Bridge Across the Ocean (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A delicious ode to summer boyhood adventures." -- Stonewall News Northwest

"An incredible piece of work that tears down stereotypes." -- Family and Friends Magazine

"Boyd tackles racism, homophobia, attraction to younger men, and HIV without preaching and excess moralizing." -- Gay and Lesbian Review

"Not your typical gay fiction fare. The subject matter is fresh and seriously stimulating... has a knack for the controversial." -- Between The Lines Magazine

A funny, sexy and very poignant novel. -- Gay & Lesbian Times

“A powerful, emotional novel that cannot help but move the reader. The sexual attraction is beautifully handled.” -- Lambda Book Report

“Sincere and suspenseful. A great escape and a very important piece of writing. Randy Boyd should be very proud.” -- XY Magazine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

A friendship between a 26 year-old black gay man with HIV and two straight white teenage brothers leads to a summer vacation in Cancun, Mexico, that will change their lives forerver. Inspired by a true story. A Lambda Literary Award finalist.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: West Beach Books (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966533380
• ISBN-13: 978-0966533385
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,368,571 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not "Death In Venice" but "Life In Cancun (and beyond)", November 7, 2000

By	Thomas D. Osborne II (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bridge Across the Ocean (Paperback)

This is a beautiful, meaningful story, so sensitively handled and honestly revealed, that portrays the life-giving strength of love that can cross diverse gaps: black and white, old and young, straight and gay, physically "pure" and HIV "adulterated".

Recently testing positive for HIV, 26-year-old artist Derek Mayfield, a gay black man, takes a vacation in Cancun to give himself time to reassess his commitment to his life and its purpose. While there, he encounters and falls in love with Rob Velarde, a beautiful 16-year-old white "god" who was also vacationing there with his younger brother, Skeeter, and his divorced mother, Roberta. Rob was the embodiment of all that Derek had spent a lifetime desiring and wanting to create undying love with--yet here ten years his junior and still an under-age child under the control of his parents. Instead of just keeping his distance and obsessively observing this "Tadzio" from afar, Derek steps right into Rob's life and the life of his family, creating a multi-layered relationship of friendship and love that would mutually affect and benefit all of them for the rest of their lives.

Author Randy Boyd with his perfect writing does not flinch in his honesty about the definite sexual appeal of a youth like Rob, and the turmoil of desire versus responsibility that a man like Derek can undergo. But in genuinely taking Rob into his heart, Derek is also nurturing in this incubator his own precious, surviving Self, and in his presentation of the reality and example of his generous and decent character to the two relentlessly curious and open boys, and, ultimately, to their mother, he is also, himself, becoming aware of his own infinite value. It is not only Derek's ability to enjoy and absorb the youthful vibrancy of Rob and Skeeter, but also in his willingness to give of himself to their benefit that he has achieved what he wanted to find in Cancun.

The story also deals with the extreme hunger of loneliness and separation that exists in even the most golden of lives, and how what is the true perversion that comes from the combination of youth with adult is not the danger that an adult's sexual attraction could distort the psyche of the youth, but that the genuine love that youthful innocence craves is blocked by other adults who have already been distorted by their fears. This novel sets to right again the reaching and arcing path of love that links what otherwise would be separated by a turbulent and ferocious ocean.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an open heart and I am eager to read it again so that once more I can fully experience the beauty, compassion, and great fun that was Cancun with Derek, Rob, and Skeeter.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars just ..............EXCELLENT !, May 26, 2003

By	W. P. Schaefer III "BILLIII" (BERWYN, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

THIS IS *** NOT *** A CHEAP THRILL SEX BOOK!

With an overtone of "The Hardy Boys In The 21st Century"
this book delivers an enthralling story with character
development focusing on teen and adult sexuality. I really
read in fear of coming to the final pages: losing the good friends,
conversations, and stories it provided.

Life lessons and advice are abundant here, some reminding me
of sources of wisdom like Ann Rand, Alcoholics Anomyous, The Tao,
and many many more, refined by real experience centered on,
but not limited to, sex.

It's smooth, easy, laid back, reflective reading; and I'm going to look into
more of this author's works!

WARNING: IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A CHEAP ORGASMIC
THRILL . . . THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU.

FOR THOSE WITH A MIND . . . ENJOY!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An exploration of friendship, August 29, 2000

By	"blissengine" (Norfolk, VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Bridge Across the Ocean (Paperback)

While on vacation in Cancun, Derek, a gay black man with HIV, befriends two teenaged straight white boys. The story centers on the building of the friendship between them, with Derek's coming out to them as gay and as HIV+ and with Derek's intense attraction to one of the two boys. Boyd eloquently portrays the struggles of Derek coming to terms with his unrequited desire for the oldest boy, and the sometimes wavering effects of time and distance on a friendship. He does succumb to gooey sentimentality towards the end, but it doesn't take away from the grace of the novel.