Spine

Rating:
Summary: Suspense with entertainment AND social value?1st Rate!
Review: After reading Spine by F. E. Mazur I came away with the following: Spine is a public education about education. Mazur writes a detailed, well thought out expose' in fictional form of the sometimes tragic realities of the institution most of us (with the exception of home schoolers and perhaps some private institutions) have to be confined in for years out of our lives: public schools. Long gone are the days of the spinster school teachers living in the homes of their students with hickory sticks in their hands to maintain order. As depicted in Spine, today's teachers live a variety of different lifestyles and can no longer take discipline into their own hands like they used to be able to. What has not changed over the years is the expectation of the self righteous public to enforce those rigid moral standards from the olden days: and when there is a suspicion of inappropriate behavior, as there is in Spine, the people are likely to form a witch hunt and the subject of the hunt may feel forced to defend himself and feel oppression as he has never experienced it before. The difference in not allowing the teacher to take discipline in their own hands can present difficulties in dealing with extremely difficult cases, such as with one character in Spine. In this case, the teacher reacts inappropriately, but seems to feel backed in a corner with no way out but to use his clever tongue. Spine is definitely not for the light hearted reader, which also demonstrates that teachers are human: they may swear, drink, play cards, and think about sexual acts. And although Spine sent a definite social message to me, it was also very enjoyable to read, as Mazur has a wonderful grasp of the language and how to put words together to move the reader along and want to turn the page. Outstanding.

Rating:
Summary: THOUGHT PROVOKING
Review: Although this is a fictional story, it was easy to see that Mr Mazur has spent his time in the trenches with the public school system. With the lack of discipline in some homes, and the lack of disciplinary measures to deal with it, teachers are in a dangerous place. This is an intriguing mystery that takes place in and around the public school system. It gives the reader a hard, inside look at the expectations of the public on the teachers and the system. Parents who feel that teachers are overpaid have never worked with oversized classrooms and wise-guy students.

A few years ago, people would not have thought it possible that students might be carrying guns or have the anger within to use them. Times have changed. This story takes the reader on a ride that deals with the realities of what can happen in a small rural town with a few bad apples. It was fictional a few years ago, unfortunately it could be factual now.

I found this book to be well-written and very thought provoking. The blend of realism with mystery made a winning combination. I recommend this book for readers looking for a dose of reality.

Rating:
Summary: Realistic Look at the Educational System
Review: As a former educator, the author weaves much realism into this fictional story of a somewhat jaded teacher and his dealings with hostile students as well as a principal and school board members who seem to have become instrumental to the declining authority teachers now have over their students and the classroom. It's quite easy to understand the downfall of our educational system and the continual show of violence shown by students predisposed toward same. The suspense built into the storyline is wonderfully paced and delivered. "Spine" is not only well-written but edifying, and a book I recommend without reserve.

Rating:
Summary: Exploring the Eroding Effects of Careless Bad People
Review: Every day good people encounter evil, careless, bad people. In Spine, F.E. Mazur explores the effects of these interactions on generally good, caring people. Grayson Lord, a 'Nick Carroway' type narrator and his fellow teachers must deal with the Aftanus family and Asa Aftanus, a new high school student who proves to be a venonmous bully intent on making trouble. And the teachers in this small town school are not cowered by these threats... Set in a small town in central Pennsylvania, the ironic tensions in rural areas between the clear preferences for isolation and the ever-present need to "know everything about everybody" comes to a head when the town's self appointed 'Christian' zealot minister accuses Lord. Readers who want a "Welcome Back Cotter" take on teachers will be uncomfortable with Mazur's portrayal of teachers who are individualistic and strong willed--men who care about their own standards, not those set by others. What a New York Times reviewer once stated of Mary McCarthy's work exposing the all- too-human side of priest also applies to Mazur's portrait of teachers...he 'dares to challenge the ordinary.' On reflection it is not the actions of these teachers that disturbs, but rather how basically good, ordinary people are 'rubbed raw' by unchecked evil, given free rein by the spineless non-actions of many in authority. Excellent writing, well plotted and suspenseful til the very end.

Rating:
Summary: The Education of Grayson Lord
Review: Grayson Lord doesn't like his job as a teacher in a small Pennsylvania town, and many students and parents don't like Grayson Lord. This well-written, cynical and realistic novel takes a hard look at the reasons why, and as flawed as Lord is--as a person and a teacher--he still comes off looking better than the town's parents and students.
The first half of the novel deals with school politics and the mind numbing problems created by incompetent administrators, undisciplined students and spineless parents who are controlled more by their children than their children are by them. Lord is single, so the area's coventional wisdom has him pegged as a homosexual, a further complication in the teacher's beleaguered life. And when Lord finds himself tying to teach and discipline a new student, senior Asa Aftanas, his life takes an ugly turn for the worse.
As long as Spine stayed in school, I found it realistic and engrossing, the characters believable and compelling. But when the story takes a bizarre twist in the second half and turns into a conventional murder mystery, it's almost like reading a different story featuring the same people. Not that the murder mystery is so bad, but the first part of Spine is that riveting. Thus the second part seems contrived and artificial by comparison. Still, I couldn't stop reading because by then I was caught up in the characters, and especially the strung-out life of Grayson Lord, who's a likeable and sympathetic character despite his shortcomings. I believe if Mazur had stuck with the school conflict and not resorted to murder and mayhem to solve Lord's interesting and timely problems at school, Spine would have turned out to be not just a good read, but a great one. The bottom line, however, is that it is indeed a good read.

Rating:
Summary: The Education of Grayson Lord
Review: Grayson Lord doesn't like his job as a teacher in a small Pennsylvania town, and many students and parents don't like Grayson Lord. This well-written, cynical and realistic novel takes a hard look at the reasons why, and as flawed as Lord is--as a person and a teacher--he still comes off looking better than the town's parents and students.
The first half of the novel deals with school politics and the mind numbing problems created by incompetent administrators, undisciplined students and spineless parents who are controlled more by their children than their children are by them. Lord is single, so the area's coventional wisdom has him pegged as a homosexual, a further complication in the teacher's beleaguered life. And when Lord finds himself tying to teach and discipline a new student, senior Asa Aftanas, his life takes an ugly turn for the worse.
As long as Spine stayed in school, I found it realistic and engrossing, the characters believable and compelling. But when the story takes a bizarre twist in the second half and turns into a conventional murder mystery, it's almost like reading a different story featuring the same people. Not that the murder mystery is so bad, but the first part of Spine is that riveting. Thus the second part seems contrived and artificial by comparison. Still, I couldn't stop reading because by then I was caught up in the characters, and especially the strung-out life of Grayson Lord, who's a likeable and sympathetic character despite his shortcomings. I believe if Mazur had stuck with the school conflict and not resorted to murder and mayhem to solve Lord's interesting and timely problems at school, Spine would have turned out to be not just a good read, but a great one. The bottom line, however, is that it is indeed a good read.

Rating:
Summary: About as Clunky as a Rolex
Review: I wish that persons with an ax to grind against an
author would find some other way and stop attempting
to mislead readers. My wife and I read this novel, and
although we have differing opinions on why the author
portrayed his teachers as candidly as he did, we both
agree that the characterizations are well done, the
plot finely designed, and above all the writing is
smooth with no potholes in the road. The beginning of
almost every chapter is obviously crafted so that a
reader's curiosity is renewed. Also, while the
realm of this story is education, by no means is the
action confined to a school. Of the book's thirty
chapters, Grayson Lord and his colleagues are present
inside a school building in only about ten of them,
and then not always in a classroom. This is grab-you storytelling from first page to last.

Rating:
Summary: (3 1/2) The Voice of Experience from a Promising New Author
Review: Segments of this book had the feel of deep personal experience; at least some elements seemed based on the author's reactions to some intense personal experiences if not directly autobiographical. At times the character development and various incidents that occur within the story seem so realistic that I would have guessed that the author had been a teacher even if the book jacket had not confirmed my suspicion. My reactions were complex, and I will describe them and the reasons for my rating after providing a brief overview of the story (which due to its nature will unfortunately only do it partial justice).

The story is set in Careytown, PA, in many ways the embodiment of rural America. The opening chapter introduces us to several of the main characters, Grayson Lord (the narrator at times), an English teacher at the local high school; Clipper Ostrander, Lord's newsboy and a student at the high school; Sy, Clipper's aged beagle and the object of the aggression of Asa Aftanas, a new resident in town who will be a senior when the new school year starts. The opening incident is both intense and foreboding, and in some ways sets the theme for the remainder of the story by foreshadowing the breakdown in both educational standards and the gradual circumscribing of the ability of educators to exert their authority without concern for both political and legal challenges. The next several chapters present an interesting juxtaposition in tone and pace to the novel's start, as we are gradually introduced to the town itself and many of its inhabitants, including several of the faculty members, one of them history teacher George Nesbitt, Lord's closest friend and in some ways the most pivotal character in the story.

We gradually learn about the conflicts among faculty members and other schisms within the town, including a sect led by the Reverend Millard Touchstone. Several themes are interwoven very cleverly, including Lord's sexual proclivities, the state of education in rural America today, Lord's and Nesbitt's friendship, and the personal stories of several of their students. Meanwhile, in the background is always the potential for evil represented by Asa Aftanas and his father Randy, especially following a classroom confrontation between Lord and Asa which has great ramifications for all the elements of the town's educational system: the school principal, the superintendent of schools and the school board itself. Faced with his almost certain dismissal as a teacher and his dissatisfaction with his life, George Nesbitt suddenly disappears just before final exams and the story once again turns into a mystery and the reader is drawn to the inescapable conclusion that the question is no longer whether or not this story will have a happy ending, but instead whether or not justice will be served. After so many individuals have acted so spinelessly, in the end whose character will exhibit some SPINE?

This is at times a very powerful story in two respects, both in the sense of place and character that it evokes and also in the underlying questions of morality which it addresses. Given the author's use of wonderful verbal imagery at times, his character delineation, and especially his comments about the educational system, I wish that I felt that it deserved five stars and I hope that his next effort sufficiently builds on his literary strengths so that it does. I loved Lord's discussion with school board member Serena Cantor about educational philosophy and governance, and his summary that perhaps schools are abusing children "now in a silent fashion that makes a lot of the adults feel good" by not imposing educational standards or doing more to alter unacceptable and ultimately counterproductive behavior. But that discussion is indicative of the apparently dual goals of the author both to write an interesting mystery, in which case it is almost a digression, and also a "year in the life of story" about education in small town America. I found the myriad of characters hard to remember and the first part of the story interesting but far from compelling. I wanted the story lines to come together and the action to proceed; thus the strengths of the book and its weaknesses were inextricably linked.

But the storyline does proceed to a well thought out conclusion where all the various threads are cleverly and logically brought together in a satisfying although purposely ambiguous ending that lets each reader reach his own conclusions regarding whether the degree of SPINE finally exhibited was appropriate. Thus your enjoyment of this book will be highly conditioned by your interests and expectations. However, as long as you understand the somewhat split nature of its appeal I would encourage you to read it with one final caveat: as in so many books published by second tier presses, there are a significant number of minor editing oversights, but they do not rise to the level of being a major annoyance to the reader as I have found them to be on occasion in other efforts by lesser known authors.

Disclaimer: In the interest of full disclosure, I was furnished a review copy of this book by the author based upon my interest in this genre as evidenced by my previous reviews of similar books. As is the case with many authors published by second tier presses with small promotional budgets, he is hopeful that a wider base of reviewers might stimulate additional interest in his book. I have no relationship and have never met either the author or anyone employed by the publisher, and furnished no guarantee that I would even submit a review. If anything, in order to prove my objectivity I perhaps presented my criticisms in more detail than they deserve. Nevertheless, people in my business have belatedly learned too much disclosure is preferable to not enough, so this addendum is offered in that spirit.

Tucker Andersen

Rating:
Summary: Midwest Book Review - intelligent fiction, well written
Review: Spine is serious fiction, well-written to the extent that I had trouble believing the story was not true. F.E. Mazur chose a disturbing subject for his first novel, one that caught and held me to the very last page. As a one-time educator, he seems to write from harsh experience. Who fares better in the current education system, teachers with a spine who hope to make a difference, or those who coast through their days untouched by the chaos around them?

Grayson Lord is the main character of Spine. He's young, attractive, quietly cynical about the school system and quality of learning offered. Gray lives alone, interacts socially on a somewhat superficial level out of choice, and does his best to make English and Literature attractive to his students. With few exceptions, neither his students nor the school administration appreciate Gray's efforts

Gray treasures books and the written word, enjoys a well-crafted joke and drinks with fellow teachers after work. The new school year promises to be like every other, more of the same, until the Aftanas clan moves into the school district. Always the controlled and reasonable teacher-figure, Gray is at first perturbed and then provoked by the horrible behavior of Asa Aftanas. Asa and his equally brutal father share a dark secret from the past, and nothing Grayson Lord ever read or imagined could prepare him for their kind.

There are those who will label Spine a mystery-suspense novel. I consider it mainstream fiction. The teachers, students, administrators, school board members, and parents were realistically portrayed. The language and content were often harsh and profane, much as it is in real life. The futility of teaching those who prefer not to be taught was troubling, but true. The attempted character assassination of a once idealistic man was painful to experience from Gray's perspective. And the murderous Aftanas family was frightening to contemplate.

The subject matter of Spine was not pretty, but Mr. Mazur's writing style made the read worthwhile. This is not a book for children, sensitive adults, or those who like escapist reading. The story posed questions and scenarios that didn't have pat answers. That's why I liked it.

Rating:
Summary: Midwest Book Review - intelligent fiction, well written
Review: Spine is serious fiction, well-written to the extent that I had trouble believing the story was not true. F.E. Mazur chose a disturbing subject for his first novel, one that caught and held me to the very last page. As a one-time educator, he seems to write from harsh experience. Who fares better in the current education system, teachers with a spine who hope to make a difference, or those who coast through their days untouched by the chaos around them?

Grayson Lord is the main character of Spine. He's young, attractive, quietly cynical about the school system and quality of learning offered. Gray lives alone, interacts socially on a somewhat superficial level out of choice, and does his best to make English and Literature attractive to his students. With few exceptions, neither his students nor the school administration appreciate Gray's efforts

Gray treasures books and the written word, enjoys a well-crafted joke and drinks with fellow teachers after work. The new school year promises to be like every other, more of the same, until the Aftanas clan moves into the school district. Always the controlled and reasonable teacher-figure, Gray is at first perturbed and then provoked by the horrible behavior of Asa Aftanas. Asa and his equally brutal father share a dark secret from the past, and nothing Grayson Lord ever read or imagined could prepare him for their kind.

There are those who will label Spine a mystery-suspense novel. I consider it mainstream fiction. The teachers, students, administrators, school board members, and parents were realistically portrayed. The language and content were often harsh and profane, much as it is in real life. The futility of teaching those who prefer not to be taught was troubling, but true. The attempted character assassination of a once idealistic man was painful to experience from Gray's perspective. And the murderous Aftanas family was frightening to contemplate.

The subject matter of Spine was not pretty, but Mr. Mazur's writing style made the read worthwhile. This is not a book for children, sensitive adults, or those who like escapist reading. The story posed questions and scenarios that didn't have pat answers. That's why I liked it.