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These Things Happen (2014)

by Richard Kramer(Favorite Author)

3.64 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1609531019 (ISBN13: 9781609531010)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Unbridled Books

review 1: Richard Kramer’s These Things Happen tells of wisecracking, savvy fifteen year old Wesley, who is on the cusp of understanding. A lifelong New Yorker, his mom sends him to live with his father, a gay lawyer who is a star in gay rights circles, and his partner George, a once actor now turned restaurateur. Wesley and his best friend Theo, a just out of the closet gay, are involved in a violent encounter. This sets in motion a stark examination of everyone’s beliefs and perceived notions. Kramer writes segments from several of the characters’ viewpoints, not just those primary characters, but even throwing in short chapters from the viewpoints of George’s restaurant partner and the ER doc who treats Wesley and Theo. Each of these is in first person, and they are maste... morerful portraits of their storytellers, advancing the plot, delving into both their psyches and those of the others in the tale. The most powerful and intricately written chapter is the last. In this segment, Kramer switches to third person, microscopically omniscient. With this tool, he lets us get deeply into the souls of both Wesley and George, and the outcome is mind-blowing, poignant, and an intelligent observation that not only fits these two characters but fits the viewpoints of too many of us in society in general. Kramer is a magnificent writer. His turns of phrases are amazing and beautiful; his pop culture references are spot on (he never loses the sense that older characters only know older pop culture, while Wesley and Theo are clueless when the references are made, yet somehow they are enriched and informed by them, even if they are not totally understanding.) Kramer’s career, prior to writing this treasure, was in television as a much lauded, much celebrated director and producer of some of television’s top shows. Living within pop culture like that must have made him extremely in tune with the world. His life must also have been totally immersed in New York City, its denizens, its lifestyle, for he uses NYC as almost an additional character but we, as readers, glean that though these people are thoroughly New York Citizens, they also reflect all of us. I know now why reviewers reserve their five star ratings (I tend to award five stars to most books that I enjoy immensely and think are well-written,) for giving These Things Happen five stars doesn’t even begin to do it justice. I give it ten. Just envision five more stars at the top of this review!
review 2: I'm really torn here, because I started out loving this book - so much so I shared a passage I found particularly humorous with my husband - but by the end, I was ready for it to be over (and it's a short book). It was really funny at the beginning but turned this dark, dark corner - not even really turned, but sort of wallowed around the corner in this bloated sort of way, that made for some almost unpleasant reading by the end. It's a New York Book for sure - genetically related to Edith Wharton and Judy Blume and The Catcher in the Rye and Seinfeld (although not a book) and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and every single musical ever written about New York City. Like the city, the book, particularly half way through and beyond, was crowded and noisy; the paragraphs tended to run together. A clown - yes, a clown - says at the beginning " This is New York, right? We're all so close. You have to breach boundaries and respect them at the same time." Which is basically the plot in a nutshell - nice of Kramer to do that for us. I make it sound like I hated this book,which I didn't - I would highly recommend it. less

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