Metes and Bounds by Jay

Metes and Bounds by Jay Quinn

The book is a dramatic and only one of its kind story from the finalist of Lambda Literary Award - Jay Quinn. This tale narrates the coming-of-age story of a young man declaring his place as a surfer and later coming out as gay. The background surrounding and setting is a small town village with broad skies and beaches of North Carolina's Outer Banks; with a theme that narrates Matt's growing and than later coming out as a gay is a unique blend of honesty and candor tale.

Among the small and large worlds of construction sites, fishing dock and surf breaks, readers of the book will be moved by the guts Matt has showed in order to discover erotic and sensitive maturity in the known - and at times scary - place he knows as home.

Analysis of the book

The author has written the book in the most magnificent and real manner with a clear cut approach to the story telling. The life of his character story - Matt is beautifully portrayed. The relationship with his new and old family members is also very unusual and rare.

The novel is a fast read, like an armchair travel book of the North Carolina coast. The character of the book Matt tells the story and flips back and forth on his life before and after moving to the beach. Thus, the reader would see parallel stories running at the same time, particularly memories of Chris and his novel gay adventures with a married man named Tillett, who only used him for pleasure.

The time of his Matt's adolescence age is significantly different from many of his peers as it's filled with fears, lure, and distressing relationships. Just when he was few months away from his high school graduation at the age of eighteen, Matt at his grandmother's funeral meets his uncle Tiger, who is just eight years older than him. Though Matt doesn't recall his uncle very clearly and was always troubled by the incident when he caught his uncle making out with a strong air force officer in the dark empty theater balcony.

After parting from his boyfriend Chris who has gone off to college, Matt realized he needs a change in his life. He loved his mother but she always had a self-righteousness nature which in turned avoided him and made his life difficult around the home.

Matt was graciously offered by his uncle Tiger to stay with him and his partner Mark at the beach and learn surveying. Thus, apart from work and school, Matt is also taught surfing by Tiger and Mark and even got him a surfing board, a wet suit, and a leash and a nose guard as graduation gift.

The book aside from the erotic and graphic prose also explored the role of Tiger on Matt. Thus, under the mentorship of Tiger and Mark, together with his own trials and errors, Matt established the metes and bounds of relationships, realizing he cannot "look for himself in other people."

One of the best things about this novel is its grasping quality, I couldn't put it down and was able to finish the whole book in one go!! It was like I was there in North Carolina enjoying its traveling perks and the coastal view and breezes. What Matt does dexterously is realign the story in, out and through the phases of his life before and after his move to the beach, which gave the book a more analogous feeling with different stories and phases of life going hand in hand to intrigue and draw the reader further into the structure of the book. One of the most brilliantly written pieces was the recollection of Tillett, who being a married man entertained, for his own happiness, Chris's naivety and fresh gay adventures. The book also gives us an overall perspective and influence of Tiger on Matt and his character modification and choices in life. It is through the experiences, guidance of Tiger and Mark as well as his own experiences and mistakes that taught Matt the limits and giveaways of a standing relationship.

His self-realization of learning who he was through his own shoes and not by walking around in someone else's shoes was a profound piece of writing. What helped him get to this point and form a closer bond with his uncle was founding out the main reason why the family was resentful towards Tiger. He learned a lot more about himself through analyzing Tiger's relationship with Mark. Tiger taught him the overall challenges one has to face in nurturing and feasting a relationship with certain situations. This further helps him establish an affectionate relationship with his old friend when he discovers the secret crush he had had on Matt after their reunion.

When reading the book, I felt that it was very true to the overall anticipations, fears, the trials, the vulnerability, the love, the gullibility, the inexperience, the idiocy and the envy that comes with stepping into any relationship and wanting it to last the test of times.

In a nutshell, the novel explores all the above emotional and sexual challenges of and an 18-year surfer from the state of North Carolina and how he learns to be comfortable in his own skin without being too caught up about the ways of the world and fighting for what his heart, mind, body and soul desires.

The expressions used are as direct and unforgettable as a memorable cricket match, relating very lucidly the distinctiveness of Matt's life story with its exclusive honesty, theme, and situations. The greatest achievement of this book was to beautifully narrate a simple story of a young gay surfer from North Carolina surviving in the standards of rights and wrongs of the world.

Not all bisexual or gay people can achieve a sense of security and emotional development is the cruel or intolerant settings of some of the other states. Matt's story of overcoming his own doubts, growing to be comfortable with himself and his desires will encourage most readers to be brave enough to fight for what the want and know themselves when faced with similar situations. Matt's layered personality show him as a character built after going through tough phases and a mature observation capability which is very rare overall.