|
Vintage: A Ghost Story |  | Author: Steve Berman
Publisher: Lethe Press
Category: eBooks
This item is no longer available
Rating:  reviews
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
ASIN: B0012IYJCO
Publication Date: January 5, 2008
| | |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In a small New Jersey town, a lonely teen walking along a highway one autumn evening meets the boy of his dreams, a boy who happens to have died decades ago and haunts the road. Awkward crushes, both bitter and sweet, lead him to face youthful dreams and childish fears. With a cast of offbeat friends, antiques, and Ouija boards, Vintage offers readers a memorable blend of dark humor, chills and love.
Vintage was finalist for the 2008 Andre Norton Award for best young adult speculative fiction by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and in the category of Best Novel for the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards!
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Wanna get a cold one? August 21, 2010
Rev. E. A. Hernandez
VINTAGE: A GHOST STORY (2007) by Steve Berman is a "young adult" novel that immediately felt familiar to me: the scenery (though I'm a Midwestern man), the Goth teens bored nearly to death in a small New Jersey town, the loving descriptions of hanging around cemeteries and attending funerals as an act of meditation and friendship.
What I love about Berman is it's all stuff I recall from my younger years. In this, what I believe to be Berman's first novel, a skinny little 17-year-old Goth boy has dropped out of school and gone to live with his liberal aunt. His parents have kicked him into the street after suddenly discovering he's gay; he goes to his aunt and has no intention of returning to school at such a late date.
The ghost enters the story in an almost lackadaisical fashion: our nameless hero encounters him on a walk and immediately knows it's a ghost. There's a reason for the almost ho-hum nature of the revelation that there's a ghost afoot...but I'll get to that shortly. Suffice it to say that only a gay Goth teen would think there might be a romantic future with a ghost.
Nameless Hero (we only learn his surname about a quarter of the way through: Vesely) has a tried and true pal, Trace Vaughn, and her younger brother Mike. The significance of a deceased older brother will be the linchpin of this story, but I leave that to the reader to discover. So, Nameless Vesely (a Czech surname, Berman informs us), it transpires, is a medium. Hence his almost routine encounter with Josh-the-1950s-era-ghost.
The true genius Berman inserts into the plot is when the boy begins to wonder how many of the people he has encountered throughout his life were ghosts, not actual living people. However, by the time the reader hits this chapter, it's already becoming a bit too much for THE SIXTH SENSE.
The friends go on one animadventure after another, including a heart-wrenching discovery, and culminating in a séance very close to Halloween Night. The novel is laid out in days of the week as chapters; it begins on a Friday and ends the following weekend--a week and a half time span--on Halloween. Another thing I love is the happiest of endings: pretty unusual for teens, Goths and gay people.
It is not my custom to read much fiction. I have confessed I am a HARRY POTTER head and have read every novel. Berman gave me a fresh, invigorating work that brought back memories and simultaneously held me fast. Everyone was getting angry that I did not put down the novella until I finished it. At just under 150 pages, it took me only a few hours.
Yet those two hours were so enriched by Berman's brilliant work I still cannot get over the experience. Sure, it is what they call a "YA" novel (that's "young adult"). Sure, it centres on teens and that can be wearying (but not in Berman's hands). I must decry some grammatical errors that I would not expect from any author, plus an unnecessary chapter that bogged the story and made no sense.
In spite of all that, Berman did what few writers can do: brought a very real world to life from his mind, captivated with a brilliant spooky-ghost-story-romance, and made me relive memories of my own past. I was Goth before there was a term for it, and Berman I think is the only writer who has captured the teen Goth experience once and for all time. If you have even the slightest interest in ghost stories, THIS is the one of the decade, I assure you.
One warning for parents: there is an explicit gay love scene or two. I did not expect that and I was certainly unhappy about one of the scenes. However, don't insult your teen by letting that stop you. (For me, that unpleasantly graphic scene nearly cost Berman a star--he made amends with a later, better scene.)
This novel is brilliant and fun. I wish good fortune to Berman; this is his 1st novel and I think he will not be writing more in the future. Please also note a part of Berman's royalties will go to good gay causes, one being the prevention of gay teen suicides. If the right thing is done and this gets made into a film, no one will be better pleased than I. Except for Berman.
 Vintage -- A Very Good Sign August 7, 2010
Katrina Gonseth (San Diego, CA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Now, I admit I am not exactly the target audience for this book. I'm an adult female beyond my teenage romance years and honestly don't really read things like this often. However, the premise intrigued me greatly. I like ghosts. GLBT culture is important to me. I'd never read GLBT YA books before.
First, the critique. The writing lacks polish and does tend to be a bit meandering. This is offset by the spirit of the story and how genuine it is despite its supernatural subject matter. I'd read a passage here or there and think "I remember thinking that when I was that age." It's realistic and the pacing is good.
The biggest thing for me is how casually the gay romantic element is treated. It's realistic--who wouldn't worry about coming out? It's rare that GLBT youth can come out in complete comfort and there is bound to be internal struggle and fear. Beyond that, though, it's matter-of-fact. The main character's homosexuality is no big deal. It's not played up. It's not a focal point beyond the level that straight romance is. He is not stereotypical or exaggerated.
I feel this and books like this are a tremendous milestone in the history of growing up gay. Even ten years ago there was a strong lack of stories geared towards youth that had romances GLBT teens could relate to. This is in many ways the same exact kind of story that a straight supernatural romance is, only written for a GLBT audience. That, I feel, is a tremendous step towards acceptance and happiness for the younger generation and all others to come.
I'd love to rate this 5 stars soley on what it symbolizes, but I'll be honest--I did find the writing a bit clunky here or there. All the same, I would wholeheartedly recommend this. It's a good romance, a decent ghost story, and a very good sign.
Not Bad June 23, 2010
C. Eckart (Houston, TX USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was a pretty good book. I bought the Kindle edition and if you can get past all the typos then its a pretty good read.
Berman's Vintage: Hello-Goodbye May 18, 2010
Jeffrey L. Buford Jr.
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Steve Berman's ingenious approach to writing a seemingly conventional ghost story is a significant declaration concerning both sexual adolescent liberation and the exploration of love. What makes Berman's novel so persuasively erotic and unconventional is the element of homosexuality which proves to be an essential subject worthy of further examination for countless young people all across the world. Berman's unique ability to capture a cast of realistic characters pull the reader closer and closer to the most imperative responsibility of a writer, to utilize words to form a landscape unworthy of abandonment. The protagonist, who clearly represents the stifled voice within many young teenagers who are wrestling with their desire to reveal the genuineness of their sexuality to the world, allows us to follow him along down a road shaded by supernaturalism, teen angst, secrets, and a profound sexual and emotional connection with someone who walks the borderland of the unknown.
Berman's language is hip, honest, and often humorous. The Goth-scene created by Berman appears to emulate images of contemporary teens hanging around outside coffeehouses and bookstores carelessly wearing black eyeliner, silver necklaces, and black painted fingernails. Such characters are realistically inspiring. One can almost hear these voices echoing throughout the room, or drifting outside along a darkened alleyway. Berman presents a concept of childhood rebellion, coupled with concealed sexual tendencies, and these feelings almost force you to get up, throw on a black coat and put on some black eyeliner and search that old road in your town or city and fall in love. How fortunate we all would be. The first person narrator is fighting his own emotions, attempting to understand his parents and their narrow-mindedness. The scene in which Berman creates for these kids is astonishing. Trace's welcoming and uncertain attributes, the protagonists' feelings about Kim's tireless rants, and the congenial atmosphere of Trace's family dinner table are simple yet complex threads that connect Vintage to a realistic setting of storytelling. We are not certain if Steve Berman carries around a flashlight and shines it into the center of a troubled teenager's mind or not, but whatever flashlight he's using, he is able to gaze into the multifaceted interior of a group of kids separated and tied together by similar feelings of childhood pain. The ghost story has been kicked around for many years.
The ghost is the most daunting supernatural archetype to build a story around and yet Berman presents us with an inquisitive gay teen that bumps into a ghost on the outskirts of town. The reflective connection between the protagonist and the ghost creates the heartbeat of the story. One can place one's finger on the pulse of Vintage and feel the true spirit of Berman's work in that particular relationship. The related emotions between the young teen and the ghost work as a support beam for the walls of the story.
One of the cool things about Steve Berman's writing is the power he has over the reader. No one is quite sure if he has mastered the fine craft of casting spells in his earlier years or not, but the climb which Berman made to mold a sexually energizing scene between the Gothic-expeditionary and the ghost is just as arousing and steamy as the description of his characters. What truly allows Vintage to work is Berman's authority over modern language. There are a few sprinkles of archaic power in the tale, but Berman brilliantly pulls out his magical flashlight and writes dialogue as if he were an ear himself, listening to the words exchanged between kids, their thoughts, nightmares, and dreams. Berman's ghost story turns out to be more about falling into an abyss of things one cannot normally understand. We cannot make sense of childhood, the pain, the confusion, and yet we attempt to reach back and try to understand them. Adults will clearly understand Berman's gift of pushing the adult back and pulling out the notebook-scribbling kid in the back of the class. Vintage is a classic.
Pleased February 24, 2010
Jeff F. (Pennsylvania)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Vintage: A Ghost Story
I bought this book on a recommendation from a gay review site. That site gave it ok reviews, and then I read the reviews on here, and the book seemed all the more interesting. I have to recommend this book. It starts out a little slow, but when you actually get going, it's very difficult to put down. It's a coming of age type of story. I feel any isolated gay current or past gay teen, will be able to relate very well with the main character. I don't want to give away any spoilers. If you're into ghosts, mystery, and some of the things that go with it, then I'm fairly confident that if you don't love this book, you'll at least like it.
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. | |
