Marcus and me (book)
Marcus and me by Jay Edson is a fictional account of a man and the close relationship he develops with a young boy.
- (Book cover available here: http://uryourstory.org/images/photos-gen/marcus.jpg)
- Paperback: 112 pages
- Publisher: MindGlow Media; first edition (August 22, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0961549769
- ISBN-13: 978-0961549763
Publisher's description
When Franklin Hubbard runs away from the Lutheran boys home where he has lived for most of his eleven years, he hitches a ride from Marcus, a middle-aged man he quickly decides is both a loony and a criminal. But Franklin's definitions come from his influences the state, the church, and the popular news media that have formed his comic book good-and-evil world view. What follows in that hippie heyday summer of 1967 is more than just a journey from coast to coast across America. For young Franklin it is a journey from an America he knows to one he has never imagined. Marcus and Me speaks with the blunt honesty of Franklin's own voice as he struggles to understand two opposing ways to live ... one based on the solid but simplistic values that have dominated his short life, the other offering him an exhilarating freedom that questions everything he has grown to believe. It s the summer of 67, yet every breath of Franklin's story has clear resonance with the America of today. It is about freedom and personal responsibility versus control and unthinking acceptance.[1]
Customer review (from Amazon.com)
- 3.0 out of 5 stars
- Same sex, intergenerational relationships
- ByMr. Bon July 6, 2012
"Jay Edson, a credential youth therapist, has written "Marcus and Me", "A Galaxy of Stars", and "This Too Is Love." All three explore the theme of inter-generational relationships, including sexual relations. In "Marcus and Me", he explores the relationship between an 11-year-old runaway from a harsh religious residential center and a reportedly AWOL psychiatric patient. There relationships evolves over time and include "consensual" sexual relationships. The latter being possibly "perverted" is a consistent concern. Edson does an excellent job in describing the very complex relationship between his adult-child-teen partners in all of his novels/short-stories. They explore how fulfilling in many ways that the relationships are and not just the sexual pleasure experienced by partners. In "A Galaxy of Stars", he plays "what if" in a post-apocalyptic world where new sexual mores can be written without the norms of the past. In "This Too Is Love", he explores the boundaries between counseling professionals and their clients,specifically, their male child/teen clients. Boundary violations are challenged and crossed. Edson seems to advocate for the relationships in his fiction to be normalized and not seen as abnormal and unacceptable. There are those that will agree with him. But the vast majority of current adult society will not support that point of view. Inter-generational sexual relations is still considered abusive, criminal behavior. "Sexual abuse is defined by experts in the field as an abuse of power. Sexual behavior is a means to that end. Rapists use naked force while child molesters use gentle persuasion and "grooming" behavior. A five-year age difference is often used as a rule for power differentiation. And even that can be iffy, one or more younger children/teens can force themselves on an older child/teen. Minor children/teens can be the focus of the sexual satisfaction with no request for reciprocal behavior by the older person. This can escalate to that, but it is often the "victim" who is "pleasured". A typical distortion is "if it makes me feel good, it must make you feel good". 12 Step Groups call this "stinkin' thinkin'! There do not seem to be any changes to the current laws in the foreseeable future. But it may surprise many readers to research the age of consent in each individual state and other countries. Some are as low as age 12. There are some exceptions for same sex consent with those being higher. But the same sex, higher age for consent is being challenged in courts."
References
See also
- (to be added)
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External links
- Marcus and me is available as a paperback at Amazon.com .
- Marcus and me by Jay Edson
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