Rating: 
Summary: A Different Kind of Western
Review: "When the tyobs got rid of Berdache, they got rid of about half of what it was to be Indian". Wow. For me, "Moon" cast a new light on the culture clash between the Europeans and the native Americans. Many portraits of native American cultures make them out to be macho and mysogynist; berdache is ignored in most history books. If one considers that the way a society treats it's homosexual men is a reflection of it's opinion of the feminine, it should only make you wonder... This is a gritty, powerful read. Had me turned on in some places, crying through the last three chapters. My definition of a good book is one that changes me in some way. This is a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Fresh, crazy, yet spiritual
Review: Beware: this book will sneak up on you. Crazy whirlwind of a story pulls you into its vortex and spits you out in another century and another geography -- and soon you won't want to leave. I could easily read 10 more volumes about these characters. When you're done reading Spanbauer's novels, read the ones by his students: Chuck Palahniuk, Jackie Fischer, Rodger Larson, Jennifer Lauck, Kathleen Tyau, Joanna Rose.
Rating: 
Summary: Damning with faint praise?
Review: I have mixed emotions about this novel -- of that I am certain. Here is a smattering of comments wide in range:The love scene in Dellwood Barker's hideaway between Dellwood and Shed is unforgettable. Quite possibly the most effective graphic sex scene I have ever read. Some of the characters are also unforgettable -- Alma, Dellwood, Damn Dave and Damn Dog. The villains are pretty weak, however. It's big-bad-government, big-bad-Mormons and big-bad-sheriff with nary an original portrait among the whole bunch. Oddly enough, the book that came to mind while reading this was "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe". Both books are full of unconventional characters that exhibit damn-the-status-quo behavior. Of course the similarity ends there. At times Mr. Spanbauer's convention of skipping pronouns at the start of sentences becomes quite irritating. Okay, so using "She..." or "He..." to start a sentence is old-hat-boring-traditional, but at least I don't have to read the sentence twice to figure out who is doing what. The ending left me feeling rather cold because I thought the ambiguity (illusion? dream? real?) of the last few pages did not work well. I have no problem with ambiguity when it is artfully done, but Mr. Spanbauer's ending was less than satisfactory. Worthy of a read? Definitely. Brilliant? Yes, with reservations.
Rating:
Summary: Fresh, crazy, yet spiritual
Review: I love Tom Spanbauers narrative voice. I read Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon, and was frustrated as heck trying to get through the first half. After a while, he grew on me. Before I knew it I was in love with his style. I wont comment much on the story line, but reading of this author is a great great experience. Give it time, be patient, read it to the end, and fall in love with his language.
Rating:
Summary: Wordcraft at its most lyrical and moving
Review: If I could give this novel 6 stars out of 5--no--*all* the stars in existence, I would. It's hard not to gush over work so perfect, so absolutely involving, so breathtakingly written as this. The wordcraft is exquisite--rich and ripe with the most unusual and stirring of metaphors. It manages that almost impossible balance between philosophy and reality, dream and grit, sex and magic. It's perfect. 'Shed' (whose name has other connotations) is on a search for his father. He finds him--and, in the form of his father, also discovers his teacher and his lover. His journey takes him across a landscape of strange beauty, filled with questions about the nature of love, sexuality, violence, cruelty and empathy. The minor characters are incredibly memorable as well--each one so *complete* that you will easily be carried forth into their world(s)--interspersed with irresistable laughter and grief. Shed's father/lover/friend is so exquisitely crafted, and such a strange and wonderful soul, that you will find yourself as much in love with him as Shed is. I cannot say enough good things about this novel. This review feels inadequate. I can only insist that you read it NOW, right NOW, because when you do come across it, you'll be kicking yourself that you didn't pick it up earlier. (Yes, that's what I spent much of my time doing before gathering enough of my wits to write this review.) And even now I'm itching to go back and re-read it. Perhaps the closest comparison is to 'Alice in Wonderland'--for Shed's journey is as delightfully absurd, by turns tragic and hilarious, and as surreal, as Alice's. One might almost say he is a modern, truly liberated version of Alice. But make no mistake. In the apparent absurdity of his journey, he discovers some achingly beautiful truths... each one profound. You will find yourself itching to quote these truths it to your friends--but the pity is, of course, that the entire *book* is quotable--so you'll have to spend hours running around getting them to *read* the thing themselves, as I am doing.
Rating:
Summary: A very human story
Review: If you think this is a book about the turn-of-the-century West, prostitution in frontier Idaho, Mormon settlers or bisexuality, you'd be partly right and partly wrong. Above all else, this struck me as a book about family, both family of choice and family of blood. Spanbauer explores the nature of reality, sexual identity, transgendered issues, bisexual issues, racial issues, "Tantric" sex techniques, the clash of religious and libertine cultures, incest and even sado-masochism, expressing these ideas in terms more familiar to a society of one hundred years ago, not in these modern terms I have just used. The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon spoke to me on multiple levels as I read it and the story and characters have continued to haunt me after finishing the book. While there is plenty of action, this is not primarily an action adventure book. It will be more appealing to those who enjoy stories of spiritual quests than those who enjoy more traditional Westerns. The one caveat I would offer is that this is not a book for the squeamish. In my opinion, Spanbauer deals with his subject matter with grace and taste, however he does not flinch from writing about explicit sex and graphic death. I can't imagine the book without these graphic scenes, though, and wouldn't want this book to be any different than precisely what it is.
Rating:
Summary: A very human story
Review: If you think this is a book about the turn-of-the-century West, prostitution in frontier Idaho, Mormon settlers or bisexuality, you'd be partly right and partly wrong. Above all else, this struck me as a book about family, both family of choice and family of blood. Spanbauer explores the nature of reality, sexual identity, transgendered issues, bisexual issues, racial issues, "Tantric" sex techniques, the clash of religious and libertine cultures, incest and even sado-masochism, expressing these ideas in terms more familiar to a society of one hundred years ago, not in these modern terms I have just used. The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon spoke to me on multiple levels as I read it and the story and characters have continued to haunt me after finishing the book. While there is plenty of action, this is not primarily an action adventure book. It will be more appealing to those who enjoy stories of spiritual quests than those who enjoy more traditional Westerns. The one caveat I would offer is that this is not a book for the squeamish. In my opinion, Spanbauer deals with his subject matter with grace and taste, however he does not flinch from writing about explicit sex and graphic death. I can't imagine the book without these graphic scenes, though, and wouldn't want this book to be any different than precisely what it is.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating!
Review: The first time I read this book was about 8 years ago when I was 20, in Chinese translation. Then I read it couple more times in English. I still think about this book & the characters (who I admire so much) often. I love this book and plan on reading it again very soon.
Rating:
Summary: My Number One Book of all Time!
Review: This is my number 1 deserted island book! I took almost 6mos to read this book.Not because I'm a slow reader(and I am)but because I never wanted the story to end! The characters will stay in your mind long after reading this captivating book. This is story telling at it's best! Wonderfully written characters create a wild west you never knew.Or maybe always wanted to? Our storyteller Shed,a bisexual half breed boy,takes us on a romantic adventure through the old west of Excellent,Idaho.Weaving a vivid and heartwarming story of love,family and identity.I'm not a fan of old west novels. This one being the only exception!This book is a must for any fan of great storytelling.I hope there's a film adaptation in the future!
Rating:
Summary: "Without Moves Moves we are nothing"
Review: This may be the most remarkable novel I've ever read. And one of the most original. Oh, there are echoes of other great books, such as "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" (other reviewers have mentioned "Little Big Man") but Tom Spanbauer's vision is unique: his subject is nothing less than the American identity, our dreams of reinvention and assilimilation, our fears and illusions, and the "human-being story" that is unique to each of us. Shed (tribal name Duivichi-un-Dua) begins life as the son as Buffalo Sweets, an Indian prostitute in the employ of Ida Richelieu, purveyor of Ida's Place, in Excellent, Idaho, a backwater in transition from frontier town to Morman community sometime at the beginning of the 20th century. When Billy Blizzard, who has been Ida's lover since he was thirteen, goes crazy, raping Shed and killing his mother, Shed goes to work for Ida as a male prostitute who lives "out-in-the-shed." But when Alma Hatch, ex-Bible salesman and exotic dancer, pays to sleep with Shed, he panics and leaves town in search of his own identity. That's when he meets Dellwood Barker, the Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon. And that's only the beginning of this incredible story, which eventually brings Shed full circle to Excellent, where he, Dellwood, Ida, and Alma form a family ("better than any Morman family" and briefly to include a traveling troop of "authentic Negro" minstrels) that tests them all in ways they could never have imagined. As John Donne said of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales": "here is God's plenty." With "The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon," Spanbauer has earned a special place in American letters. I can think of no book since "Moby Dick" that offers such a vivid mosaic of American life, and no book so profound in its understanding of the human condition. This one goes beyond cult; it's a classic for all time.
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