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The Men from the Boys, by William J. Mann
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Jeff O’Brien - bright, good-looking, and inching dangerously past thirty, is caught between two generations, the Baby Boomers and Generation X. He’s been with his partner, Lloyd, for seven years now, but when Lloyd announces that there’s no passion left between them, Jeff is sent into something of an existential frenzy. Desperate not to end up alone, Jeff haunts the dance floor and roadside rest stops, finding both the sordid and the sublime in anonymous encounters. But it’s love he’s after, so ultimately it’s his bittersweet romance in Provincetown with Eduardo, twenty-two and a vision of gorgeous, wide-eyed youth, that lingers in his mind and seems to hold the answers he seeks. This is a story of a man coming to terms with the accelerating ambiguity of his world, where men die young but old age is actively devalued. It is the story of gay life today, the life being led by thousands of men trying desperately to keep up, and to discover if anything really unites gay men other than desire. It is the story of how the truths of gay life are handed down from gay generation to gay generation. It is the story of what separates the men from the boys.
- Sales Rank: #292476 in Books
- Published on: 1998-06-01
- Released on: 1998-06-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.12" h x .88" w x 5.58" l, .69 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 352 pages
Amazon.com Review
Over 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.
From Library Journal
Jeff 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 Booklist
Jeff 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 Harmon
Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Not My Favorite Gay Themed Novel, But.....
By B. Morse
At a time in my life when I was thirsty for gay culture, gay films, and especially gay novels, I encountered The Men From the Boys.
While not my favorite gay-themed novel, it is one of the better ones that I have read.... . It is hard to find an average, every day gay novel to read at times, about an average, everyday gay man in average, everyday circumstances.
But while yearning for just such a find, in reading this novel, I found so many extraordinary features to gay life that perhaps had never dawned upon me before. Jeff, the central character of the novel, is in his thirties, as I am now. And, true to the description the author applies to this time of life for gay men, he is 'gay middle-aged.' It struck me as horribly realistic that the author would describe the character as such, middle-aged, amidst a youth-obsessed culture. But, like it or not, it is the truth. And William Mann, the novelist, captures this in the pages of this book.
The story centers on the past and present relationship of Jeff and Lloyd, his lover of several years, as well as Javitz, a former lover, stricken with AIDS. While at times I felt as though Javitz was thrown in as 'comic relief' to the severity of the novel in the disintegration of Jeff and Lloyd's relationship, feeling that there is no longer any passion left, Javitz is utterly recognizable in gay culture and society. Every city has a Javitz, the jaded, bitter, but unwaveringly, hysterically funny friend. Javitz's AIDS affliction is not a major plot point, but very poingantly portrayed in the novel.
This book is about so many different things, it is hard to list them all. The obsession of gay men with youth and beauty, the horrors of AIDS, the fickle nature of gay relationships, and the lack of determination to work out problems when they arise, the bitter, vengeful nature of many gay men, and the occasional loneliness of gay life, just like any other lifestyle. Although not the best gay novel I have ever read, this is one of my favorites.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
Doesn't Rise Above Cliches
By Joseph J. Schultz
After reading (mostly) glowing reviews, I decided to give this book a try, despite the tired subject matter cited in the cover blurb. The fluid writing kept me expecting more than the book actually delivered. Gay ghettos, open relationships, youth-obsessed culture... Anyone who's ever picked up a single issue of Genre or Out knows enough about these subjects to have written this novel. The language and the structure are stong, but not strong enough to carry the thin plot, wherein the protagonist mostly laments the fact that he can't have a deeply satisfying relationship with every beautiful man he meets. Supporting characters, most of whom spend time finding and discussing what "paths" they should follow, don't do any more growing than the main character.
This lack of character growth was my main problem with the novel. The characters rehash every conversation that has been part of the urban gay forum for the last ten years, but only from the perspective of people who are in the urban gay life. That the (exclusively sex-driven) culture of the novel is the only possible culture is taken for granted by all characters, thereby removing any real tension between opposing viewpoints. When an open relationship between the protagonist and his primary partner begins to lack "passion" for the partner, the question of whether opening the relationship is part of its downfall is never seriously considered. Similary, the problem of youth-obsession is solved through anonymous sexual encounters at roadside rest stops, where the protagonist is still made to feel young. Less "sophisticated" - but equally valid - views such as monogamy never provide a contrast for the characters to make compelling arguments for their current, unfulfilling lifestyles.
One minor character, introduced near the end as a sort of "voce ex machina," has had what he feels is a full life and beautiful relationship, but is introduced so artificially, and briefly, that it doesn't have much impact beyond distraction. And in the end, distraction - from one man to the next, from one self-imposed dramatic episode to the next, is all these characters seem to desire or achieve. They don't need to find all the answers, but the story itself should ask more questions.
The writing is promising enough that I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another book by Mann, if the novel had more perspective than the characters.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful.
This book gets popped to the top shelf
By James
The only gay novel I have yet read that even compares to "Men From the Boys" is Forman Brown's "A Better Angel" (written & published originally in 1933). Nothing compares to Wm. Mann's searching novel. I have rarely read anything better, and I have never read anything sadder. Yes, the character is self-absorbed, but his own blindness makes him that much more interesting to watch as he develops in maturity and even wisdom.
In "Creed for the Third Millenium", when Colleen McCullough's character is told to 'write a book', I almost threw down the novel in disgust. Writing a book will NEVER save the world. When Wm. Mann's character struggles to write his book, it's his attempt to save his soul, the perfect forum for this kind of venture. The book is full of moments like this one, as each character in turn struggles to find his way through his life and its challenges.
Structurally, this novel was phenomenal. The way the back-and-forth of time and space spins around left me SPINNING. Masterfully done, a great story with lively characters, this is one book I'm glad I had passed on to me, and I recommend this to anyone interested in man's struggle to find his own soul.
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