Product Description

"Now Is the Hour" is the first major novel by Tom Spanbauer since "The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon" in 1991. That novel became a cult classic; this one is destined to do the same.The year is 1967 and Rigby John Klusener, seventeen years old and finally leaving his home and family in Pocatello, Idaho, is on the highway with his thumb out and a flower behind his ear, headed for San Francisco. "Now Is the Hour" is the story of how Rigby John got to this point. It traces his gradual emancipation from the repressions of a strictly religious farming family and from the small-minded, bigoted community in which he has grown up in a time of explosive cultural change. Transforming this familiar journey from American Graffiti to On the Road into something rich and strange and hilarious is the persona of Rigby John himself. Intimately in touch with his fears, hesitantly awaking to his own sexuality, and palpably open to life's mysteries, Rigby John is utterly real and totally unforgettable. "Now Is the Hour" is a triumphant return by one of America's finest novelists.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67452 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Gay Times, rev'd by Jan Cooper
'a Gem'

Dazed and Confused
A `powerful tale...funny, sensitive picture of a young man whose
plight will resonate with your inner idealist.'

Metro
'A quintessential American tale of emancipation...Spanbauer both
ironises and embraces the classic American tropes his story draws on.'

Customer Reviews

A wonderfully human story
This book shares much in its style and imagery with "The man who fell in love with the moon" but is probably more immediately accessible. The imagery is rooted in nature.The contrast of dry, hot and dusty with wet, cool and sensual is a reccuring theme which also reflects the different types of spirituality explored.Rigby John is a immensely likeable hero caught between what adults have told him and what the world teaches him.All the characters are well developed and although flawed, like his mom, very human. The plot is quite circular and with each sweep through it more detail is revealed as layers of the narrative are unpeeled.A very satisfying read

ANOTHER GEM!!!
Tom Spanbauer is one of the greatest writers of the gay world/experience although he is not as prolific as some others. I have been waiting for a new Spanbauer for years. If you have read the beautiful MAN WHO FELL IN LOVE WITH THE MOON you are going to love this novel.
Not as sweeping and mythical as MAN this novel centres it's attention on one family and the ultimate search of the hero, Rigby John Klusener for his right to love and live the way he wishes to and not the way prescribed by society, religion, his peer group and family.
This is a novel peopled with flawed but beautifully crafted characters. Spanbauer has this knack of being able to make you empathise and understand characters even if they ultimately repulse you.
The joy of this novel is the voice of the narrator, Rigby, becoming stronger and stronger as the novel progresses until you are left rooting for his escape, rooting for his freedom and for the uncertain future he faces.
I loved this book. If you have never read Spanbauer before give his unique voice a try. The gay world needs more writers like this.

Very disappointing
When deciding to buy this book I was influenced by the strong positive reviews from Amazon readers. Having read it, I can only imagine that these people must have read a different book. I thought it was one of the dullest books I have ever read. The basic story is a familiar one, a gay teenager living in an intolerant environment comes to terms with his sexuality. The story largely unfolds in 'flashback', causing a degree of repetition that I found quite irritating. Much more irritating, however, was the interminable descriptive prose - page after page after page where nothing of any substance or interest is said. For my money, Paul Monette's 'Becoming a Man' or Edmund White's 'Boys Own Story' articulate the difficulties of growing up gay infinitely better than this novel did. I hope that this review will help to counterbalance the very positive reviews that I am at a loss to understand.