The Mt. Monadnock Blues

by Larry Duberstein

Just turned forty and living alone, Tim Bannon is sliding comfortably into midlife crisis when his orphaned niece and nephew arrive on his doorstep. Though Tim loves these two children, he has his doubts about being in loco parentis. For starters, he is gay and the year is 1990-long before the age of gay buddies on primetime TV. 1990 is a time of terror, a time when even perfectly nice people fear they will die from touching a gay friend. If they have one. Nor is it clear that Tim's surviving sister Erica and her husband Earl are perfectly nice people. Sexy, flaky, undirected Erica and redneck, unapologetically reactionary Earl (who, Tim is sure, shoots his dogs to simplify summer travel plans) have their own doubts about Tim's fitness and they enjoin a New Hampshire court to take the kids from him. As Tim marshals friends, colleagues, lawyers, and shrinks (Bannon's Queer Army of the Republic) to do battle against Earl and his folksy lawyer Merle, THE MT. MONADNOCK BLUES draws us deeper into an edgy, moving, and often hilarious family tale, played out against the backdrop of a glorious New England summer.

232 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

There will be more here soon on Larry Duberstein's extraordinary new novel Five Bullets, forthcoming in November. Mr. Duberstein is the author of 9 previous volumes of fiction, including The Marriage Hearse (New York Times New & Noteworthy), Carnovsky's Retreat (New American Writing Award), The Alibi Breakfast (Publishers Weekly starred notice), The Handsome Sailor (New York Times Notable Book) and The Day The Bozarts Died (BookSense Notable Book).

In his other incarnation as a human being, Larry is the father of three beautiful daughters, an accomplished woodworker and builder, an avid tennis and basketball player, and the person who walks Alice Brownstein, the wonder dog.

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On November 20, FIVE BULLETS will be published by Brimstone Corner Press. This novel about one man's experience of the Holocaust and its lifelong aftermath, has been called a "daring, elegant, introspective masterpiece" (Theodore Rosengarten) and "haunting as it is compelling" (Small Press Reviews). The protagonist Karel Bondy is "a memorable, complex character in a powerful story of war, survival, and healing" (Kirkus Reviews). Foreword Reviews adds that "each vignette of this one man's two lives is balanced on a foundation of masterful writing."

But don't settle for blurbs. Please visit the Brimstone Corner Press website to read these glowing notices in their entirety.

Reviews

[Celeste Barr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this story with a family quandry and serendipity outcomes. Ever so realistic with angst and sweetness well blended.