Wild Man

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Set in late 1960s Spain that is struggling under the yoke of Francisco Franco's oppressive dictatorship, Patricia Nell Warren has woven a story of relationships, repression, and the human spirit's yearning to overcome. Author of The Front Runner, the novel that is generally considered THE breakout gay novel that has paved the way for all that have followed, Warren has exceeded herself in many ways with The Wild Man.

Spain, in all her rustic beauty, deep traditions, and centuries-old history of violent repressions perpetrated by the Catholic Church, the throne, and governments that often backed and supported it, the political background of The Wild Man is a vital part of this story. Warren, having lived and worked in Spain during the period that's depicted in The Wild Man, has imbued the story with nuances only a real understanding of the climate and history of Spain can render.

Antonio Escudero is The Wild Man. A fading bullfighter in the traditional style, battling an old injury and his own inner conflict, at thirty years old, he is edging towards retirement. Fueled by his crumbling conviction about the meaning of his art, he carries another burden. Living in a country known for its long history OF violent racial and ethnic cleansing of Moors, Jews, intellectuals, dissidents and homosexuals, Antonio is a maricón. He is a homosexual. He has dealt with his needs, "the Big Hunger," by seeking physical pleasures while abroad, and hiding his reluctance to marry in the accepted bachelorhood of the torero. With his confidence shaken from the old injury, with his yearning for a relationship rather than a tryst, and with the pressures to wed placed on him by his family, Antonio is at a crossroads.

As Antonio limps from the ring after a fight at Santander on Spain's north coast, a working-class man wearing bloodstained coveralls leans out and offers a drink to Antonio. He is one of the butchers employed to dress the bulls that are killed in the ring. Antonio accepts the drink and moves on. After the fight, as Antonio and his entourage are leaving the arena and getting into their car, a man reappears in the crush of people scrambling for a piece of the toreros. It's the man who offered Antonio the drink. As the crowd presses in, Antonio's feet slip, he loses his footing and the young man, Juan, grabs him. Hidden in the mob of screaming people, Antonio feels Juan press his hips against him, and the unmistakable hardness in his pants. As Antonio jumps into his car, he pulls Juan in after him so that he won't be arrested by `the Grays,' Franco's police, there to squelch the mob's enthusiasm for the fights that could, at any time, erupt into a political riot. Antonio thanks Juan and offers him money. Juan proudly refuses. Juan is driven to a safe place, dropped off, and vanishes into the night. Thus, do Juan and Antonio first meet.

Over the course of the next days and weeks, Antonio's obsession with the man he saw, overwhelms him. Under the pressures from within and those from without, he risks his twin sister Josefina's trust. Called José, she and Antonio have always been close, and are both viewed unfavorably by their family. Each in their own way, they rebelled against the old traditions. They are an upper-class family, and Antonio's choice to become a torero was not well received. José did the unthinkable when she moved, unmarried and alone to Madrid, and got a job as a journalist, reporting on the Bullfights. When Antonio breaks down and shares the secret of his homosexuality and his obsession with a stranger he saw briefly in Santander, José shares a secret of her own. She, too, is a maricona. She, however, is not without a secret love in her life. Her long-time lover is Antonio's soon-to-be fiancé, Serafita, a friend of his sister's long before she ever met Antonio.

The story follows Juan and Antonio as they fumble through misunderstandings and false starts. Throughout all are Juan's deep pride and his angry refusal to be bought by Antonio's wealth and status. Antonio and Juan share a love of their native land, of the flora and fauna, and this provides them a mutual meeting ground, and indeed, a way to secretly fulfill their desire. Paralleling, and closely tied to their story, is José's and Sera's. In time, the four come to an agreement, a pact: two marriages of convenience. Before this can be brought to fruition, events unfold that threaten not only their shared dream to live as they need, but their lives as well. In Franco's Spain, torture and death for maricones is a real possibility. Underlying the main plot and intertwined throughout is a subplot of an Old Spanish relic of archeological value. This becomes a vital element in the events as they unfold.

The Wild Man is first and foremost a beautifully written story of love. The characters are fully drawn, fully realized, and well crafted. Warren paints Spain with brushstrokes both honest and loving, portraying a place that is both physically beautiful and at times, brutally cruel. The subtleties of the political currents and old Spanish traditions, set against the human spirit's striving for fulfillment, is moving and tragic, horrific and hopeful, yet ultimately a story of promise and optimism. Indeed, with long strides, Spain today has overtaken the United States in tolerance and basic human rights for gays.

The Wild Man is an absolute work of art, a true masterpiece of gay fiction, or rather, simply, of fiction, set in heady and intoxicating Spain, whose passions are revealed at times, not only in what she proudly displays, but also in what she once tried to hide.

Patricia Nell Warren wrote the definitive gay novel obver 20 years ago with her landmark novel THE FRONT RUNNER. With The Wild Man, Warren again gets into the heads of gay men ever with a tale of love, desire, and the longing we all share to find the love of our life and make it work.

The title stems from the love interest, the story is told form the point of view of the central character, a bull fighter in Spain in the 1960s.

What makes this story so special is that Warren started it in the 1960s when she lived in Spain. It is only now that she felt she was ready to fully tell the story.

It reads like a piece of finely researched biography, travelling through almost four decades of growth, pain, love and harmony!

This is a must read for any one who loves gay fiction!

Patricia Nell Warren is a legendary icon in gay literature. Her landmark novel "The Front Runner" has captivated over 10 million readers in two generation since its publication in 1974. It has been published in ten languages.

Warren's newest novel, "The Wild Man" is argueably her greatest novel. The saga is set in fascist Spain in the late 1960s during the reign of Franco. The book is captivating. Once your read the first twelve pages you are hooked. The story revolves around a gay bullfighter, Antonio Escuedero, poised on the verge of retirement. A chance encounter with a peasant, Juan Diano Rodriguez, who has a unique ability to raise animals, leads to an unthinkable love story in an oppressive environment. The story is deepend through the relationship of Antonio and his twin sister, Jose, who is a lesbian with a hidden love life of her own.

Warren has often come under for writing about men. "The Wild Man" is proof that she writes drmaticly about women as she does about men. Once again, however, she is able to get into the emotions and psyche of gay men in a way that is unique in glbt literature.

Though set in Fascist Spain, Warren points out in the Notes and Acknowledgement section that follows the novel, that the increasing power of the religious right spells needed concern. Liberties fought for valiently can be easily lost if not carefully guarded.

"The Wild Man" is an excellent book. It is a quick read, a glimpse into a distant time and culture and a great deal of fun....

The Wild Man far surpasses anything in the way of gay/lesbian fiction on the market, bar none. Told from the point-of-view of a "torero" (bull-fighter) in the Spain of the late 1960s, where every aspect of life is controlled either by the Church or by conservatives of the Franco regime, being gay or lesbian is tantamount to a prison sentence if discovered. Yet twins (a brother and a sister) from one of Spain's old families manage to find mates. Richly rendered, Warren's writing strikes many romantic and lyrical notes. No other writer of gay/lesbian fiction writes with such beauty and realism. Never artsy or pretensious, The Wild Man is delectable. ---Ronald L. Donaghe, author of Common Sons.

Simply the best novel I've come across in at least two years. Ms. Warren brings the relationships of two couples to life in her latest book THE WILD MAN. Set in Spain, during Franco's regime, the novel unfolds to reveal the secret, and endangered, lives of gay men and women. Ms. Warren writes eloquently and convincingly; her characters remain true to Spanish culture, and seem amazingly real. As I read THE WILD MAN, I felt myself being pulled into the world of a Spanish bullfighter and his secret lover. Ever aware of the dangers around them, the characters' relationship develops in near secrecy. The development and climax of the book is at times incredible, but always beleivable. The book is not only a fictional account, but also a warning of times to come. Ms. Warren carefully crafts a scene that often reflects the America of today. THE WILD MAN suggests what may become of gay rights, if the conservative agenda is allowed to eat away at the progress made in the last decades. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with the characters of THE WILD MAN. This is what most of us have come to expect from Patricia Nell Warren: credible characters along with such a realistic story line, that you can't help but identify with them. THE WILD MAN enrages, as well as urges one to think seriously about the state of affairs in America.

amazon.com's editorial reviewer complains that The Wild Man too often reads like a romance novel. DUH! It IS a romance novel, among other things . . . the best romance novel I've ever read.

I can't say enough good things about this book. I'm about halfway through, and I love it, love it, LOVE IT . . . the mix of romance, religion, history, environmentalism, feminism, the bullfighting metaphors, and especially the underlying message that lesbians and gay men need one another to survive in a hostile world. The difficult love scenes between Juan and Don Antonio ring so true! I never dreamed women understood about gay men who refuse to kiss and who won't accept the sexually passive role because it isn't "manly," but Ms. Warren understands, and she dares to write about it here. And she is courageous in addressing physical abuse in gay relationships (i. e. the characters of Josefina and Sera). I picked up this book after reading James M. Cain's extremely homophobic novel "Serendade," which is set in Mexico. This book is the anecdote to that one . . . it's like a breath of fresh air.

I'm reading it now as a library lend, but I plan to buy The Wild Man as soon as I can afford to do it. It fairly cries out to be made into a movie! I can practically hear the flamenco guitars on the soundtrack.

Wow, I didn't think Ms. Warren could ever top "The Front Runner". But then comes "The Wild Man". Truly an amazing book, neck-and-neck with Mary Renault's "The Persian Boy". The best words to describe this book are in her book itself, so get it and read it. And don't make the mistake of passing over the Author's Prologue -- this little bit at the beginning of the book sets the stage for the entire novel.

I just finished "The Wild Man" yesterday and still feel the reality of it. I could swear those main characters, two men and two women, are alive somewhere because of the depth with which they are developed. Wish I could meet and shake hands with them because they were such interesting people and their love for each other is so real, despite the many hardships. Warren has a deep knowlege of Spain which makes the story so authentic. While it took a few pages to get into the story, once there, I could not put the book down. I fell in love with the coto (game reserve) and the relationship with it that the characters had. The Spaniards contain a quality in their personality that derives from a respect for the beauty of life and the earth around them. But its Warren's development of the love story that shows the genius of this author that 10 million copies in print of her earlier work "The Front Runner" bears witness to.

In Spain, the rapturous fans toss carnations into the ring at their favorite toreadors. Let this be my electronic carnation to Patricia Nell Warren for writing such a beautiful and powerful novel as "The Wild Man." (My review title is of course a play on Hemingway's famous book about bullfighting, and Warren, a Montana ranch girl who spent years in Spain as a journalist watching the "corrida," knows her bulls.) Most would have doubted that Warren would ever equal, let alone surpass, her legendary novel "The Front Runner," published 27 years ago. But I think "The Wild Man" will come to be recognized as her greatest work (to date anyway; Warren, a vigorous 65, has declared her intention to keep writing until age 102 at least!). I am disappointed, by the way, that so many reviewers have given away crucial plot developments and resolutions in this harrowingly suspenseful novel. Be warned: read other reviews at your own risk if you don't like spoilers! Warren has that natural-born, page-turning storyteller's gift that so many elite-anointed "literary" writers couldn't dredge up if their lives depended on it. That and Warren's popular bestsellerdom may account for such snubs as the outrageous omission of "The Front Runner" from a recent list of "100 best gay novels" compiled by a clubby group of "elite" gay (mostly male) writers and reviewers. In any event, "The Wild Man" is far more than an entertaining "popular" novel, just as Warren is far more than a mere "popular" novelist as some would classify her. Her account of this fictional love affair set in fascist 1960s Spain between Antonio, a famous but closeted gay bullfighter, and Juan, a working-class youth with a special touch for animals and a burning desire to be a veterinarian, is the best exploration of the macho male heart that I have ever read. It's as soaringly lyrical an evocation of romantic love as "The Front Runner," but also (like "Harlan's Race," Warren's underappreciated sequel to "The Front Runner") darker, more mature, more revealing of the violence lurking at the heart of such strong emotions. Perhaps it takes an Earth Mother feminist like Warren to probe the male psyche so expertly, and to write a novel of such erotic intensity without obsessing over the pornographic mechanics of sex. Warren, though she has long identified as lesbian, was married to a man for many years and has been soul-friends with many gay men since. She knows us better than we know ourselves. And indeed, without giving away any plot points, Warren interweaves Earth Mother spirituality into this story in a way that will both entrance and educate many of her readers. But this never becomes didactic, and does not detract from the ferocious dramatic force of this novel, which had me up till 3 am two nights in a row, falling asleep in strange contortions on my living room sofa, as I literally could not put it down.

Having been a fan of "The Front Runner" and many of Ms. Warrens's other books, I ordered "The Wild Man' as soon as I learned of its availability.
The author bookmarked this tale with what, at the beginning, seems to be a personal account of her meeting with the protagonist. Her story starts out in a bull ring, where after a successul kill, we meet a matador in his final days of glory...When a handsome young butcher is pressed against him outside of the bull ring, my juices started to rise. Not for a moment does she let the killing suspense stop. At times I hated her for what was happening to the characters, but in the end, all was forgiven. A remarkable tale which I recommend with no reservations whatsoever.