Clay's Way : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Read a cool book !
Review: I am not sure how the cover grabbed me, but it did and I am glad it did! Great novel! And Blair Mastbaum's first! I have lived in Hawaii and so I might have finally chosen to buy it for that reason, but the characters are millions of miles away from me. I am 44 years old, and they are below 18 years old. The novel tells a story that is set in a world different from the one of "Will And Grace", and "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy". Being high school aged is different. Clay and Sam, the main characters, are flawed. They could grow up to be well adjusted, but they are trapped in their messed up social enviroments for the length of the novel. Being Gay is hard at that age! Hawaii is an unforgiving place as well, since it is so small. Everyone knows everyone else's business. Going to Mastbaum's web site I was thrilled to see that he is writing a sequel. (blairmastbaum.com) San Francisco has a Gay youth organization called "Lyric" and I think that I will go donate my copy to them. People should read this! Not all Gay teens will become lawyers and rich...they need something that speaks to them as well!

Rating:
Summary: Intense, chaotic, unresolved
Review: I had to stop reading several times because the narrator (Sam) causes too much chaos and drama around himself and his love interests. But then I remembered Sam's just a kid, thrashing skateboards and his punked-out body, and writing haiku to center his feelings. It's non-stop lust with little release. He believes he is 110% focused on what he wants (Clay) but then he can't close the deal. He's so out there it screws the pooch everytime. But he's fighting what's cool - Hawaii, surfing, laidback style. Maybe he whould move to Tasmania.

Rating:
Summary: Wow...
Review: I love this book, I love it, I love it, I love it! Reading it and being able to relate (a lot) to the book was really wierd, but extremely enjoyable. I really couldn't put the book down, and page after page I was just amazed. After reading the last page, I broke into tears, what Clay did to Sam was just horrible. It reminded me when I was in Sam's exact position just a couple months ago. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever been in love or anyone who wants to read a good if not great story.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT AND POETIC
Review: I really loved this book. I've never read anyting I felt captured what it feels like to be a teenager and the feeling of sexual and emotional longing that Clay's Way has. Blair Mastbaum is a great writer. I hope he keeps writing. I think this book is sexy, funny, sad and it really puts you in the heads of its characters. I wish it was longer.

Rating:
Summary: punk rock apocalypse
Review: I think some people really missed the point of this novel, just like catcher in the rye, it doesn't have a clear cut story...the motivations of the characters aren't simple or laid bare for you to knod along with, you have to dig here and that's what makes it great. Sam is a very realistic young gay man, he is obsessive, perhaps a little psychotic but so desperate for love that he projects all his emotions and feelings onto Clay, a surfer who is in denial about his bisexuality. the rollercoaster, surreal logic of the novel, the way we are taken to wild party and next emotional apocalypse perfectly defines the chaos of youth, that's what makes this novel great. this is real romance in the 21st Century, it's violent, chaotic, maddening and totally wicked sexy.

Rating:
Summary: Okay read
Review: I was not impressed with Clay's Way, and would just like to offer a dissenting opinion about the work. Although the narrative is told by a 15-going-on-16 year-old, that is not an excuse for the so-so writing, which often hits you rather bluntly. Reading lines like "Clay's bedroom door was practically closed, just like his personality" (paraphrased) made me cringe.

The story is confused and flat. Basically, you have an unhappy boy (Sam) who meets a seemingly laidback surfer dude (Clay), the two fool around, Sam falls for Clay, Clay becomes distant and strange, Sam and Clay seem to become close again, Clay punches Sam in face and tells him to [...]. The End. Exciting, right?

Apparently, Clay is a severe closet-case, but this theme is never developed in the story. He has a wretched, prissy girlfriend named Tammy, I believe, but it is never clear why Clay feels bound to this person, and why Clay is so outraged when Sam reveals that he loves Clay to their peer group. Considering how central this is to the novel, you would think it would be more strongly developed. Instead, all we get to hear about is Sam's obsession with this muscular Adonis. I suppose the story can't help but be weak given that it is told from the perspective of an uninteresting hormonally-charged 'punk.'

I bought this book because I've heard it's like a gay 'Catcher in the Rye'; JD Salinger this author is NOT!!! 'Catcher' had charm, style, substance and emotion; 'Clay's Way' is a tired novel that lacks innovation, drama, and confidence.

Rating:
Summary: left wanting to read another book
Review: Maybe I should read "Catcher in the Rye" to see why "Clay's Way" is being compared to it. Hopefully it will be better reading.

Rating:
Summary: "For me, love's a jumbled mass of hidden feelings"
Review: Teenage nihilism and love torn angst is the subject of this smart, emotionally charged first novel from Blair Mastbaum. Set against the backdrop of Hawaii's Oaho and Kauai islands, Clay's Way tells the story of fifteen-year-old Sam, an earthy, volatile skater boy, and his obsession with Clay, an older pothead, surfer boy who has his own demons to contend with. Narrated in the first person with an all-most stream of consciousness style, Clay's Way takes the reader on Sam's journey of self-discovery as he battles for Clay's unrequited love.

Sam is an unusually aware teenager. He spurns his middle class, bourgeois parents, who are more concerned about picking their stock options than worrying about him. And while he yells profanity and rebels against at them, he secretly writes love torn haiku poetry and pines for the next time he sees Clay. Clay is the epitome of the local cool boy - he has the obligatory blonde girlfriend, the butch truck, the muscled body, the shark-toothed necklace, and the tattoos. The impressionable Sam is absolutely besotted with him. And Clay secretly likes Sam, but he's a cool boy, a "cool dude" who plays punk rock music from his truck stereo, and surreptitiously seduces and beguiles Sam whenever he has the chance.

Sam is driven to so many extremes over his crush. In one instance, he violently mutilates himself in Clay's truck, and in another instance, he surreptitiously creeps into Clay's home, hides in his bedroom, and spies on Clay and his girlfriend Tammy having intimate relations. The reader soon learns that Sam's life is full of sexual angst and confusion, "maybe I'm too young to be in this sort of position," and even though his weirdness and self-deprecation is shocking, one cannot help but like him.

The strength of Clay's Way is the way Mastbaum really gets to the heart of Sam's psyche, and as all the action is filtered through Sam's eyes, one gets a totally raw and discerning view of a teenager's conflicted world. Love for Sam is indirect motivation, uncontrollable lust, and he forgets to feel that love as just a simple emotion. Mastbaum is also incredibly clever at Sam's sensory descriptions of Clay - from his dirty tee shirts, to the smell of his car, and his skin; it's as though the author is describing a wild animal on heat. The story takes lots of twists and turns amidst the seedy paradise of the Honolulu suburbs and its alcohol and drug-fueled teenage parties.

Ultimately Clay's Way is a rather sad coming-of-age story, where Sam doesn't necessarily get want he wants out of life, and after the drinking, the drug taking, the violence, and the soul searching, he becomes a much more mature person. The final scene, full of spiritual meaning and beauty, is quite heart breaking as Sam looks up at the stars and declares a kind of goodbye to his youth. Mastbaum has written a wonderfully engaging novel, full of totally realistic characters, who are full of youthful dynamism, and conflicted with childish torment. Mike Leonard January 05.


Rating:
Summary: A Gem!
Review: The characters in this book feel so real. I think it produces a clear picture of what many adolescents face in their daily lives. Once I read the first page, I couldn't put the book down until I had completed the whole thing. The tumultuous aspect of their relationships is real and the end of the book leaves you yearning for more while understatedly and perfectly completed. This book is a gem not to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Debut
Review: This amazing debut turns the typical teenage coming out story on its ear by portraying its sixteen year old narrator, Sam, as completely self-loathing in every respect EXCEPT with regard to his sexuality (which he treats with extreme matter-of-factness). In many ways he is the typical rebellious teen, he hates his folks, his life, his appearance & is forever trying on different looks and identities in an awkward effort to express his individuality, but as the book follows his faltering romance and subsequent obsession with Clay, a hip and attractive local surfer, Sam turns into something more sinister. He goes beyond garden-variety teen stalking and, in a sense, actually attempts to become his lover. Clay is Sam's polar opposite in every way - he is completely comfortable in his own skin EXCEPT for his inablity to acknowledge his homosexuality.

Mastbaum has beautifully captured his teen narrator's voice; Sam is a fully realized, authentic character. Although you may find yourself cringing in places, it is difficult not to sympathize with him, even as he strays dangerously into Travis Bickle/Rupert Pupkin territory. I read this book in one day with very few breaks. On the one hand this is a testament to how quickly the writing engaged me but on the other, it also gave rise to my only complaint. Reading Sam's insistent, almost relentless, and highly emotive ranting in such concentration was a lot like taking a long train ride with a hopped up, loquacious youngster - completely exhausting.

I highly recommend this one.