Exiles in America

Exiles in America is a beautifully written novel that will be with me for quite some time. I was deeply touched by these characters and the drama of their lives. I, too, feel like an exile at times.

That Christopher Bram is one of our finer novelists today is a given (The Notorious Dr. August: His Real Life and Crimes, Gods and Monsters, Life of the Circus Animals, In Memory of Angel Clare, etc). EXILES IN AMERICA is a very astutely constructed novel, one that explores the concept of displaced persons, whether those persons be gay men in a straight homophobic town, artists in a world of grounded minds, immigrant visitors in the land of the free, or Muslims in a path of fear guarded closely by the Christian ethic. Mix these possible people in a country post 9/11 and prior to America's (read Bush's) declaration of war on Iraq and there is a story brooding. For the most part Bram finely tunes this novel with well-drawn characterizations, a gift he continues to elucidate in his writing. But something has entered Bram's writing mind that is a bit disturbing: he seems to have lost some of the respect for his readers that has never happened prior to his novel. There are moments of 'dumbing down' the reader by excessive explanations of obvious knowns and even stumbling at the close of the book to speak not in the voice of the characters he has created but in his own vacillating voice as a writer - a section of this otherwise fairly tense read that breaks the magic and adds little. Daniel, an artist with painter's block who now only teaches art in Williamsburg, VA, and Zack, a psychiatrist who has given up his New York practice to follow Daniel to his present college teaching position, have been together as a couple for twenty one years, the last ten years at least of which have been an 'open marriage': both men are agreed that transient liaisons outside of their marriage are acceptable as long as they talk about them. Daniel, though in his late forties, has fears of aging and continues to pursue flings, while Zack has settled into a nearly asexual state. Into their milieu come a new guest faculty artist, Iranian Abbas and his Russian wife Elena (a couple with two children who also have an open marriage), and soon enough Daniel and Abbas are lusting after each other in what continues long enough to become an affair. The story is centered on how these four people react not only to each others' needs and fears, but how Zack and Daniel become enmeshed in the growing American suspicion of Middle Eastern 'potential terrorists', a factor surfacing when Abbas' older brother Hassan arrives from Tehran insisting that Abbas, Elena and their children return to Iran because of the incipient war between the US and Iraq. These conflicts focus the instabilities and consequences of the lifestyles of the four friends and introduces an entirely new attitude to Exiles in all its meanings. Bram writes brilliantly and moves his story at a terrific pace: EXILES IN AMERICA is a difficult book to put down once started. For this reader the only problem other than the ones mentioned above is the lack of charisma: it is difficult to truly care about any of the peo

It's intimidating to review a writer with the stature of Christopher Bram, but fortunately, this excellent novel does not disappoint. Exiles in America centers almost entirely on two couples and the complications that bloom among them. There's Zack and Daniel, a late-40s gay couple, together for 21 years, who don't have sex with each other anymore. The other couple is Abbas and Elena Rohani. Abbas is a visiting art professor at the university where Daniel teaches. An innocent invitation by Zack and Daniel to have the Rohanis for dinner because they're new in town leads to an affair between Daniel and Abbas, who is bisexual. None of this is secret, and soon the left-out spouses, Zack and Elena, find through sharing notes about the affair that they have a growing friendship. The reader's interest holds as Abbas' dissatisfaction over his career as a painter slides all over the emotional scale, affecting the foursome in turn. It's 2002 and early 2003, just when the Iraq War is beginning, and this event colors their lives in ways they can't imagine--including creepy visits to all of them from the FBI. It's hard to believe that the ruminations of relationships and the everyday lives of four fairly ordinary people can hold a reader's interest, but Bram's expert hand at characterization makes you want to be there as each layer of each character is peeled away. His sharp dialogue and realistic buildup of complications keep the story fresh and true. While I don't normally like frequent viewpoint switches, Bram is masterful at the subtle transfer from one voice to another, even in the same paragraph--something I would never try in my own fiction. A welcome, relieving epilogue brings the story full circle, though with questions about humanity still lingering in the readers' minds. One clear mistake, however, was Bram's choice at one important point to swing the story out of omniscient viewpoint and to directly address the reader (even using the words, "dear reader..."). This is a cheap shot that was not necessary and which weakens the story. In addition, there are a couple of characters that are completely unnecessary, most noticeably Ross, a friend to the gay couple who has no pertinent place whatsoever in this novel. Fortunately, Bram's storytelling is so good that such an error can be overlooked.

This is the first novel I've read from this author and now I want to read them all! Such a great book, an interesting dynamic! You won't be disappointed but it will leave you w/many questions. I couldn't put it down, what a great read!

Christopher Bram has written his most thought-provoking novel to date. He delves sensitively but deeply into a number of topics currently rocking the American cultural psyche: the definition of marriage and family, the gulf between East and West, the tension between security and xenophobia, etc. It's a great read that will leave you asking yourself questions for which there are no easy answers.