Imatge de l'autor

David Haynes (1) (1955–)

Autor/a de Somebody Else's Mama (Harvest Book)

Per altres autors anomenats David Haynes, vegeu la pàgina de desambiguació.

14+ obres 254 Membres 4 Ressenyes

Sobre l'autor

David Haynes teaches creative writing at Southern Methodist University in Texas and in the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers.

Obres de David Haynes

Obres associades

Granta 54: Best of Young American Novelists (1996) — Col·laborador — 237 exemplars
Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writing (2002) — Col·laborador — 125 exemplars
Dallas Noir (2013) — Col·laborador — 41 exemplars
When I Was a Loser: True Stories of (Barely) Surviving High School (2007) — Col·laborador — 34 exemplars
The New Great American Writers' Cookbook (2003) — Col·laborador — 21 exemplars

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Membres

Ressenyes

Pretty good story of reporters and love.
 
Marcat
kslade | Dec 8, 2022 |
 
Marcat
lcslibrarian | Aug 13, 2020 |
In some ways, David Haynes’ new novel can be considered ‘post-gay.’ Set in 2007 St. Louis, A Star in the Face of the Sky is the story of the interconnected relationship between two soon-to-retire telephone company department heads and co-workers, Janet Williams and Estelle Birmbaum, and their teenaged grandsons Daniel and Ari. The novel makes ‘no big deal’ of the boy’s inseparability and their erotically tense relationship. The two are presented as just another pair of intelligent and attractive high school kids, making dirty jokes and wrestling around – but not having sex, because, as Daniel thinks ‘once you got started how could you fucking stop fucking?’

Amazingly, perhaps, their grandmothers make no comment about what is clearly going on between the two boys, letting the sounds of the ‘horseplay’ coming from their rooms pass with only a look and a shake of the head. There are no ‘coming out’ scenes–the boys are presented as being together and that’s that. Perhaps because there have already been enough traumas in the lives of Janet and Daniel Williams, something as relatively easy to deal with as homosexuality is no big deal.
In the prelude to the novel, we discover that Daniel’s mother, Keisha murdered her fundamentalist pastor husband and three younger children, after leaving Daniel with Janet. When Keisha writes to Daniel asking him to visit her in prison, Janet works to keep them apart while Estelle tries to get her friend to face the past.
When Estelle decides to give her father's money to a homeless shelter, the two families realize the director, Deacon Craig Mitchell, was assistant pastor at Keisha's church when she killed her family. Mitchell uses the shelter to hide from his past; Daniel has buried his memories of Mitchell; Ari believes he could have prevented Keisha's mental snap and plots revenge. Estelle is more forgiving and befriends him while Janet refuses to go near him.
Director of the Southern Methodist University creative writing program, David Haynes has always been good at writing women and the African-Americans middle class. Here he also does a good job with the ‘princes’ Ari and Daniel, the playful yet serious nature of their relationship, and the attention they get from others at dinner or at the mall, how ‘apparently what each had been using to work on the other, worked on other people, as well.’ However, while various incidents go by in the lives of the characters, they pass through the motions of the somewhat depthless plot without much risk. Here in Haynes’ seventh novel, his decision to give occasional, reassuring, snapshots of the characters futures, reduces the tension of the story, and readers know that, eventually, everything in A Star in the Face of the Sky will turn out well.
… (més)
 
Marcat
rmharris | May 16, 2014 |
Haynes' debut novel is spoken through the voice of Marshall Field Finney, a young man whose cynical view of family and friends will make you laugh as he struggles to come to terms with the absurdity and uncertainty of his life. He is only a sophomore in high school, yet is suddenly coping with the sudden departure of a mother he was previously determined to ignore and is suddenly sharing living space with a father who had previously been the object of his testosterone-driven resentment.

The storyline sounds grim, but the author keeps us laughing at Marshall's predicaments and rooting for his ability to figure it all out. Haynes successfully describes the neighborhood characters and Marshall's closest friends to help us understand how much support he actually has. Who Marshall actually learns is right by his side is revealed at the very end of the book, and will probably not be the obvious or your initial choice.

This is one that will make you smile from beginning to end, and should not be labeled as exclusively young adult material. Humorous fiction is always for the young--and the young at heart. Haynes always makes sure his novels are weighty enough to satisfy both.
… (més)
 
Marcat
greytone | Mar 25, 2009 |

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Estadístiques

Obres
14
També de
6
Membres
254
Popularitat
#90,187
Valoració
½ 3.4
Ressenyes
4
ISBN
53
Llengües
2

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