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Tomas
When Paul Weber is approached by an intriguing widow to write a book about her "highly influential, but criminally obscure" husband, Alfred Tomas, Paul thinks Tomas will be his first step towards achieving literary glory. But the more he learns about Tomas, the more he begins to question the quiet family life he leads with his wife Sylvia and their young son Josh.
- GenresFiction
202 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 5, 2010
Introducing an Exciting New Author
Robert Bedick is a writer of substance. Though TOMAS may be his first published book (and there is no notation on the cover flaps of this book to indicate otherwise) this first novel bears all of the traits of a practiced and gifted writer. He knows how to create characters about whom we care (or in some instances, loathe - which is as it should be), he uses the narrator role to perfection, allowing us to understand the man who is sharing his life and work with us in a manner that keeps us involved and cheering, and he has that terrific talent of having a story within a story unfold meaningfully, generously, and yet never pulling interest away from the main story at hand. In all, it works, and works splendidly well!
Paul Weber is a writer - or rather perceives himself as a writer, having left his job to commit his time to creating novels. He is married to Sylvia who supports the family, and they have a young son Josh. While scrounging around for ideas for inspiration as he whiles away his boring days with the stay at home dad routine he is strangely contacted by one Evelyn Tomas who, having read one of Paul's excerpts in the news, approaches him to write about her deceased husband Alfred Tomas, an odd, obscure artist, lothario and political antagonist. Evelyn promptly leaves Tomas' diaries with Paul and employs him to write a biography in hopes of bringing some notoriety to this wildly behaving criminally obscure artist.
Paul shares his new 'commission' with Sylvia who seems against his taking on a project such as this, wasting his time writing a bio instead of pursuing his dream of writing a novel. But Paul proceeds and as he reads the diaries of this very bizarre man he uncovers information that makes the 'obscure to the world' Tomas oddly pertinent to his own family situation. The manner in which Paul uncovers the realities of Tomas' love life and how those affect Paul and Sylvia and Sylvia's cranky friend Enid is masterful detective work and superb mystery writing and to say more about the plot would be to break the promise of suspense the novel generates. Suffice it to say that Robert Bedick understands the technique of molding suspense, creating palpable passion as well as some naughty passages, and present the intricacies of a dissection of married life as influenced by past pre-marriage histories to make a story that is strong on every level. To quote his Tomas 'Everything I call my own can be traced to someone else' and 'Romantic love is a poet's fantasy of only recent invention, an artificial bond between men and women. Even sex is only a means for a mindless double helix to immortalize itself in an infinite universe. Love is not an emotion, it's a statistic dictated by the economic system that prevails in the country where a person happens to live.'
Writing a first novel about a writer writing about a writer is a challenge, and Paul Bedick meets that challenge on every level.
Grady Harp
Robert Bedick is a writer of substance. Though TOMAS may be his first published book (and there is no notation on the cover flaps of this book to indicate otherwise) this first novel bears all of the traits of a practiced and gifted writer. He knows how to create characters about whom we care (or in some instances, loathe - which is as it should be), he uses the narrator role to perfection, allowing us to understand the man who is sharing his life and work with us in a manner that keeps us involved and cheering, and he has that terrific talent of having a story within a story unfold meaningfully, generously, and yet never pulling interest away from the main story at hand. In all, it works, and works splendidly well!
Paul Weber is a writer - or rather perceives himself as a writer, having left his job to commit his time to creating novels. He is married to Sylvia who supports the family, and they have a young son Josh. While scrounging around for ideas for inspiration as he whiles away his boring days with the stay at home dad routine he is strangely contacted by one Evelyn Tomas who, having read one of Paul's excerpts in the news, approaches him to write about her deceased husband Alfred Tomas, an odd, obscure artist, lothario and political antagonist. Evelyn promptly leaves Tomas' diaries with Paul and employs him to write a biography in hopes of bringing some notoriety to this wildly behaving criminally obscure artist.
Paul shares his new 'commission' with Sylvia who seems against his taking on a project such as this, wasting his time writing a bio instead of pursuing his dream of writing a novel. But Paul proceeds and as he reads the diaries of this very bizarre man he uncovers information that makes the 'obscure to the world' Tomas oddly pertinent to his own family situation. The manner in which Paul uncovers the realities of Tomas' love life and how those affect Paul and Sylvia and Sylvia's cranky friend Enid is masterful detective work and superb mystery writing and to say more about the plot would be to break the promise of suspense the novel generates. Suffice it to say that Robert Bedick understands the technique of molding suspense, creating palpable passion as well as some naughty passages, and present the intricacies of a dissection of married life as influenced by past pre-marriage histories to make a story that is strong on every level. To quote his Tomas 'Everything I call my own can be traced to someone else' and 'Romantic love is a poet's fantasy of only recent invention, an artificial bond between men and women. Even sex is only a means for a mindless double helix to immortalize itself in an infinite universe. Love is not an emotion, it's a statistic dictated by the economic system that prevails in the country where a person happens to live.'
Writing a first novel about a writer writing about a writer is a challenge, and Paul Bedick meets that challenge on every level.
Grady Harp
January 4, 2013
This is a most unusual little book, which I won from Goodreads . I’m a little confused as to how to review it. In 197 small pages it seemed to take me from Earth to Mars and Back to Earth, so to speak. That is, it took the narrator, Paul Weber, from Hoboken to Purgatory and back to Hoboken (again, so to speak).
Author Robert Bedick takes us on the journey of Paul Weber’s mind, which sometimes seemed to be rather paranoid or rather fantastical, or something. Weber is just an ordinary guy living in Hoboken with his wife Sylvia. Weber is trying out life as an author and is approached to write a memoir/autobiography of sorts of an obscure artist. During his research to prepare his manuscript, his imagination takes him on what seems to be quite an absurd mental trip.
It’s fun to read and it’s squirmy at the same time; sometimes I felt astounded—shocked—at what he imagined. It kept me reading without “getting it” until the last page, last paragraph, last sentence. Congratulations, Robert Bedick, on quite a story. Keep on writing.
Author Robert Bedick takes us on the journey of Paul Weber’s mind, which sometimes seemed to be rather paranoid or rather fantastical, or something. Weber is just an ordinary guy living in Hoboken with his wife Sylvia. Weber is trying out life as an author and is approached to write a memoir/autobiography of sorts of an obscure artist. During his research to prepare his manuscript, his imagination takes him on what seems to be quite an absurd mental trip.
It’s fun to read and it’s squirmy at the same time; sometimes I felt astounded—shocked—at what he imagined. It kept me reading without “getting it” until the last page, last paragraph, last sentence. Congratulations, Robert Bedick, on quite a story. Keep on writing.
December 6, 2024
Amazing and heart opening.
January 3, 2013
When I first received Tomas I was intrigued. What secret did the diaries of Alfred Tomas hold that would change Paul's life? I thought it would be a coming of age type book. I believed that Tomas would effect Paul dramatically and I was correct. I will be honest though, I was not happy with Paul's response and I believe that he whined a bit more than he should have but then I am a bit cynical and I don't know if that is part of the reason I wasn't very fond of the book. I did like how it ended though, I am glad that Paul could work through his angst and become a better man on the other side.
Mr. Bedick wrote a good book, it just wasn't to my tastes and I wouldn't recommend it to any of my friends because it isn't to their taste either and that is why I only gave the book 3 stars.
Mr. Bedick wrote a good book, it just wasn't to my tastes and I wouldn't recommend it to any of my friends because it isn't to their taste either and that is why I only gave the book 3 stars.
December 24, 2012
RECEIVED FREE FROM GOODREADS FIRST READS. A struggling writer agrees to research an unknown literary figure, and ends up uncovering far more than he bargained for. This is a wonderfully written, clever little novel, full of self-deprecating humor -- like Woody Allen playing Sigmund Freud as detective, investigating his own life through another man's memoirs. A pleasure to read!
October 26, 2014
I was not crazy about this book. It was too obvious, too simple, and wasn't interesting. The main character whines and wallows and makes incredibly stupid decisions through the entire book. It was a frustrating read.
February 25, 2016
Interestingly introspective
What are the odds! The full and unabashed rhetoric from the main character is so honest. It was a nice read.
What are the odds! The full and unabashed rhetoric from the main character is so honest. It was a nice read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews