Reviews of Avoidance

“This lush novel pokes and jabs at our all too often black-and-white, all-or-nothing sense of right and wrong. Lowenthal skillfully keeps us on the hook throughout and does a tug of war with our allegiances to his characters: two young men and a former Amish woman.” —Dana Brigham, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA; A Book Sense 76 Nov/Dec Selection

 “Beautiful and gripping.” —Out

 “Fearless and expertly crafted.” —Vanity Fair

“Michael Lowenthal deserves a medal for courage...[Avoidance] gleams with sensitivity and insight...his metaphor-rich prose grounds the fiction in a vivid landscape of particulars. Themes never override the centrality of this writer’s sure-handed storytelling. It’s easy to understand the victim of sexual abuse. Lowenthal achieves the much more difficult task of making fully human the potential abuser.” —Newsday

 “Lowenthal...crafts a tale at times so disturbing you want to shield your eyes. But his storytelling makes it impossible to look away.” —Boston Magazine

"Reading Lowenthal can be like sparring with a partner who dances around and never stops joking but every so often pops you one right in the kisser.” —Jack Miles, Commonweal

“Disturbing, elegant and powerful...[Lowenthal] has thrown down one hell of a gauntlet...[his] particular talent as a novelist is exploring gray areas with wisdom and confidence. Disarmingly but beautifully, he’s explored the blurry line between selfless love and selfish lust.” —The Washington Post

“Fine writers, at least according to one school of thought, should be disturbers of the peace of mind. They should set sail, that is, to our most turbulent cultural waters and challenge, rather than affirm, our most comfortable pieties. Judging by his second novel, it’s easy to suspect that Michael Lowenthal wholeheartedly embraces this philosophy.” —The Miami Herald

“Seductive and smart.” —SHOUT

“A rich, complex narrative that is as inspiring as it is thought provoking.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review 

 “Haunting and disturbing. . . . Avoidance is not to be missed.” —Library Journal, starred review

“Lowenthal is shaking off the confines of contemporary gay fiction.” —The Advocate

“A finely crafted, insightful book. . . . Lowenthal’s skill as a storyteller and his brutal candor make for a novel not to be avoided.” —The Gay & Lesbian Review

“This may be the best novel you will read all year.” —DaKine Magazine

 “Avoidance is a well-written, disturbing story about a traditionally taboo subject.” —Rutland Herald

  “Michael Lowenthal is simply a wonderful storyteller. He understands both the heart’s need for community and the soul’s need for seclusion—and the way evil can exist in either place.” —Chris Bohjalian

“Set between a boys’ summer camp in Vermont and the Amish communities of Pennsylvania, Avoidance walks a precarious tight-rope between desire and responsibility, love and passion. Lowenthal’s vividly imagined characters are infinitely capable of surprising us, as is his deft plot. This is a novel which asks us to both think and feel and rewards us for both.” —Margot Livesey

“Michael Lowenthal’s second novel, Avoidance, tells the story of a man driven right to the edge of moral disaster by the charisma of a 14-year-old boy in his charge at summer camp. The novel is at turns utterly compelling and utterly repellent, clearly by design. Michael’s ability to charm with a character is disarming, and we slide into Jeremy’s head without suspecting he’s going to take us on such a frightening, but ultimately rewarding, ride. Michael is confronting a subject taboo in our culture because it’s completely prevalent in our culture: the worship of the beauty of youth, and of the young. This is a strong follow-up to The Same Embrace, which I admire very much.” —Jim Grimsley

“In language at once delicate and sinewy, Michael Lownethal explores the slippery shapes of desire and traces the thin line between thought and deed. Avoidance is a splendid novel, as gripping as it is moving and complex.” —Elizabeth Graver