The Wild Man Paperback – January 1, 2001

This story is set in fascist Spain of the 1960s when General Franco was still in power. Antonio Escudero, a tired bullfighter from Toledo, is almost 30 years old and wants to retire from the ring. His family wants him to get married, but he's a deeply closeted gay man and has other desires. Then he discovers his twin sister Jose has hidden desires with another woman! They join forces to find the loves of their lives, but Spain's government and state religion at that time has declared war on non-heterosexuals, and they struggle to retain their secrets. This is a riveting story, beautifully written, and has a great truth. Very worthy to read.

If you liked Ms. Warren's "The Front runner" you will like "The Wild Man", which is several things: a good read, a plea for understanding of gay men and women, and a documentary on Spanish history in the closing years of the Franco regime--the late 1960s. the wild man himself is a bullfighter nearing the end of both his career, and his occupancy of the closet in which he has concealed his true nature as a gay man in a society that is both celebratory of male beauty and censorious of male-to-male love. as the heir to a large estate and the elder son in a noble family, he is under extreme pressure to marry, as is his sister who is also approaching thirty. When a chance encounter at a bullfight brings him into contact with a handsome man from a lower class, he becomes involved in a relationship that leads to disaster. both he and his ssiter yield to the pressure to marry, but in the end he winds up in Los Angeles, older, wiser and displaced from his roots. Warren tells a gripping tale, and readers will not be disappointed by her characters, her plot, and her locale.

The struggle to be free is a major theme of The Wild Man. The protagonist, a dashing bullfighter by the name of Antonio is a captive of familial expectations, professional obligations, and the strict gender roles of Spain during the last years of Francisco Franco's rule. Antonio shares the weight of these societal burdens with his twin sister, Josefina, a former marimacho (tomboy) who skirts the edge of propriety with her moderna ways. These forms of captivity are echoed by an entire society held in thrall by fascism and the imprisonment of wild animals for bloody sport.Antonio begins the story as a well-known bullfighter from an aristocratic family. Though bullfighting is a decidedly blue collar sport, fans have embraced him due to his flair in the ring. I have to say that I am not a fan of bullfighting. Not in the least. However, Patricia Nell Warren's amazing descriptions of the technical and artistic foundations of the sport gave me an appreciation of the tragic beauty of the sport.At first, Antonio is content to satisfy the "Big Hunger" of his desires with furtive encounters in other countries. Then a chance encounter with a peasant named Juan throws Antonio's world into turmoil. From the get go, the powderkeg of their class difference threatens the burgeoning romance as much as their sexual orientation.Juan is brought to Antonio's under the pretense of tutelage. Juan, his junior by 6 years, will take his place in the ring. Or so the hope is. However, Juan's skills in the ring don't quite fit the plan. Unwilling to be the "kept man" of a landed lord, Juan abruptly breaks off their romance. However, Antonio isn't so quick to give up and hatches a plan to win Juan back. Usually these moments in romance novels get a shrug from me at most. But I was honestly not sure of how this would turn out, and my heart was racing as Antonio put his plan into motion.Antonio's relationship with his twin sister was another cornerstone of the narrative. As young kids, they were inseparable. Climbing trees, riding horses, dreaming of bullfighting... the two twins approached life with a shared devil-may-care attitude. Antonio relished his twin sister's tomboy antics and refused to call her Josefina, preferring José.Their conservative parents resented this bond and took steps to break it. When they were no longer allowed to sleep in the same room, the twins would use the branches of the mulberry tree outside their rooms to sneak around. Eventually their parents severed their immediate connection completely by sending José to convent school and Antonio to military school. Years later, though, both twins discover that their old bond remains."Dig your feet in." Those were the words José told Antonio as a kid, when he struggled to keep up with her while climbing trees. Don't give up, you won't fall, trust me. "Dig your feet in" becomes Antonio's battlecry. As the crushing vice of their society begins to threaten their very lives, the twins face the danger together, united once again.Antonio's struggle to be wild and free, to love the man who stole his heart, opens his eyes to all the other forms of captivity surrounding him. He sees the shackles of feminine propriety forced on his twin sister and the socioeconomic barriers that hemmed Juan in. But Antonio's growth doesn't end there. He begins to make a connection between his own captivity and that of the bulls he routinely puts to death. The seeds of empathy slowly flourish, leading to a profession that he never would've imagined in his younger days.I could go on about this story, but I want to leave you with some surprises. One tip, though. Buy the book, but don't read the summary on the back! It gives one major story element away immediately that I truly think would've worked best as a total surprise.

I enjoyed the book for the most part. If one has read her 2 most famous novels this one will not disappoint.

I would definitely recommend this historical novel as an important reminder of what the self righteous cando to the "out crowd". This work is a somber reminder of how easily self expression can cease under the rule of anism. Despite impressive gains of sexual minorities the lesson is obvious for vigilance and watchfulness forthe subtle forms of regression. Today, sexual minorities still face hostile forces on many societal levels .I found it extraordinary how the historical review of the 50's to the 90's in Spain demonstrated our ownwarts in the U.S. For example, foreigners were unable to enter US customs if answering yes to being a homosexual.Also, it was interesting to think we had laws imprisoning same sex behavior like present day Uganda. How far we havecome from those witch hunt days. Warren's technique of involving herself as one of the story's participants wasa novelty. Finally, we have a story where our same sex couples when they do get together still have to dealwith conflicts in an ongoing relationship. Yes, a relationship does require work and commitment. Transitionsfrom one scene to the next in a few places were a bit too fast. However, on the whole it didn't detract from the overall story. Allow me one more comment if you have read this far. It is awesome that the erotic did not get out of hand.

This is, perhaps, my favorite "gay" book. Beautifully written, a world I knew nothing about, characters that demand your attention. I wept openly when I read the end of this book; unfortunately, I was in the Oklahoma City Airport at the time -- not where a man wants to be weeping openly! However, no regrets. I've just reread this book for the fourth time.

This book appears to have been written before The Front Runner, which remains the best of all of this author's work in my opinion. I enjoyed the historical references to Franco Spain and especially the role of the Roman Catholic church there, but the book dragged.