Product Description

The world is confusing and cruel when the life you know moves on and leaves you behind. Being a Marine is what has defined Brad for the last four years. With his tour of duty over he meets Ron, a wealthy older man. Things change when Ron asks Brad not to return now but instead, take a trip across California with him. On the way Brad realizes he may be crossing a bridge that could redefine his life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #453284 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-06
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

About the Author
Brett Edward Stout, the son of a successful businesswoman, was born in Cedar Rapids Iowa in 1978. At the age of 18 he joined the United States Marine Corps where he studied Russian at the renowned Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. After attending a secondary school in Texas he was stationed at Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Base, Hawaii as a Russian cryptologic linguist and weapons marksmanship instructor. He worked in 2000, 2001, and 2002 for the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) before being honorably discharged in 2002. He worked for HIFF under a variety of titles that included Jury Coordinator and Database Administrator. In 2002, the Honolulu Gay & Lesbian Cultural Foundation appointed him as their Executive Director of the foundation and their primary event, now called the Rainbow Film Festival. He remained a member of the board until he left Hawaii to attend the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, Iowa. His passion for writing began when he wrote his first poem in 4th grade almost getting himself suspended from school; he's been in love with writing ever since. Sugar-baby Bridge is Brett Stout's debut novel.

Customer Reviews

Worth the Wait
Stout, Brett Edward. "Sugar-Baby Bridge", CreativeSpace Publishing, 2008.

Worth the Wait

Amos Lassen

I first heard about Brett Stout and his book. "Sugar-Baby Bridge" about 8 months ago and have been waiting to read it for about that long. My copy came today and the timing was perfect--we are having an ice storm in Arkansas and classes were cancelled so I had a chance to spend the day reading it and it was every bit worth the wait.
This is Stout's first book and he has entered the world of gay literature with quite an auspicious start. He has every reason to be proud. I started reading this morning and did not stop until I closed the covers. The book caught me and pulled me in--Stout knows how to create characters and they are just like people we know. Brad Spicer, our hero, has just finished his four year tour with the Marines and is muddling his way through life. He is full of charm and deceit but is harmless. In his search for himself, he adapts (or tries to) every social situation where he finds himself and tries to conform to be what he thinks is expected of him. Brad finds that coming-of-age after the discipline and regimentation that he had while in the Marines is not easy. He is vulnerable and it is that vulnerability that gives him his humanity and his insecurities give him his wit and humor.
What is also interesting is that the reader finds himself in the book and he recognizes not only himself but his friends as well. Brad, at 22, is still a kid. Leaving the Marines and Hawaii, he heads for San Francisco because as a gay man he has questions that need to be answered. Primarily he wants to know who he is and where he is going with his life.
Arriving in the city, he is on a tight budget and although he does not "depend upon the kindness of strangers", he does like to be taken out to dinner (don't we all?). He meets Ron, some 32 years older than him. Ron is not a big talker but he has a gentle nature and Brad and Ron spend the night together. We learn that Ron is quite wealthy and lives the high life and he takes Brad along with him on a short jaunt but the farther the two are from San Francisco the more aloof and colder Ron becomes and the more Brad is sorry that he went along.
What Brad wants is the stability of a relationship with another man but Ron has trouble knowing who he really is and therefore is unable to provide Brad with what he needs. Brad looks at life realistically while Ron with all of his wealth has never had to face reality and has trouble accepting his own sexuality and Brad is unable to play the role of best friend. Brad needs and wants to be needed and he wants to be open and at home with his sexuality. We don't know if they are able to work things out because there is a sequel coming and we are not sure whether to hope that things will work out. We identify with Brad but I also identified a bit with Ron (as an older man but without the money). They both need love but are they capable of giving it to each other?
It is not only the story that keeps you reading but it is Brett Stout's way with words and the fact that the end is open and we do not know yet if Brad will cross the "sugar-daddy bridge" or if the bridge will allow for two way traffic. I love this book and I cannot give a higher recommendation than that.

Sugar-Baby Bridge by Brett Edward Stout
Brad is a 22 years old guy just out of 4 years of service in the Marine Corps. Stationed in Hawaii, he decided to take a break and visit San Francisco, believing the city the righ place to go for a gay man. Probably Brad hoped to find answers in the city and instead finds only other questions: who he is, who he wants to be?

One night in a club, Brad is searching one more man to spend the night and maybe have also a free dinner, since he is living in a very tight budge. Brad is not digging for money, he will not hook up with the first man with a heavy wallet. Ron is slightly older, 32 years older and a bit strange. He doesn't speak much, but he is gentle in his way, and when he asks Brad to go home with him, the young man agrees.

Comes out that Ron is a very wealth man, living a life only few could afford: night snack at the Fairmont, buying a new Mercedes only to take a few days break in a cabin on Lake Tahoe, having lunch in yacth clubs all around California. After a night of joyous and careless sex, Ron drags Brad in an impromptu short travel, but more far they go from San Francisco, more cold Ron becomes, and more Brad is regretting to have postponed his fly back to Hawaii.

Brad is a young man who wants to find his place in the world. He probably believes that finding a man, a partner, will help him to find an anchor in this world. And so he is ready to fall for Ron, but Ron is not the right man to give stability to Brad. Ron himself has trouble to decide what he wants to be; he is not a bad guy, but he has never had the chance to deal with real life. He is ready to spend heavy money for dressing Brad up with shirts and shorts embroidered with Yacht Club logo, but then he questioned on buying socks and boxers. He is cool and aloof around his family, almost if he is ashamed of Brad, but then he kisses the boy having a nightmare.

Ron doesn't drive back Brad but neither does something to prevent him to go away; and Brad needs to be need, he needs to accepted, he wants for the first time in his life to be open and comfortable in his skin, and being the "best friend" of Ron is not enough.

The book has all the right elements: young and handsome characters, one of whom a Marine (the fascination of a man in uniform, even if retired); dreaming world setting, where money, work and every day life are not a problem; a possible Cinderfella ending, even if the shoe fitting scene is deferred to another book. Brad is a character you could fall for, he so clearly needs to be loved, with his polite behavior and puppy eyes look. Probably Ron is not the man for him, for the two to work, Brad should take the reins of their relationship, and even if he is not the one with money, he should be the one in command... I'm quite interested in seeing how this relationship will move on...

Recognizable Characters in a Fresh Story
Brett Edward Stout's Sugar-Baby Bridge is an intriguing story that grabs you from the moment you start to read. You will not want to put this book down until you know the final outcome. And when you do finish the book, Stout hooks you in with a preview of his next volume, The Lives Between, which features the main character from Bridge.

The traits of his characters can be recognized by most - in others at least, if not in ourselves. You will find yourself thinking "me, too!" Sugar-Baby Bridge's main character, Brad Spicer, is a charming, if somewhat deceptive, individual. Brad is finding his way through life after a four-year hitch in the Marines. His pretext is fundamentally harmless as he tries to fit into every social situation with which he comes into contact. We follow Brad on his adventure from his vacation in San Francisco to the posh world of the decadently rich of Lake Tahoe. Along the way we get to meet some pretty interesting folks and watch as Brad conforms to what he thinks they expect of him.

Stout's tale of a young man finding his way without the comforting structure and discipline imposed upon him by the Marines is a fascinating coming-of-age story that should not be missed.

From Terence Jackson, author of Thirty Days and Counting