Setting the Lawn on Fire

by Mack Friedman

Setting the Lawn on Fire , the first novel by critically acclaimed writer Mack Friedman, trails its narrator through his obsessions with sex, drugs, art, and poison. Ivan, a young Jewish boy from Milwaukee, embarks on a journey of sexual discovery that leads him from Wisconsin to Alaska, Philadelphia, and Mexico through stints as a fishery worker, artist, and finally a hustler who learns to provide the blank canvas for other people’s dreams. The result is a new kind of coming-of-age story that sees passion from every angle because its protagonist is every kind of the seducer and the seduced, the pornographer and the model, the hunter and the prey, the trick and the john. In the end, Setting the Lawn on Fire is also something rare—a fully realized, contemporary romance that illuminates the power of desire and the rituals of the body, the brain, and the heart that attempt to contain our passions.

Genres: Gay, LGBT, Fiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2005

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Description from the publisher:

'Setting the Lawn on Fire, the first novel by critically acclaimed writer Mack Friedman, trails its narrator through his obsessions with sex, drugs, art, and poison. Ivan, a young Jewish boy from Milwaukee, embarks on a journey of sexual discovery that leads him from Wisconsin to Alaska, Philadelphia, and Mexico through stints as a fishery worker, artist, and finally a hustler who learns to provide the blank canvas for other people’s dreams. The result is a new kind of coming-of-age story that sees passion from every angle because its protagonist is every kind of lover: the seducer and the seduced, the pornographer and the model, the hunter and the prey, the trick and the john. In the end, Setting the Lawn on Fire is also something rare—a fully realized, contemporary romance that illuminates the power of desire and the rituals of the body, the brain, and the heart that attempt to contain our passions.'

Reviews:

“Indeed, this brilliant first novel is a tribute to the power of a first-class imagination to rethink what has become a venerable genre—the coming out novel. To my mind, this is the best gay debut novel I've read in quite a long time."—Edmund White, Out

"The premise of this magnetic narrative is that consciousness is a sensory collage and that all biography is sexual biography. We meet Friedman's character in the chaotic impulses of early childhood, watch him gallop through the frustrated yearnings of adolescence and early manhood, and see him sacrificed to lust, adventure, and the market for sex. What finally emerges is a full-fledged human identity, the unmistakable proof that existence equals desire. Everything in this book is tinged with it, from the light on an Alaskan plain to sweat trickling across taut young skin. Friedman has discovered the magic link between libido and humanity, arousal and our taste for living, and he shares this with us elegantly, never losing his honesty, humility and respect for others."—Bruce Benderson, author of The Romanian: Story of an Obsession and winner of France's Prix de Flore 2004

"Who would have thought there were still stories about coming of age and coming out that were waiting to be told in America? Lawns are not the only things blazing in Friedman's audacious novel; libraries, locker rooms, basketball courts, medical photography, and fishpacking plants are also on fire. So are all the places, bodies, and fantasies assembled, like a collage, in this memory-inspired piece of fiction."—Thomas Waugh, author of Out/Lines

I have quoted the above so extensively because despite the praise this novel (please see my footnote *1 below) received on publication and subsequently by some GR reviewers it is clearly being misunderstood because it is not being read as an account set in particular time - the 1980s and very early 90s (although not specified it is obvious to me from any number of throw-away cultural references and in any case is confirmed in 2008 interview at: https://www.jewishchronicle.org/2008/...). All the authors biographies I have found are without DOB and there is also a paucity of information about the author's post 'Setting the Lawn on Fire' career.

So this is very much a late twentieth century gay coming of age story - I think it has much to say for those who have grown post that time period but it is important to know what you are reading.

I read this book fifteen or more years ago and loved it - I thought it was very funny and honest - it has none of today's self self censorship and s unembarrassed about admitting to the odd things the confusions of growing up gay in the 1980s could lead to (please note a 16 year old in the 1980s looking at pictures of naked 13 or 14 year old boys in antique medical volumes is not pederast in fact or law, never mind a paedophile - there is a difference between the two - just a confused kid seeking knowledge during a time when questions weren't asked never mind answered). When published originally in 2005 it was before so much would change but now-a-days I think its setting needs to be made clear and may actually give this wonderful novel a wider readership. After all 'A Boy's Own Story' by Edmund White only gains from the knowledge of its 1950s setting.

A wonderful and highly recommended novel. If anyone knows what Mack Friedman is up to today I would love to know - please message me!




*1 It is a novel and won the inaugural Edmund White award for a first novel in 2006) though no doubt based on the author's own experiences. Although the whole concept of distinguishing between novel, memoir and autobiography seems in today's world of 'metafiction' an antique it is worth remembering that only twenty years ago (I am writing in 2025) such blurring of categories had yet to take place. Everyone presumed an author's first book would emerge from their lived experience but also that they would ruthlessly used this material in a way to render comparison between 'fact' and 'fiction' irrelevant.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this eccentric book oddly compelling, a good, quick read for a few hours at an airport. The early chapters are rather hilarious. In first person memoir form, they present Eye (short for Ivan) struggling with learning about his homosexual urges in boyhood, lurking in the library stacks to look up articles about penis length in medical journals. At age 12, he begins getting intimate with with boys, indulging in sexual play when not busy with gymnastics or juggling. (An attempt to juggle flaming bowling pins gives the novel its title.)While other boys drift away to girlfriends, Eye continues pairing up with lads, and after high school, hits the highway with pal Sean to find work in an Alaskan fish factory. In this phase, Eye becomes more seriously obsessed with sex. In later chapters, he earns money hustling while attending art school.As another reviewer noted, these episodes are presented with an eerie detachment. Humor on the surface, but with a dark undercurrent. But before he becomes a statistic, Eye uses a windfall of money to say goodbye to hustling and to light out for Mexico, carting the ashes of his dead mother. In surreal scenes on a beach where his family vacationed years earlier, Eye appears to come to terms with himself and memories of his parents, preparing for a fresh start.

[Anthony · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book got lots of good reviews but in the end left me somewhat cold. I felt like I just didn't come away understanding why the main character, Ivan, was who he was. I very much identified with him in the early part of the book, when he was still a kid -- lonely, kind of shy, madly in love with the boy next door. I even identified with him as a 20 year old in Alaska, falling hopelessly in love with a straight man the way I fell in love with Lou when I lived in Roanoke. And the rare occasions when the character talks about his mother's death rang very poetic and obviously touched something for me. But once Ivan is ensconced in Phlly at art school, and starts working as a hustler, and falls somewhat into a pit from which he creates his art -- the author loses me. I feel nothing for the character from that point on except to wonder, "how did he turn into this glazed-over, detached from everything person?" And the author never really satisfactority answers that question.

[Robert Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

quirky, odd, a gay hustler protagonist. Disturbing. Shades of Genet.

[Alister Valentine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is all over the place and I don’t understand why it has so many positive reviews. It brushes past several serious issues and also has a lot of pedophilia. If you’re curious I would buy the book preowned but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

[Rob Lesher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this short novel on Vacation. It is the story of one person's gay journey. Reading the author's history of writing erotic fiction, some things made more sense. Picked this up at a BookExpo probably in 2005 and it has been on my shelf until this vacation. Interesting, not for everyone.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I imagine that if I had gotten into hustling before I came out in college (haha), my experience as far as feelings and reactions would have been very similar to Eye's. This managed to transcend the typical coming-out novel.

[Wils Cain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story - each chapter told from the main character's perspective at different stages through his life. Interesting as he gets older how he becomes more like the characters that are feared in his earlier life. So true.

[Kiely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good quick read. An approach to writing that fills every page with 20 years worth of events but doesn't seem at all distracting to the reader. A feel good drity look into restroom behavior.