Rating: 
Summary: A Charming Story
Review: A charming book and genuinely funny to boot.
It's impossible not to like Hal Jam, a true innocent abroad, as he makes his way through the shark infested world of publishing with absolutely no idea of what's going on.
This book is also the source of a long standing arguement between my brother and me, he read this book and insisted Hal was a real bear. I said otherwise. Reading the other reviews I'm not so sure now.
Rating: 
Summary: Just OK
Review: The Bear Went Over the Mountain could easily been condensed into 100 pages. I was not impressed, though I will admit that it had some "laugh out loud moments." But I would not recommend it to anyone, there are so many other well written books to chose...why waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: The bear went over the mountain
Review: Fabulous read! A page-turner! I laughed out loud every so often and I almost believed that a tubby bear can really pull all these off! Simple to read, yet depicts humanity. A deep, intense plot written in a very light-hearted manner that set my mind thinking through humanity and society.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: The Bear Went Over the Mountain is not only hilarious it is also a great commentary on our society. If only more books this funny existed!
Rating:
Summary: Clever, if a bit silly at times
Review: It's been awhile since I've read it, once on a road trip. What I can remember is having to frequently laugh out loud, then reading it aloud to my startled mother.Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys tongue-in-cheek humor. Hal Jam will soon have your admiration.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: I noticed the reviews on this book were on opposite ends of the spectrum. This book made me laugh out loud and I bought copies for 2 people as Christmas gifts. It is wonderful satire and well written. I was rooting for the bear. Sometimes we need to ignore the fact that it goes against our reality, it is fiction!! Read it with a light heart and mind and hopefully you'll love it too.
Rating: 
Summary: Ultra-fantastic Satire
Review: This is a wickedly funny satire of publishing and life, wherein a nice bear stumbles upon a manuscript in the woods and decides to become an author. As authors are notoriously eccentric, his strangeness is discounted by all (he is the next Hemingway, they say, so raw and back to nature). At the same time, the fellow who actually wrote the book is finding that his anger and depression is leading him into the woods where he is becoming more gruff than ever. There are sections here where I was literally snorting with laughter, usually in response to the literal-mindedness of the bear's reaction to humans--their mating rituals, the hoarding of food, those things important in life. Like the best fable, Kotzwinkle shows us through his bear character that all of these things we accept so easily are so much more, and also shows us through the human author that the city life is only part of the story. The methodology of the tale is ultra-fantastic, even "magic realism" if you will. Kotzwinkle constantly reminds us that the bear is a bear, even as he becomes more human-like (and vice versa for the author turned woodsman). It resembles Carol Emshwiller's Carmen Dog in this manner--the animals may speak, but there's still a difference between them and humans. The satire resembles Terry Bisson's "Bears Discover Fire" (you could say this is "Bears Discover Publishing") in that it juxtaposes the raw nature of the beast with the civilized society. As much as I admire Bisson's story, I think Kotzwinkle out-does him, basically just by being able to extend the conceit for an entire novel. This is highly recommended to fans of realist fantasy and humorous works in general.
Rating: 
Summary: Poorly written and gutless
Review: I'm sorry to disagree with the other reviewers, but I found this book to be without merit. The story is abysmal and the writing is leaden. I would describe this book as perfect airport fodder, fit only for inclusion alongside Danielle Steel (or whatever her name is), Jackie Collins and other meaningless garbage of the ilk. I've read funnier instruction manuals for food processors.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible, abhorrent, ludicrous!
Review: I received this book as a gift, and was repulsed by it. I suppose some may find this a brilliant satire, but I can find many, many better uses for my time than to waste it on such a piece of drivel. I found the segment where the bear has intercourse with a woman to be particularly repulsive. This book was so repugnant to me that I didn't even bother reading the second half, nor did I save it to pass along to a friend. I just threw it in the trash. Save your money. If you must stoop to read it, get it from the library instead.
Rating:
Summary: The Kotzwinkle Perplex
Review: William Kotzwinkle is a great writer and deserves all the encomia that perceptive readers heap on him, and nowhere is this more evident than in BEAR, a brilliantly, manically, marvelously funny little book that in its own way cuts to the bone and sends up the publishing industry and the publicity-conscious celebrity world in cruelly telling ways.
Herein lies the Kotzwinkle Perplex. This terrific talent is still relatively unknown and unacknowledged in the publishing world, based on an analysis of his past books. BEAR is in part the sardonic answer. Today, as most thoughtful readers and writers know, celebrity and notoriety are the keys to the publishing kingdom, in an industry where editors are given sales quotas they must meet (or be fired) and where John Walker Lindh, Monica and Denise Rich are considered actual or potential 'great writers' merely because of their dubious 'achievements.'
Hal Jam and Kotzwinkle know these truths and trade on them playfully, but with an edge. That's why this is such a fine and surprising book and why more people should read it.
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