Rating: 
Summary: Laugh out loud funny!
Review: One of the funniest books I've ever read, Kotzwinklestelling of the story almost has you believing that a bearcould 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: Half a great book, but will provoke you to laugh out loud
Review: The bear-to-man part of this book is the more developed, but both pathways (set in alternating chapters) include setups with punch lines that will make you ocassionally laugh out loud.
Take in small bites, to savor. Not great writing, but fun.
Rating:
Summary: A Bear Necessity
Review: You have to read this book! It's a total send of of everything that is "Politically Correct". As the story progresses more and more people are so busy trying to be hip and cool that they totally fail to notice the lead character, supposed New York Times Best Selling author Hal Jam is in fact a bear. If you don't fall off your chair laughing at the paragraph on "rutting out of season" I swear you have no sense of humour. In times like these it's great to have a lovely, light hearted read like this.
Rating:
Summary: A Paradigm Shift
Review: I picked up THE BEAR WENT OVER THE MOUNTAIN because I ran out of books to read. In addition, I failed to read any of the book reviews (like I usually do) until after completing it. I'm glad I waited because if I did, I wouldn't have read this fairy tale. I found many of the reviews overly negative. However, I understand why. Readers who have experienced "competitive" publishing would have a deep appreciation for the nuances and symbols within Kotzwinkle's work. I can easily see how readers without such an experience would find THE BEAR WENT OVER THE MOUNTAIN too quirky at best -- and too stupid at worst.
As I was reading the description of how Hal Jam acquired his first manuscript, I began to think of a particular faculty member that has remained a tenured assistant professor for well over 10 years. He's never been able to write or conduct research independently. As it often goes, one thought leads to another. I recall that during my own mentoring, senior faculty would constantly warn me to beware of sharing my ideas and work with other faculty. Although I am a full professor, the ideas presented to me all those years ago didn't click until after I read THE BEAR WENT OVER THE MOUNTAIN. Now I am conceptualizing assistant and associate professors as bears or non bears. I have concluded that I am in a department with at least one bear.
A good novel has the capacity to induce a reader to rethink or broaden one's life situation. To put it in another way -- to see old or familiar experiences within a new light (a paradigm shift). For professors, THE BEAR WENT OVER THE MOUNTAIN offers a fresh perspective for an everyday event.
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: 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: Fable for the Ages
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: 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.
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