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Summary: Patience Pays Off
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.
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Summary: Page-turner, the west like you've never seen it. But should.
Review: I loved the book so much, that I gave it away to a friend so that he may enjoy it also. The story easy to follow and beautifully told. The language is engaging and lyrical. Above all the characters are amazingly real and interesting. I can't wait to read more of this author.
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Summary: 10 stars to this one !!!!!
Review: I loved this book.I've never ever read anyting like this ever.Its a very powerfully told story,which is NOT REALLY A BOOK,if u know what i mean!!!
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Summary: One of my favorite stories
Review: I read "The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon" in 1994. Since then, I have worn a path in the carpet to the "S" section of my local bookstore. When will Mr. Spanbauer write another? There is something compelling about his storytelling style that I have found nowhere else. In the absence of new Spanbauer, can anyone recommend another wonderful read?
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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.
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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.
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Summary: What a pleasant surprise this one is.
Review: My friend recommended Moon to me a couple of weeks ago and I have been living in its world on and off ever since. This book must have an underground following--I have never read anything like it...so liberating and spiritual...It calms me just to pick it up. I am almost finished with it...in the middle of all the sad stuff...and i am avoiding finishing it--always a sign that I really love a book. I am going to try the "looking into the left eye" trick myself tonight. It should definitely be interesting on the streets of NYC, where so many people try above all to hide their souls. I wish everyone who reads this book great joy.
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Summary: Native America as You Never Knew It
Review: One recurring argument about this book is that it misrepresents some or all aspects of Native American history, philosophy, or culture. Quite the opposite: It epitomizes it. I am Cheyenne myself, and perhaps being "raised white" caused me to return and research my roots much more carefully than if I had been raised within my own tribe. Spanbauer's character "Shed" is a much truer depiction of an Indian than is found in most popular fiction. Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee scratch the surface, sometimes delving deeply into the Indian mind, but Shed provides a look at the Indian soul. To Shed, that that is is. His experience is his teacher, and it always tells the truth. The key is to observe his use of the word "killdeer," referring to a bird which will lure a predator away from the bird's nest by pretending to be wounded (an easy kill); when far enough away, the killdeer bird will fly off, leaving the tricked predator lost, confused, and hungry. Shed sees killdeer everywhere--traps, lures, illusions. The greatest illusion of all is to deny what is real, to deny emotions, to deny love--whatever its form. Spanbauer's book is rampantly, wickedly sexual, including myriad instances of male homosexuality. "Not true," say the puritanical readers; "the cowboys weren't [politically incorrect term for "gay" here]." Wrong again, and history is proving it so with many writings about the great open prarie days. Spanbauer writes openly about experience as it is, not as it has been "laundered" in our history books. For those who doubt the concepts in Native America, go look up the term "berdache" and get back to me. Spanbauer's book is as truly Indian and as truly spiritual as the greatly touted (and superlative beyond description) book Seven Arrows, by H. Storm. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a great read, a brilliant narrative, a peek at the spiritual side of Native America, or just a terrific laugh over! the marvelously bawdy story of Ida Richelleu's bright pink whorehouse. Read, and believe your experience.
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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.
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