Under The Big Sky: What Heaven hath joined together... let no man cut asunder.

Under The Big Sky: What Heaven hath joined together... let no man cut asunder. | S. Bryan Gonzales | Teenage Brokeback Mountain

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Under The Big Sky:...

	Under The Big Sky: What Heaven hath joined together... let no man cut asunder. S. Bryan Gonzales AuthorHouse, 2006 - 492 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Somewhere on the edge of a long-forgotten land called the Great Open, two fiercely strong-willed, all-American high school boys come together-forging a relationship hotter than the blazing Eastern Montana summer sun. Cash McCollum, a short-tempered, fifth generation rodeo cowboy, finds his simple, black-n'-white world bulldozed over by rich, handsome Travis Hunter, star jock of the football team. And what begins as a secret liaison between them, eventually stirs up into an impish, and sometimes humorous, whirlwind of gossip-awakening the small, sleepy town of Miles City. ".you 'n Travis seem to be slidin' into a real comfy corner." A corner that Cash's older brother, Clayton is not okay with. As time passes, and the friendship deepens, it's their extreme popularity that continues to attract a whole lot of unwanted attention-thrusting them from the closet into the middle of local limelight. From the beginning, the stakes are high with each risking a lot. Cash cannot lose sight of the rodeo crown title, All-Around Cowboy, at his fingertips; and Travis is dead-set on taking the football team to state championship-gaining the trophy of Most Valuable Player for himself as well. Compounding this star-studded drama, these two boys also discover their worlds are COMPLETELY different-with nothing to bind them together but an unbridled attraction and a fierce determination to make the relationship work. "We're comin' from two different cultures-can't you see that? Cash forces Travis to smell the roses. "You obviously come from money. I don't. I never will." It's Travis' persistence, however, that keeps them glued together. ".I can't live without you, Cash, because it's you. who makes me a better guy ." Under the Big Sky unveils a world that many overlook, or refuse to acknowledge. It is where the human heart beats as strong as ancient echoes of Indian drums along a mighty and untamed Yellowstone River. Within its pages, you'll be take

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A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN A SIMPLE COMING OF AGE STORY

There are a lot of gay coming of age stories out there, and most seem to follow a well traveled path, the angst of coming to terms with one's sexuality being the primary concern. UNDER THE BIG SKY begins this way, but quickly shifts to a broader focus, leaving the reader challenged and awed by what it has to say.

This starts out as a story about Cash McCollum, a handsome young Montana cowboy, on the verge of becoming the state's next high school rodeo champion. Cash comes from a long line of rugged individualists, and is a loner by nature.

Travis Hunter is a hot football phenomenon, and he's recently moved from California to Montana with his mother. He's a rich big city boy on the fast track to local celebrity. Travis and Cash share that special look, so common in romantic fiction, the first time they meet, and begin a relationship almost immediately.

But here is where this coming of age story changes course. Certainly Cash deals with the traditional issues surrounding coming out, Travis has been out for a while, but Cash realizes that he's as passionately in love with Travis as Travis is with him, and he accepts it. Their problems aren't the expected ones. Cash's family with the exception of one of his brothers, adjusts to them as a couple fairly quickly and pressure from classmates is almost a non-issue. The course change comes with the friction that is quickly developing between the two.

Cash and Travis, both aggravatingly headstrong, are having an extremely difficult time coming to terms with each other's lives. Both have very definite ideas about the direction of their future, and neither really wants to compromise. Travis' mother is no help either, trying to steer her son back to a former relationship with the son of one of her wealthy associates.

Things are clearly headed in the wrong direction when Travis holds off on committing to the football scholarship he's offered at the same university Cash will attend, and they really spiral out of control when Cash's number one rodeo rival, Lee Biruni, inserts himself in the picture. Lee's an attractive first generation Arab-American cowboy with a complicated past, and he's determined to make Cash his own. Travis' overly jealous reaction to him only helps Lee's plan along.

Yes, UNDER THE BIG SKY is a coming of age romance but it takes a detailed look at the choices these two young men make after that initial fact is established, and in so doing transcends to a higher level. This is an exploration of the importance of commitment, both intimate and social, and the novel makes it clear there are no easy answers. Love, trust, dignity and compromise must all be considered and that can prove as daunting for two young men in love as the big Montana sky.

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Teenage Brokeback Mountain

From reading the other reviews, it's clear to me that readers either love or hate this book; that mean's it hits a nerve, it moves the reader, one way or the other. Me, I loved it.

It's gay romance, it's gay coming out, gay Western (Cash really does epitomize the ideal Western cowboy as a teenager). It's reasonably well written and FULL of conflict, especially conflict between the three (yes, three, not two) main characters.

There is a clear love triangle created: Cash loves and is loved (kind of) by both Travis and Lee, both of the two latter hate each other (as you would expect). The process of love beginning, growing, becoming conflicted, etc., in each of the two relationships is written well and convincingly. I accept that there are some weaknesses in the plotline, but I don't think they take away from the fact that the characters are created so real and credible, that they have to face real issues and conflicts, that they are all flawed yet the reader can still hope for them.

I admit that I did root for Cash to "pick" Travis; I think he and Travis needed to grow a lot for that to happen and was glad that it did. I was saddened that Cash hurt Travis so much (so did Cash), but Cash had to find out his feelings, not only for Travis but also for Lee, the hard way. Hard on everyone. I could see a sequel for these characters set sometime after they had left college to see if they did, in fact, survive the college experience and the changes that inevitably happen to people between eighteen and twenty-five. Did Travis come to resent Cash for keeping him in Montana? What happened when they graduated from college and had careers to pursue? Lots of challenges still face these two flawed beauties.

This book is full of powerful feelings and heart-stopping romance, but no sex. The sexual activities are passed over with a few words only. If the plotline, romance, a Western/oater, coming out story (rather than explicit sex) is your interest, and if you want to read about two dynamite, sexy characters falling in love, finding all kinds of challenges to that love, going through a hell of a ride, then grab a hold and go for it.

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More than a gay coming-of-age tale, this is an endearing love story

"Under The Big Sky" is a warm, endearing and engrossing tale of two high school seniors who fall in love--love with a capital 'L', not puppy love as is usually found in high school. Their problem: They're gay boys living in Montana, and both are entrenched in hyper-masculine pastimes, football and rodeo. While this is a coming-of-age story, it really is more a love story, in the most classic of senses (and I do NOT mean a trashy romance novel). I was really surprised by how deep and detailed the novelist got into the lives and feelings of the two main characters, Cash the middle-class cowboy and Travis the rich football stud. The story delves directly into the beginning of the romance but does not rush from there. And it provides the boys with very real trials and tribulations that put their relationship to the test, and then some. This isn't a very "literary criticism" phrase to use, however, I have to say it: I loved this book. It's a story every young gay male teen should read, and one any gay adult will enjoy. I never wanted this epic novel to end. And I can't say enough about it.

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Outstanding

An excellent story, well written. Believable. Realistic. Complex. Provides an open door into the world of Montana ranching, high school rodeoing and the complexities that ensue when those are combined with a mate who is from a different world entirely. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Sequel in the works.

reviews: page 1, 2

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