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   The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957-1965

   Sam Stephenson and W. Eugene Smith

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catiejames, February 28, 2009 (view all comments by catiejames)
Seventeen year old Ethan Keller live a simple life: spending his days working as a clerk in his small town's generals store and evenings at his widowed mother's boarding house dinner table. Ethan's never considered a life beyond the sheltered reach of a dutiful second son trying to keep older brother Willie out of trouble, finding snippets of time to indulge his love of reading and dreaming buying a colt or filly of his own some day. All that changes when a charismatic and persistent young cowboy named Travis Cain walks into his life.

Sensing a kindred spirit, Travis dares Ethan to dream beyond that which he's ever dared and soon convinces Ethan to sign on to the Hayward Ranch's summer cattle drive. During the journey from Texas to Cheyenne Ethan and Travis test the limits of their endurance, explore the bonds of true friendship, and discover a love that will eventually risk everything they hold dear.

In THE FILLY, author Mark R. Probst combines the tender beauty of love--be it the blossoming romance between two young men at a time when the only term to characterize their relationship came in the form of Biblical condemnation, the fierce protectiveness of families for their own, or friendships forged in the most dire circumstance--with the gritty, bare-boned realism of life in the old west. There were a few times when I was jarred from the narrative by an inconsistency of language, a bit of cardboard characterization among many of the novels secondary players, and an ending that came too abruptly for my personal tastes. These factors were far outweighed though by the depth and sensitivity in Mr. Probst's depiction of Ethan, Travis, and their relationship.

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Grady Harp, December 27, 2007 (view all comments by Grady Harp)
A Love Story

Rating first novels is a different assignment than rating novels by authors whose output allows comparison with a gamut of works: usually a five star rating denotes a major work of genius. But to encounter a work as simply beautiful as Mark R. Probst's THE FILLY makes such a positive impression (and a suggestion that this may be the opening work in a significant career) that it requires a heads-up to the audience. And so a five star rating for this book, for this reader, is justified. This is a work of courage on the part of subject matter, but it is also an example of clarity in writing and in technique that deserves applause.

Probst takes us back in time to 1878 and to the age of the Westerns so rhapsodized by the films of the 40s and 50s, western tales more interested in the grandeur of the frontier and the simple purity of the feelings of characters isolated from the more decadent big cities. With a keen eye for vocabulary and scene setting, Probst takes us to Texas and introduces us to a gentle, bookish lad named Ethan who supports his mother and older brother Willie (whose activities include drinking, whoring, and crime) by working in a store. Into this gentle time enters a handsome cowboy Travis, looking for a place to stay while he waits for the job of the summer - driving a herd of cattle to Colorado. Travis causes an unfamiliar response within Ethan, an emotional and sensual feeling that is as new as spring rain. Through a series of conversations and incidents, Travis convinces Ethan to accompany him on the cattle drive and Ethan makes his first break from his family to follow the mystery that he finds in Travis.

What follows is one of the most understated love stories on paper, and that is not to say that this novel fears commitment to gay love and expression of feelings physically: Probst writes with dignity and subtlety and in doing so he manages to weave a truly romantic novel instead of a story of descriptive lust. The two men fall in love and when the cattle drive is complete they return home to tell their families of their plans to move to the Rockies to raise horses. A surprise tragedy occurs, one that causes the ugly head of homophobia to threaten the story's end, but Probst guides the bonded couple through a perilous experience, assuring us that the sun always rises in good westerns.

The story may sound simplistic, but it is peppered with very well drawn secondary characters, each of whom plays a significant role in the story. There is no 'filler' here, no meaningless meandering through sidebars that squelch the momentum of the story. Probst writes beautifully and while some may criticize the Romantic approach of his writing, the poetry fits the melody - and the song is a fine one! THE FILLY is a strong novel by a fine writer and for a first work, this book will be a standard by which his certain subsequent novels will be judged. Grady Harp

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780979777301

Author:

Probst, Mark R.

Publisher:

Cheyenne Publishing

Subject:

Gay & Lesbian

Subject:

Gay

Publication Date:

October 2007

Binding:

Paperback

Language:

English

Pages:

224

Dimensions:

9.00x6.00x.47 in. .74 lbs.