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The Abode of Bliss: Ten Stories for Adam
Explaining himself to himself and to the man he loves, Ziya tells Adam the stories of his A bilingual childhood and youth in cosmopolitan İstanbul, city of the world’s desire, and the Aegean resort of Bodrum. A bewildering trip by ship and train and jet across Europe and the Atlantic to college in America, that strange and terrifying country. Friendships, passionate affairs, one-night stands, rape—a richly dissatisfying erotic education. A wedding, a death, an act of inexplicable violence—a meeting. Intricate as Ottoman miniatures, Ziya’s stories reveal a world the world we live in.“Waiting fifteen years to read something new from Alex Jeffers was well worth it. This collection is a treasure chest of perfectly-polished gems, each one radiating an inner beauty brought out by evocative prose, rich characterizations, and a strong sense of place. A rare treat indeed, it is over all too soon and leaves you longing for more.”—Michael Thomas Ford, author of What We Remember
- GenresFiction
279 pages, Paperback
First published July 21, 2011
18 people want to read
About the author
Alex Jeffers
37 books13 followersWriter (of various sorts of fiction and, as professionally required, copy).
Editor/copyeditor/proof reader (my own and others’ writings).
Reader (catholic, if not Roman). Designer (as far as it goes). Seamster (out of practice these days). Gardener (presently sans garden, alackaday).
Listener (to music, to friends, to crazy people). Commenter (not so much, really, though I do talk, perhaps too much, to the cats).
Drinker (put-hair-on-your-chest* black coffee mostly, spiced with the occasional Earl Grey, pinot grigio, Campari, gin, or Irish whiskey). Smoker (I know, all right, so just be quiet).
Dreamer (actually, I almost never recall my dreams). Ivy League grad (it’s true!). Tattooed and pierced person (you can take that on trust).
Quasi Muslim (if, you know, I believed in God). Football fan (no, no, no, not American football: real football, what you call soccer). Gay man.
Autobiographer? Not just no, fuck off and die no.
* not that that’s worked for me, dammit
Editor/copyeditor/proof reader (my own and others’ writings).
Reader (catholic, if not Roman). Designer (as far as it goes). Seamster (out of practice these days). Gardener (presently sans garden, alackaday).
Listener (to music, to friends, to crazy people). Commenter (not so much, really, though I do talk, perhaps too much, to the cats).
Drinker (put-hair-on-your-chest* black coffee mostly, spiced with the occasional Earl Grey, pinot grigio, Campari, gin, or Irish whiskey). Smoker (I know, all right, so just be quiet).
Dreamer (actually, I almost never recall my dreams). Ivy League grad (it’s true!). Tattooed and pierced person (you can take that on trust).
Quasi Muslim (if, you know, I believed in God). Football fan (no, no, no, not American football: real football, what you call soccer). Gay man.
Autobiographer? Not just no, fuck off and die no.
* not that that’s worked for me, dammit
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 7, 2011
Prior to The Abode of Bliss: Ten Stories for Adam, my personal experience with Alex Jeffers' works was limited to reading Do You Remember Tulum? Novella in Form of a Love Letter. I admit that reading that one magnificent piece by this author left me with high expectations.
The Abode of Bliss: Ten Stories for Adam is a compilation of ten self-contained short stories, some which have been previously published. Pulled together in this book, each story becomes a chapter where Ziya, as the narrator, gives his lover Adam a detailed, uncensored account of his personal journey as he attempts to make sense of events and people that influenced or changed his life.
Jeffers focuses much of his in-depth exploration of Ziya's character by slowly unraveling family relationships, and through them and their history, Turkish culture. Ziya's family is financially well off, educated, seemingly stable and strays from Muslim tradition only to a certain extent. The truths, secrets and betrayals that Ziya finds and experiences within his family reflect life as it evolves around him.
Jeffers' is not a straightforward tale. Instead, he has a roundabout style of getting to the point, gathering all the pieces of the puzzle and allowing them to fall into place at the right moment. He reveals the details of his main character's life by peeling one layer at a time while maintaining the reader engaged. Jeffers' prose is intricate and his writing lush and richly descriptive. He plays brilliantly with language, as a single word (or in some cases, words) take on a deeper significance by the time a chapter ends. At other times, as in the chapter titles "Kindness" and "A Person," it is immediately apparent. However, his focus on language is found throughout the book.
One of the aspects I love about this book is that Jeffers transports the reader to place and time without effort and creates an atmosphere that changes with the setting throughout the story, even as the narrator's voice remains distinctly unchanged. The reader is caught unaware at the most unexpected of moments, giving key revelations a certain shocking value because of the almost nonchalant way in which those moments are narrated. As an example: there's a lack of violence, even when the act described is violent, that tends to leave the reader breathless for that one moment and makes a stronger impact.
In The Abode of Bliss: Ten Stories for Adam, the stories, all ten of them, come together and fit beautifully without the repetitiveness that I've encountered in similar works where collections of short stories are pulled together to form one book. And what of my high expectations? I am happy to say that those were met, and then some. This is a fabulous work of fiction by Alex Jeffers and one I highly recommend.
Complete review at Impressions of a Reader
The Abode of Bliss: Ten Stories for Adam is a compilation of ten self-contained short stories, some which have been previously published. Pulled together in this book, each story becomes a chapter where Ziya, as the narrator, gives his lover Adam a detailed, uncensored account of his personal journey as he attempts to make sense of events and people that influenced or changed his life.
Jeffers focuses much of his in-depth exploration of Ziya's character by slowly unraveling family relationships, and through them and their history, Turkish culture. Ziya's family is financially well off, educated, seemingly stable and strays from Muslim tradition only to a certain extent. The truths, secrets and betrayals that Ziya finds and experiences within his family reflect life as it evolves around him.
Jeffers' is not a straightforward tale. Instead, he has a roundabout style of getting to the point, gathering all the pieces of the puzzle and allowing them to fall into place at the right moment. He reveals the details of his main character's life by peeling one layer at a time while maintaining the reader engaged. Jeffers' prose is intricate and his writing lush and richly descriptive. He plays brilliantly with language, as a single word (or in some cases, words) take on a deeper significance by the time a chapter ends. At other times, as in the chapter titles "Kindness" and "A Person," it is immediately apparent. However, his focus on language is found throughout the book.
One of the aspects I love about this book is that Jeffers transports the reader to place and time without effort and creates an atmosphere that changes with the setting throughout the story, even as the narrator's voice remains distinctly unchanged. The reader is caught unaware at the most unexpected of moments, giving key revelations a certain shocking value because of the almost nonchalant way in which those moments are narrated. As an example: there's a lack of violence, even when the act described is violent, that tends to leave the reader breathless for that one moment and makes a stronger impact.
In The Abode of Bliss: Ten Stories for Adam, the stories, all ten of them, come together and fit beautifully without the repetitiveness that I've encountered in similar works where collections of short stories are pulled together to form one book. And what of my high expectations? I am happy to say that those were met, and then some. This is a fabulous work of fiction by Alex Jeffers and one I highly recommend.
Complete review at Impressions of a Reader
September 18, 2017
Alex Jeffers’ stories are dependably evocative, and the ten stories in The Abode of Bliss are just as reliable. His work is atmospheric, but grounded enough in reality that you enjoy it instead of feeling like you’re floating off somewhere. It has meaning and substance to weigh the fanciful down. In this story cycle, sexuality and religion both conflict and co-exist, and the conversations between Ziya and Adam are intimate. Jeffers has indicated that this blend of stories took a long time to concoct, but it was worth the wait.
August 11, 2011
Publisher: Lethe Press
Pages: 265
In a series of ten remarkable short stories, Ziya explains his erotic journey into manhood to Adam, the man Ziya loves. Raised in cosmopolitan Istanbul, Ziya is immersed in his Muslim family and traditions, yet he harbors a secret that goes against everything he knows. He is gay. His mother understands, and arranges for Ziya to attend college in the United States, where he will enjoy an easier time of being accepted and be free to live his life without pressure from family or religion.
Ziya’s journey takes him from Istanbul, through Europe, and finally to Boston where he tries to assimilate a new lifestyle, yet, he keeps being drawn back into his culture. This is a long and beautiful journey. Along the way Ziya encounters old friends, surprises from family members, one-night stands, rape, weddings and bashings and deaths, and in the end a chance meeting.
These ten stories are told in chronological order and build on each other, making this book read like a novel. This is nearly a perfect read. What struck me most was the intricate detail of a young, Muslim man’s life in Turkey, and how cultural pressures make it difficult to assimilate to life in the U.S. But this is more than a story of culture clash. It is an in-depth study of a young man’s sexual education, which delves deeply into his being. Alex Jeffers lavishes exhaustive detail onto the page, uncovering layer after layer of both the characters and the culture, yet with such beautifully crafted prose that it is a pleasure—an exquisite dream you don’t want to wake from—rather than being tedious.
The pace of Ziya’s introspective excursion toward his sexuality is slow and concise. As Ziya ponders his attitudes, so does the reader. This is a book that makes the reader examine his/her own values as Ziya examines his. It makes you think, scrutinize, weigh. This is not a light romp for lazy readers who merely want to be entertained. It is not a book for everyone. It is a detailed study of an inner journey of one man that spans multiple countries and cultures. I suspect readers will either love it or be bored to tears. As you can tell, I loved it.
I’ve long believed that Alex Jeffers is a remarkable talent. I regard The Abode of Bliss as his most impressive work to date. This is a book I will read, savor, again and again. I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves finely crafted prose, lush descriptions and gratifyingly deep characters.
Pages: 265
In a series of ten remarkable short stories, Ziya explains his erotic journey into manhood to Adam, the man Ziya loves. Raised in cosmopolitan Istanbul, Ziya is immersed in his Muslim family and traditions, yet he harbors a secret that goes against everything he knows. He is gay. His mother understands, and arranges for Ziya to attend college in the United States, where he will enjoy an easier time of being accepted and be free to live his life without pressure from family or religion.
Ziya’s journey takes him from Istanbul, through Europe, and finally to Boston where he tries to assimilate a new lifestyle, yet, he keeps being drawn back into his culture. This is a long and beautiful journey. Along the way Ziya encounters old friends, surprises from family members, one-night stands, rape, weddings and bashings and deaths, and in the end a chance meeting.
These ten stories are told in chronological order and build on each other, making this book read like a novel. This is nearly a perfect read. What struck me most was the intricate detail of a young, Muslim man’s life in Turkey, and how cultural pressures make it difficult to assimilate to life in the U.S. But this is more than a story of culture clash. It is an in-depth study of a young man’s sexual education, which delves deeply into his being. Alex Jeffers lavishes exhaustive detail onto the page, uncovering layer after layer of both the characters and the culture, yet with such beautifully crafted prose that it is a pleasure—an exquisite dream you don’t want to wake from—rather than being tedious.
The pace of Ziya’s introspective excursion toward his sexuality is slow and concise. As Ziya ponders his attitudes, so does the reader. This is a book that makes the reader examine his/her own values as Ziya examines his. It makes you think, scrutinize, weigh. This is not a light romp for lazy readers who merely want to be entertained. It is not a book for everyone. It is a detailed study of an inner journey of one man that spans multiple countries and cultures. I suspect readers will either love it or be bored to tears. As you can tell, I loved it.
I’ve long believed that Alex Jeffers is a remarkable talent. I regard The Abode of Bliss as his most impressive work to date. This is a book I will read, savor, again and again. I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves finely crafted prose, lush descriptions and gratifyingly deep characters.
August 13, 2016
The Abode of Bliss by Alex Jeffers is a compilation of ten exquisitely written short stories that take the form of chapters and come together as a novel. The stories are narrated in retrospective by Ziya, a Turkish national, explaining himself and his life to Adam, his American lover, telling Adam the stories of his life.
Ziya’s journey begins with his childhood memories and continues with stories of his family life, of Turkish history and culture, of his adolescence and growing awareness of his sexuality, of his eventual departure from Turkey to Europe and then to the United States where he attends university in Boston, and of his experiences in his new home and the difficulties of integrating into American life as a Muslim man.
The Abode of Bliss had been on my reading list since its release by Lethe Press in August 2011 and I was finally able to read it in 2012. The book was an incredibly personal reading experience for me as it transported me back to my own childhood and memories, both good and bad, of my paternal Turkish origins. It is incredible to me that Mr. Jeffers, who is not of Turkish descent, has written a story that so intimately captures the ethos and nuances of Turkish life and culture. I believe this is an innate talent that requires an intuitive sensitivity, understanding and ability to immerse oneself in a writing subject that no amount of research can achieve. Mr. Jeffers possesses these qualities in abundance. There are a handful of authors that transport me and in whose writing I can effortlessly loose myself, and Mr. Jeffers is one of these authors. I cannot recommend this book enough.
The complete review of The Abode of Bliss by Alex Jeffers is available at Indie Reviews.
June 3, 2014
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Review appears in "Out in Print: Queer Book Revies"
Review appears in "Out in Print: Queer Book Revies"
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February 5, 2016Interesting fictional stories within the framework of a Turkish/Islamic culture.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews