Jim Grimsley

Dream boy

grimsley’s ability to capture feelings with no real name is truly astonishing.

markelle e. e.

They slow their walking even more, and each reaches for ways to manage nearness to the other without seeming responsible for it.

this is a great piece of fiction depicting same-sex teenage love in the southern late summer. grimsley is a top tier writer and i was mystified by his use of language. this novel, however, has some graphic scenes and violence that makes the overarching feel of it quite solemn and pessimistic. i think it had more opportunities for pleasure and joy than there was space made for. overall, a great read from a fantastic author.

content warnings: sexual assault, battery, death

this is a great piece of fiction depicting same-sex teenage love in the southern late summer. grimsley is a top tier writer and i was mystified by his use of language. this novel, however, has some graphic scenes and violence that makes the overarching feel of it quite solemn and pessimistic. i think it had more opportunities for pleasure and joy than there was space made for. overall, a great read from a fantastic author.

content warnings: sexual assault, battery, death

Kevin Bertolero

There's so much tenderness to this story, but also violence, and the third person present tense really made sense to me by the end, as perhaps it was the only logical choice for Grimsley to make. This is the kind of book I hope to write someday. Told with such brevity but maintaining a thematic power that really hits home with the final sentences of the novel. Incredibly well done. 

"By now the pond and cemetery are familiar landmarks, and Nathan knows by certain signs--the particular twist of a branch, the bend of the creek that runs through the woods here--that they are following the path to the Indian mound. Roy's long strides set an easy pace and his silence engulfs Nathan so that both move with attention to quiet. The country thereabouts is haunted with memories of the courtship between the boys, and near the creekbed they look at each other. 'Don't say anything about that,' Roy warns, but he is laughing when he says it" (110).

Dream boy

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