Bears in Mourning (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Adam Mars-Jones
- First Published: 1992
- Type of Plot: Psychological, character study
- Time of Work: The early 1980's
- Setting: London and the suburb of Bromley, England
- Principal Characters: Victor, Narrator
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: Homosexuality or homosexuals, Suicide, Twentieth century, Friendship, 1980’s, Despair, England or English people, Death or dying, London, Success or failure, Funeral rites or ceremonies, AIDS, Bears, Western Europe or western Europeans
- Locales: London, England
The Story
This tale is narrated in the first person by a man trying to make sense of the life and death of his friend and erstwhile lover Victor. During the course of his musings, the narrator introduces the reader to the concept of the “bear,” a physical type first delineated by the gay community and characterized by being slightly overweight and sporting a beard and perhaps body hair.
The narrator asserts that Victor was an ideal specimen of his type, a “bear absolute.” At the time of their first meeting and their one and only sexual encounter, Victor was in...
[The entire page is 1451 words long]
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