Rating: 
Summary: Read it and weep - with laughter
Review: There's so much truth about the publishing world in this drop-dead-funny satire that it's a wonder the publishing world ever published it!
Outrageous premise of a man who writes The Great American Novel, loses the manuscript in the woods, and becomes so depressed that he goes into hibernation and becomes beast-like. The flip side of the equation, the part that makes this book a dangerous one to read in bed beside a sleeping mate, is that the manuscript is found by a bear who manages to sell it on a trip to New York. The bear is courted by NY's best and finest celebs, and he impresses reviewers, agents, and editors with his hyper-intelligent and deeply moving monosyllabic grunts and one-word responses to interview questions.
But the parts that'll make your trying-to-sleep spouse want to kill you are the love scenes between the bear and the object of his affection, a 'fur-bearing woman,' (a lady who doesn't shave her legs).
Don't miss it. Buy two, and give one to your favorite quirky friend.
Rating:
Summary: The Civilized Bear
Review: Kotzwinkle at his finest, asking favorite seemingly simple questions. Do bears hibernate in the woods? Normally? If not, what? Who can say? Very funny. Fairly gentle, too, but not too denatured. Sufficient natural growl, sniff, bite, paw-swipe. The publishing industry (high academic to low pop inclusive) is the obvious target of this satire, but Kotzwinkle always leaves human civilization connected to ALL of its corruptions/discontents. The uninitiated might guess BEING THERE or GUMP echo, but ELEPHANT BANGS TRAIN is true source for THE BEAR WENT OVER THE MOUNTAIN. Only William Kotzwinkle could have written this book, blessed as it is by his peculiar sense of mammalian nature. Ursine "author" Hal Jam kills only if/when he must, consumes pies entire, steals an occasional briefcase full of manuscript, & can be otherwise innately/ineffably bearish, but his inability to calculate his criminality (or plot a novel) separates him absolutely from his more rationalizing (higher?) mammalian cronies.One never wants to take William excessively grimly, but there is food for thought, or intuition, here. Kotzwinkle writing of animals inevitably reminds us of aspects of our own curiously confused & occasionally rampaging/frolicsome better natures, natures we have been educated to submerge. Our best satirists always operate outside all respectable circles. An obvious bear with occasional bursts of human aspiration careening around in corrupt society is not too different from an obvious human wandering around in the Maine woods, looking for a nice cave? Is Plato referenced? Perhaps. Man, writing, & Bear, marauding, are more or less hairy kin? Who can say? Both man & bear move considerably, here, in the general direction of the proto-warmblood center.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny. But its not a "masterpiece"
Review: I'm very surprised to see how many people are giving this 5 stars, and judging by the amplitude in their reviews, they'd give 6 stars if they could. But its really a simple story, with a funny premise, that lasts a bit too long. There are laugh-out-loud moments, especially the dialog between the Bear and his exemplar publishing characters. The Bear's inner monologues ("should I kill all the males in this room") are hysterical, as were the occasional dog commentaries. I gladly looked past the fact that no person would believe him to be a person, given his physical appearance. Its a fairy tale. But the publishing characters are SO dumb, SO ridiculous, the subtlety of the book vanishes. The counter-story involving Bramhall is just flat and uninteresting. It tries to be ironic, but ends up being filler. The main story with the Bear grows tiresome as well. How many funny ways can a human misinterpret Hal? Before long, the story is bouncing from the White House, to a Christian TV station, to parties, to Harlem. Its as if the author polled his friends with the phrase "Wouldn't it be funny if a bear [fill in the blank]", and added it in the book. The book has a lot going for it, mainly the warm writing and spare but absolutely hilarious dialogue (and monologue). But let's not go overboard: its essentially a one-note joke told over and over again, and you're not unhappy the book finally ends.
Rating:
Summary: Laugh out loud funny!
Review: One of the funniest books I've ever read, Kotzwinkles
telling of the story almost has you believing that a bear
could actually pull all this off! The hero of the story is
a bear who one day finds a book manuscript hidden in the back woods of Maine, reads it and thinks its such a wonderful story that he takes (steals) it to New York city with the idea of selling it. After adopting an alias (Hal Jam), he peddles the book around the NY publishing world and meets many quirky and self absorbed people on his way
to eventually becoming world famous. Throughout the story he vacillates back and forth between wanting to remain in the comfortable but strange and "hard to figure out" world of man - with its unlimited quantities of sweets and women; and wanting to return to his beloved forest where life is so much simpler. The plot is very much like the movie "Being There", except with a slapstick slant. Everyone that the bear meets reads deep and profound meaning into Hal's brooding silences and short, out of context statements. It kept me laughing out loud for two straight days, I can't remember the last time a book did that to me!
Rating: 
Summary: one star is one too many
Review: I am both astounded and confounded by the reviews here. Simply put, this is the single worst novel I have ever read. Everything about it--the writing, the characters, the story--is godawful. Here follows an absolutely true story. While I was forcing myself to read this drivel, I went out on date. She and I were discussing how much of a book one should read before giving up on it. I was advocating the 25 page litmus, and she insisted on at least fifty. She did several long train commutes a week to and from work, and so read a lot of novels. Anyway, I started describing this book. She recognized it immediately, and interrupted me saying, "The Bear Went Over The Mountain! Don't read another word! If you think it's bad now, it only gets worse, if you can believe it!" She was right. If you feel the need to find out for yourself, save your money and borrow it from a friend or the library.
Rating: 
Summary: Fable for the Ages
Review: The characters are cliché, the plot is easy to follow but isn't that the point with a fable. Kotzwinkle takes something we know, or think we know, and twist it to show a window into our nature. This is an excellent book, that's insightful and very funny.
Rating: 
Summary: GROSS AND DUMB
Review: I find it absolutely amazing that this book has 4 1/2 stars.
Do readers have no taste at all. I cannot begin to relate just
how many ways this book is unfunny and gross. I could believe
it would appeal to a bunch of 8th grade boys in a crowd who are trying to see who can be the grossest, but beyond that I am at
a complete loss. If your tastes run to "quirky" (& I would disagree with that
definition but it seems to appeal to the reviewers), then maybe
you will find this book a good read. But I would suggest that
it is time to grow up or acquire some sophistication.
Rating:
Summary: Maddeningly Hilarious!
Review: This positively brilliant book follows the life of a bear who happens to find a manuscript in the woods. Soon, the bear becomes a star and everyone loves him (they think he's just shaggy and quiet, they can't tell he's a bear). This novel is not only hilarious it is also kind of deep. Plus, this is the only book I've ever read (and enjoyed) from the Literature Section (I kid you not). If you're an English major you MUST READ THIS BOOK. If you're not an English major, but you have a good sense of humor and a fine imagination, this book is good for you too.
Rating:
Summary: A bit overrated, funny in parts but not hysterical
Review: This book is sort of a Forrest Gump style novel where the main characther is a bear. It is obviously not relaistic as no one ever picks up that Hal Jam is a bear, I mean his appearance should give it away, especially for the women who sleep with him, but if you can overlook this fact then you can get some enjoyment from this book. Basic plot is that a human writes one of the greatest novels mankind has ever seen on a typewriter so he has no proof or copies. (Can you even get typewriters these days another point you need to overlook and how much longer would writing an novel on one take correcting errors and stuff.) Anyway he is so stupid he leaves it in a brief case under a tree in the forrest and is actually surprised when he returns and it is not there. Wanting the briefcase to initially contain food a bear is disapointed, but then thinks, what the hey I can maybe get this pubilshed and breaks into a sports store to steal clothes and pass as human. The whole publishing and media industry's shallowness is highlighted in this novel as the bear's misunderstanding of human customs makes him a unique and cool individual in the world's eyes. The book is good enough that you'll want to finish it but it is very overrated. There are a lot better books out there.
Rating:
Summary: Just Wonderful!
Review: The Bear Went Over the Mountain is one of the funniest books I've ever read. The notion that a talking bear can get a novel publish is a bit wacky, but once the situation is set in motion, the story is one riot after another. Did I mention that it's fast paced and easy to read? Buy this book and bring it back to the number one slot where it belongs.
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