Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Harper Perennial (1992), Paperback, 368 pages
Description
Set against the harsh reality of an unforgiving landscape and culture, The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon provides a vision of the Old West unlike anything seen before. The narrator, Shed, is one of the most memorable characters in contemporary fiction: a half-Indian bisexual boy who lives and works at the Indian Head Hotel in the tiny town of Excellent, Idaho. It's the turn of the century, and the hotel carries on a prosperous business as the town's brothel. The eccentric characters working in the hotel provide Shed with a surrogate family, yet he finds in himself a growing need to learn the meaning of his Indian name, Duivichi-un-Dua, given to him by his mother, who was murdered when he was twelve. Setting off alone across the haunting plains, Shed goes in search of an identity among his true people, encountering a rich pageant of extraordinary characters along the way. Although he learns a great deal about the mysteries and traditions of his Indian heritage, it is not untilShed returns to Excellent and witnesses a series of brutal tragedies that he attains the wisdom that infuses this exceptional and captivating book.… (more)
Media reviews
User reviews
LibraryThing member rubymadden
You know how people talk about what they'd grab & run with if their home caught on fire? Well, I have a cluster of books that hold enough sentimental value for me that they'd be part of the box of things (along with photo albums & pics) I'd attempt to save. This book is one of them.
It was given to
This book is magical in the lushly, unique characters, the impossible but semi-true to life setting (Idaho), the 'outside the norms' sexual perimeters, and pulls the reader in so magically that you are heart-broken and smitten half the time you're reading it. I cried a lot while first reading this book. The author poured his heart into it and it was easy to see how he arrived at the title. A title I love equally as much as the book.
His great feat? Tackling the most unlikely of love stories in the most bizarre but tender and fierce of ways. This book stole my heart at times, and luckily, I've never wanted it back since. Thank you Tom!
It was given to
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me by a gay High School friend in the 90's who had just discovered he was HIV (he is still alive today, thankfully). Outside of the sheer sentimental value it holds for me, it is one of the best released/written in modern day stories I've ever read. The setting isn't modern day however... This is part of what makes it so rich. The fictionalized plausible historical setting. As the author's website states: 'The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon is an American epic of the old West for our own times...'This book is magical in the lushly, unique characters, the impossible but semi-true to life setting (Idaho), the 'outside the norms' sexual perimeters, and pulls the reader in so magically that you are heart-broken and smitten half the time you're reading it. I cried a lot while first reading this book. The author poured his heart into it and it was easy to see how he arrived at the title. A title I love equally as much as the book.
His great feat? Tackling the most unlikely of love stories in the most bizarre but tender and fierce of ways. This book stole my heart at times, and luckily, I've never wanted it back since. Thank you Tom!
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LibraryThing member Black_samvara
This was richly emotional and full of life. It is the life story of a half Native American boy raised by an imperious prostitute, he is looking to understand the world and his place in it. 'Out-There-In-The-Shed' or just 'Shed' grows up a bisexual prostitute (it was fascinating how all the gay sex
It has racism, bisexuality, Indian mythology, love, craziness and Mormons and I'm not sure how I feel about it at all. Glad I went there.
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had to happen out in the shed) interpreting childhood events through a game he calls 'killdeer' in which he compares people's behaviour to the way a bird will pretend to be injured to lure predators from its nest.It has racism, bisexuality, Indian mythology, love, craziness and Mormons and I'm not sure how I feel about it at all. Glad I went there.
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LibraryThing member PhoenixTerran
"A crazy story about crazy people told by a crazy. Should only make you wonder."
Out-In-The-Shed, usually shortened simply to Shed, is just one of the many names held by the narrator of this story. He shares his "human being story" as well as the human being stories of those closest to him: Ida
As a bit of a warning, there is quite a bit of tragedy lurking in this book. Although it was expected (readers are told virtually at the beginning that it ends bad), I found myself hoping over and again that it wouldn't. There is plenty of life in this novel, but ultimately it is not a happy one.
I will admit that the writing style, which was very colloquial, took me some time to get used to, and the very very ending didn't really seem to work very well. However, this is one of the best books I've read in a while, even if it's difficult for me to identify exactly what made this so. But, despite its flaws, I really, really enjoyed it.
Experiments in Reading
Out-In-The-Shed, usually shortened simply to Shed, is just one of the many names held by the narrator of this story. He shares his "human being story" as well as the human being stories of those closest to him: Ida
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Richilieu, proprietress of the Indian Head Hotel. Alma Hatch, bird-woman and sought-after whore. Dellwood Barker, cowboy and lover. While much of the book is about Shed's search to understand himself, it is also about much more. It is about race and hatred, religion and hypocrisy, sex and sexuality, life and death, family and love.As a bit of a warning, there is quite a bit of tragedy lurking in this book. Although it was expected (readers are told virtually at the beginning that it ends bad), I found myself hoping over and again that it wouldn't. There is plenty of life in this novel, but ultimately it is not a happy one.
I will admit that the writing style, which was very colloquial, took me some time to get used to, and the very very ending didn't really seem to work very well. However, this is one of the best books I've read in a while, even if it's difficult for me to identify exactly what made this so. But, despite its flaws, I really, really enjoyed it.
Experiments in Reading
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LibraryThing member phoebesmum
What the blurbs say: 'wise and wonderful'; 'imaginative scope'; 'so startlingly original and true that it redeems everything'.
What the book actually contains: rape. Murder. Mutilation. Prejudice. More rape. Actually, pretty much anything unspeakable you can think of - it'll be in there
Life is vile enough. I don't need my literature to mirror it. To Oxfam it goes!
What the book actually contains: rape. Murder. Mutilation. Prejudice. More rape. Actually, pretty much anything unspeakable you can think of - it'll be in there
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somewhere.Life is vile enough. I don't need my literature to mirror it. To Oxfam it goes!
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LibraryThing member Limelite
“If you’re the devil, then it’s not me telling this story.” is the first line of this novel. The author’s credo is to write dangerously. The book’s contents are full of brutality, beauty, death and life. This is a unique novel; I’ve never read anything like it, but hope I can find
The narrator is Shed, or Duivichi-un-Dua, a half-breed berdache who makes his living at the Indian Head Hotel in the little turn-of-the-20th-century town of Excellent, Idaho and pursues killdeer, the concept of staying hidden and secret.
Love and acceptance, the freedom to be who you are is what Ida Richelieu, the hotel madam who wears blue when she ovulates, believes in. “Oh, the humanity,” is one of her favorite sayings and one that encompasses what this book is about.
Shed believes Dellwood Barker is his father. He isn’t, but he is a philosopher. He teaches Shed that, "Smoke and wind and fire are all things you can feel but can't touch. Memories and dreams are like that too. They're what this world is made up of. There's really only a very short time that we get hair and teeth and put on red cloth and have bones and skin and look out eyes. Not for long. Some folks longer than others. If you're lucky, you'll get to be the one who tells the story: how the eyes have seen, the hair has blown, the caress the skin has felt, how the bones have ached. What the human heart is like. How the devil called and we did not answer. How we answered."
Spanbauer has created a tale that exposes intolerance set against a pansexual West, unknown to Hollywood depictions. It is a novel in which the characters (and the reader) are entangled in a struggle to find out the answer to the questions of what makes family, are there limits to love, and how does one set the self – after it’s been identified – free. Freedom is what the devil would deny us and this is a book that does battle with the devil.
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others by Spanbauer that will be just as good. Dense, rich, and vivid is the story of stories, the human-being tellings. Dazzling is probably the best adjective to describe it since my mind feels like it’s looked directly at the sun while I’m reading about the moon.The narrator is Shed, or Duivichi-un-Dua, a half-breed berdache who makes his living at the Indian Head Hotel in the little turn-of-the-20th-century town of Excellent, Idaho and pursues killdeer, the concept of staying hidden and secret.
Love and acceptance, the freedom to be who you are is what Ida Richelieu, the hotel madam who wears blue when she ovulates, believes in. “Oh, the humanity,” is one of her favorite sayings and one that encompasses what this book is about.
Shed believes Dellwood Barker is his father. He isn’t, but he is a philosopher. He teaches Shed that, "Smoke and wind and fire are all things you can feel but can't touch. Memories and dreams are like that too. They're what this world is made up of. There's really only a very short time that we get hair and teeth and put on red cloth and have bones and skin and look out eyes. Not for long. Some folks longer than others. If you're lucky, you'll get to be the one who tells the story: how the eyes have seen, the hair has blown, the caress the skin has felt, how the bones have ached. What the human heart is like. How the devil called and we did not answer. How we answered."
Spanbauer has created a tale that exposes intolerance set against a pansexual West, unknown to Hollywood depictions. It is a novel in which the characters (and the reader) are entangled in a struggle to find out the answer to the questions of what makes family, are there limits to love, and how does one set the self – after it’s been identified – free. Freedom is what the devil would deny us and this is a book that does battle with the devil.
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LibraryThing member mgaulding
One of my favorite books of all time.
LibraryThing member mjennings26
Daring and provocative. Love that about this book. Also slow and uneven in parts.
LibraryThing member emilyingreen
Spanbauer ranks up there with Kesey among my favorite Oregon novelists. Reading this book was an incredible, visceral experience. The language is coarse poetry and themes are magically realistic, erotic, personal and historical.
LibraryThing member b.masonjudy
On his podcast, Sherman Alexie mentioned Tom Spanbauer's novel to be a good depiction of Native Americans written by a white author. Along with this resounding compliment Spanbauer also manages to present a completely different take on the American West. The importance of relationships, honesty and
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community in a harsh and racist landscape is profoundly articulated in this novel where the pace circles but never ceases to engage the reader. The voice of Shed, guiding the reader through his world of Excellent, Idaho is distinct, funny and insightful. Show Less
LibraryThing member dogboi
This book has some wonderful prose. I really enjoyed it, despite flaws that other reviewers have mentioned. I can recommend it based on the language alone. Warning! This book contains graphic content and language, and is definitely NOT for children.
Awards
Stonewall Book Award (Finalist — Literature — 1992)
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (Winner — 1992)
Oregon Book Awards (Finalist — Fiction — 1992)
Language
Original publication date
1991
Physical description
368 p.; 8.12 inches
ISBN
0060974974 / 9780060974978
Local notes
OCLC = 386
Google Books
Google Books
Other editions
The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon: A Novel by Tom Spanbauer (Hardcover)