Mann oh Mann

Fog: A Novel of Desire and Reprisal by Jeff Mann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Powerful writing. For once, the fact that it was present tense didn't irk me. In fact I was half way through before I realized. I'm not sure if that's testament to the fact that the story and characterisation swept me along so much or the skill of the writer. I suspect both.

The subject matter is confronting, but what I liked best was that the GMC was consistent throughout and the emotional as well as the physical consequences of every deed rang true. Plausible? Likely? Who cares? The story is more about the character's needs and desires as much as what they do and why they do it. It's not m/m romance but there sure is a lot of love in it, and I don't mean sex.

Edited after listening to the audio version kindly supplied to me by the author.

This was my first audio book and I saved it for a solo seven hour drive from Lismore to Moree, via the Bruxner Way/Highway, a little travelled two lane road which at times winds through wooded hills. For half the journey I saw only three other cars on the road

The length was perfect. By the time I hit the busy Newell Highway, it had finished. But the lonely journey was not only enlivened by listening to a riveting story, the isolation also matched it perfectly. I felt as trapped and isolated in the car as the characters were in their hideaway.

Having read the story before, I knew what was coming, so I was able to concentrate more on the way it unfolded.

How could you go from such a dire start to a HEA?

Jeff has also written a short story and a novella on a similar theme (included in "History of Barbed Wire") that are like sketches artists like Rembrandt and Michelangelo did before creating their final masterpiece. Working on the hand or a section of the whole.

Jeff's shorter pieces didn't have an HEA though, so as an author I found it fascinating the bits that were added to make the ending, not only logical but immensely satisfying.

I enjoyed hearing the story, the narrator's voice changed a bit in the middle, not sure if it was just a reflection of different recording sessions or a different narrator, but both versions were fine.

A History of Barbed Wire by Jeff Mann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jeff Mann is an excellent writer. No question of it. As Patrick Califia says in the opening words of his intro:

Poets. They'll break your heart every time. But until then, the sex is amazing.

I found it interesting reading this anthology after having read Jeff's essay in The Other Man based on something that happened to him in real life. He talks about being involved with "Another Man" even though he was in a committed loving relationship. This theme resonates through his stories. Having a lover who is a good, kind reliable person - but not kinky-and the way he got so aroused whenever he thought about being tied up and taken to his physical limits.

I've always been interested in uncovering men's fears and fantasies as knowing these gives a better picture of who they are. Jeff's are written here, plain to see.

Above all, this is a book about bears. Nowhere else have I really felt the essence of these big men. And not just big, hairy men with voracious appetites for food and drink, but also sex, especially the intense experiences brought on by the extremes of leathersex.

I deliberately skipped reading the introduction by Patrick Califia until I'd finished the collection as I didn't want to be influenced by anything other than Jeff's own words. However, Patrick does sum up what this essence is.

The last story was especially interesting from a writer's POV after having read Fog: A Novel of Desire and Reprisal

The two stories have very similar plots but just some slight shifts as far as goal, motivation and circumstance leads to a different take on the scenario. Yes, there are similarities. But the differences are what makes them both worth reading. Both are satisfying in their own rights. Both had me on the edge of my seat wondering how it could ever be resolved without something drastic happening to one or all of the characters.

That's what good writing is all about.

(Incidentally, I managed to buy this through All Romance Ebooks but it definitely shouldn't be shelved as romance even though there is a lot of affection and love in the true sense of the word)

Loving Mountains, Loving Men by Jeff Mann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading the rest of Jeff's memoirs, Edge and Binding the God, I thought there was nothing else to learn about the man and the writer, however this book filled in a couple of gaping holes in the jigsaw.

For starters we learn more about Jeff's relatives and his long term partner, John.

In his essay "How to Live with Peace" Jeff says

One of the great blessings of having a spouse is being able to lay down that terrible search for touch, for romantic and erotic connection, and concentrate on the rest of the world. The spiritual sense of things which in my bachelor days I sometimes achieved via those rare and rapturous moments with other men...

Yet at other times, Jeff notes that in some ways he misses the pain and intensity of failed relationships or unrequited lusts that inspired him to write poetry. Perhaps it has been replaced by his lust for food!

We had caught tantalising glimpses of John before. One memorable episode was Jeff's fortieth birthday which I had read about earlier. But I hadn't read how they had met, what had sparked this partnership. There are still a couple of pieces missing - Jeff doesn't disclose everything - but he gives enough to satisfy.

We also hear about the father who taught him so much, from the practical lessons on gardening to seeing romance in the tradition of Emerson and Thoreau. Yet, Jeff is also frank about the strained relationship between his parents. Acknowledging his mother's unhappiness, distanced from her husband and lonely (emotionally if not physically.) This affected him just as much. We also meet other people who have influenced his life. His (eccentric) aunts and grandmother.

Words capture people and places for posterity: Appalachian culture, the landscape, the characters, growing up gay in an age that didn't accept that, being a minority both because of his sexuality and his love for, and adherence to, his roots.

You can see that the latter are strong.

The mountains reflect the man. Not sleek and sophisticated like the gay men he can't identify with in big city bars. Jeff is a true bear. The wildness and roughness of where he comes from is beautifully reflected in the physical form he has developed with love and pride.

If you have read Jeff's other memoirs, track this down as well. Unfortunately it is only available in print form, but the upside is a collection of photos so you can put faces to names.

Cub by Jeff Mann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a lovely story about a young man growing up gay in rural Appalachia and his troubles of finsing his own path in the world and finding someone to share that journey.

It's a Coming of Age story whch can be enjoyed by young and old.

It was especially interesting to look back on this story after reading Edge: Travels of an Appalachian Leather Bear which is the account of Jeff's own story.

This was the HFN he wished he could have had and is poignant because of that.

In the past, I have also blogged reviews of "Purgatory" his novel about two men from opposing sides in the Civil War, his collection of poems "A Romantic Mann" and his collection of stories about vampires "Desire and Devour".


These reviews are included as a lead up to a lengthy interview with Jeff which will follow in my next blog. Stay tuned!