The Men From The Boys

The Men from the Boys

Amazon.com ReviewOver the past seven years Bill Mann has established himself as one of the most intelligent, prolific, and witty journalists writing for the gay and lesbian press. Now, in his first novel, The Men From the Boys, Mann turns his attention to delineating the process by which boys become men and men become gay. Set in Massachusetts, Mann's characters enter and leave relationships, find mentors, sleep with cute boys, deal with AIDS, face death, and generally learn what it means to be responsible, caring, sexually active adults in a culture that does its best to inhibit all three. The Men From the Boys is a debut novel that delights and challenges, but more importantly, understands how we live today.A summertime romance with a twenty-two-year-old houseboy leads Jeff O'Brien on a journey to self-discovery and reconciliation with his family, in a fast-paced tale of love, sex, and survival. A first novel. 25,000 first printing.From Library JournalJeff O'Brien is at several major crossroads on life's highway. First, Lloyd, his lover of six years, announces that the passion is gone from their relationship. Second, Jeff's first lover, Javis, is slowly succumbing to AIDS. Third, at 33, Jeff is no longer part of the hip, young crowd of gay men and lesbians who party in Provincetown each summer. Finally, Jeff's father dies, his childhood pet is killed, his current pet has a stroke (but lives), and his hair is beginning to thin. All in all, Jeff is not having a good year. Though lumping all of the above into the same category of crisis makes Jeff sound shallow, he isn't. He's human and having trouble, like the rest of us, with the issues of change and aging. This remarkable book by first novelist Mann discusses the concepts of family, love, passion, and acceptance in ways few books have. If you only buy one gay novel this year, make it this one.?Theodore R. Salvadori, Margaret E. Heggan Free P.L., Hurffville, N.J.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.From BooklistJeff and Lloyd, lovers for seven years, and Javitz, Jeff's former lover, who is sick with AIDS, enjoy a friendship so close that it is more like a family relationship, with undercurrents and depths that will resonate with many readers of this first novel that distinguishes its author as one of gay fiction's most promising writers. The book spans one year, presents some moving remembrances of earlier times, focuses primarily on Jeff's life, and unfolds in scenes that alternate between Boston and Provincetown. Mann eloquently tells a story full of mature, out, gay professionals who have shaped their own lives and, in many cases, created their own families, which may or may not be unique: Jeff has summer relationships in Provincetown with younger men yet truly loves Lloyd, with whom he sleeps in the breathing position, which for Jeff represents home and hearth. As Javitz notes, It's not easy navigating uncharted waters. Mann's novel portrays lives navigated so well that it is a strong candidate for next year's gay fiction awards and sure to be in high demand. Charles HarmonFrom Kirkus ReviewsA charming, extended family of Boston gay men pursue the true meaning of passion. Jeff O'Brien, 32, is caught between the boom and the X generations, pre- and post-Stonewall, positive and negative, young and old.'' He's been with his lover, Lloyd, for seven years, and each has embarked on a premature midlife crisis. The two have a sexually open relationship, but when Lloyd declares his need for even more space, Jeff is thrown into an emotional tailspin. (In one of several fine ironies, Lloyd flees to pursue a dream of spiritual transcendence, but it's Jeff who ends up experiencing it.) Jeff seeks solace from Javitz, a 47-year-old former lover, now dying of AIDS, who acts as a sort of wise elder, and from Eduardo, 22, the Provincetown native with whom Jeff thinks he's in love. After much anguished introspection, everybody finds a uni