A Year of Rhymes Author:Bernard Cooper Essayist Cooper's first novel tells of a teenager in suburban L.A. facing his dawning homosexuality and the loss of an adored older brother to leukemia. — Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. — From Library Journal — A young boy learns of love, death, and art in this autobiographical first novel set in California in the early 1960s. Durin... more »g one fateful year, Burt Zerkin, the 11-year-old narrator, moves from childhood innocence to the beginnings of adult understanding. Burt discovers the vagaries of romance by observing his older brother Bob's relationships while simultaneously having intimations about his own sexual orientation through an infatuation with a neighborhood boy. Later, the specter of loss appears when Bob is diagnosed with leukemia. The novel's great strength is the way Cooper portrays the depth and honesty of Burt's emotions as he begins to grasp the painful burdens of adulthood. Though published to concide with Gay Pride week, the novel's craft and sensitivity should win it a more general audience.
- Lawrence Rungren, Bedford Free P. L. , Mass.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.« less