THE BEAR COMES HOME
Written by Rafi Zabor.
It was issued by the Norton WW & Company in 1997.
It has 480 pages.
This is a Book about Jazz Music.
MY REVIEW
The book begins when the Bear is a Cub. He decides to go on a journey to find his true identity.
When he arrives in New York City he gets caught. The Man who catches him takes him to a Poker Game and when he loses all his money he uses the Bear instead of money.
He loses the Bear to Jones who is a Street Bustler. Jones becomes a ’’father’’ to him and hey stay together for quite a while.
Some how he can walk, talk, read and play the Alto-Saxophone. He likes all types of music but jazz is his favourite.
The Bear decides to quit his day job and focus on his career. The first time he plays in a gig the Police raid the Jazz Club.
The Bear ends up in jail. He is sent to see a Psychiatrist and isn’t very happy about this.
A Policeman becomes sympathetic towards the Bear. He helps the Bears friend get out of jail, (without paying a fine).
He meets Ornette Coleman, (a famous Jazz Player), who wants to know how a Bear can play music like a real person. He is of course unique but the Bear doesn’t know this.
His first Album is released, (Blues in Ursa Minor), and it is an instant hit. He gets a record contract and a large cash advance.
He is suppose to work on his second Album and his friends thinks he would be better to do this away from NYC.
He does leave and decides to go to Woodstock, (it’s very close to his home town called Bearsville), to work on the score and practice with the band.
He keeps trying to become a better jazz player and often makes guests appearances with some of the famous jazz players like Lester Bowie, Ornette Coleman, Billy Hart and Charlie Haydon.
We read about his relationships with Humans, his philosophy, his romances and his musical profession.
He does meet a lot of Ladies. When he meets Iris they do have sexual intercourse.
He tries to analysis all of his relations, peoples emotions, (their insecurities a fear of not being accepted).
He goes back and forth from living in a Human’s World to his natural habitat.
How will it end? I’ll never tell because I never tell the ending of a book.
I will tell you that at the end of the book there is a listener’s guide that has a lot of useful information.
WHILE I WAS READING THE BOOK
The Bear was a very complicated character. He looks cuddly and cute but has a crude personality. His traits were so Human that at times I forgot I was reading about a Bear.
I began to think that some Humans are very much like this Bear.
I use to play the piano, (badly), and can read sheet music. He often describers his experiences by writing jazz music.
If you can’t read sheet music you will find parts of the book hard to read.
He often uses words I had never heard of and had to get out my dictionary a few times to understand the meaning.
I found this book full of humour and even though at times the language that was used was vulgar I did enjoy plowing through the book until the end.
THE AUTHOR
Rafi Zabor was born in Brooklyn. His Parent’s were Jewish and fled from Poland to the United States before WW II began. He wrote a lot of reviews for a 1980’s Music Magazine and wrote one rap song called ’’Drop the Gatt’’.
During a trip to Istanbul, (in 1979), he saw a Gypsy and a Bear. He began to wonder what would happen if the Bear could play a Saxophone. That is how he got his inspiration for this book.
AWARDS<.b>
This Book won the PEN/Faulkner Award. This is awarded each year to thirteen Authors from the United States who have written an exceptional Novel.
MY CONCLUSION
I thought this book was very creative and well written. I love jazz and so I could relate to what Woodstock and the great jazz players mean.
If you can’t read sheet music or if bestiality bothers you I suggest you don’t read this book.
If it doesn’t I think you will find it quite different than any book you have ever read.
I enjoyed it and highly recommend it to you.
I have the paperback copy and I paid $10.00 CAD.
ISBN# 039331863X
Thank you for reading my review.