How does a reviewer write about a novel that centers on a particularly awful incident without ruining the reader’s discovery of how it affects the main character? Not an easy task but I will try to discuss the novel without revealing this central fact.
Adult Ari Silverman is a tenured medieval studies professor at a university near Washington, D.C. His husband “M,” is a poetry professor at the same school. Ari learns of an alleged assault by M on a student at a college party where underage drinking occurred. Surprisingly, Ari is selected to sit on the committee that will hear the allegations and determine what punishment, if any, should be exacted.
The story shifts to Ari’s upbringing as a student at a Hebrew prep school in Michigan. The rabbi of the Silverman’s synagogue builds a house across the street from where Ari lives. When the family moves in, Ari discovers the rabbi’s son, Mark, will be in his class at school. Mark is intimidating and constantly badgers Ari over his less-than-butch persona. Their interactions force Ari to confront his own feelings and question expectations of typical, teen, male behavior.
After the incident occurs (he sometimes calls it an “accident”), Ari transfers to Dalton, a WASP-ey prep school in another suburb. On his first visit to Dalton, he meets Justin, a black, tennis player who greets him with kindness. Later, he has the opportunity to befriend Justin and is quite smitten. How do other kids (particularly Justin), navigate teen social interactions with seeming ease? Justin is his first crush and first love.
Justin knows everything about alternative music and introduces Ari to many bands, with Nirvana having the most resonance. He identifies with the vocals and the personalities of the band members, particularly lead singer Kurt Cobain. “The moodiness, the exhausted anger” of the songs speak to his own angst. Further, Kurt confronted the band’s mainstream audience over their homophobia. “What else could I say/everyone is gay,” as Kurt sang in “All Apologies.” No wonder this appreciation carries with him into adulthood.
Many people figure out that Ari’s future will be shaped by when and how he accepts his homosexuality. The most direct interaction with one of these people is the father of his student exchange host family. Told that Ari is “alternative,” he assumes this means gay. In Ari’s case both are true but that is garbled by the cultural differences between the two countries. The father suggests English-translation books that Ari might want to read while in Nice. Suggesting Gide, Genet and Rimbaud should have been a clue to someone a bit older but perhaps not to a teenager. The father tells Ari about a colleague in the art business who was closeted and died from AIDS complications without acknowledging his true self. “Don’t repeat his mistake,” says the father, encouraging Ari to accept his own orientation.
Like many coming-of-age novels, Ari realizes later that he never got to be a teenager. All the posturing, pretending and denial made him face struggles that would challenge even someone of a more mature age.
The novel shifts back and forth between Ari the professor and Ari the Dalton student. He reconnects with Justin when they are both middle-aged.
Any review contains information that a reader might prefer to discover on their own. Being a bit elusive about the details of the story are an effort to let you do just that. There are difficult parts in the novel that are integral to Ari’s journey. The author has written a work that effectively weaves the elements of growing up in the 1990s, addressing race/privilege/sexuality, confronting awful truths and realizing consequences have meaning throughout your life. It makes for a very good read indeed
Published by http://threeroomspress.com & available from Amazon and good Book Stores everywhere
Aaron Hamburger is the author of a story collection titled The View from Stalin’s Head (Random House), winner of the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His second book, the novel Faith for Beginners (Random House), was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, O, the Oprah Magazine, Details, The Village Voice, Poets & Writers,Tin House, Out, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Forward and numerous other publications. He currently resides in Washington, D.C.
REVIEW: STEPHEN COYQueerguru Contributor STEPHEN COY has been an avid reader all his (very long) life ? and is finally putting his skills to good use. He lives in Provincetown full time with his husband Jim, having finally given up the bright lights of Boston and now haunts the streets mumbling to himself that no one reads anymore …
Labels: 2019, book review, Stephen Coy
