The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen

by Gary Eldon Peter

Overview

Set on a small and struggling family dairy operation in southern Minnesota, The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen follows fifteen-year-old Carl as he confronts his crush on Andy Olnan, a handsome and confident but secretive “city boy” recently transplanted to farm life from Minneapolis who may or may not share the same feelings. At the same time, Carl and his father clash over the future of their farm, a legacy of Carl’s late mother: how do they honor her dream for the family while also ensuring financial security? Carl discovers his own resilience in the face of grief, adult-sized decisions, and unrequited love, and along the way learns to cope with both the challenges and rewards of being different.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646032549
Publisher:	Fitzroy Books
Publication date:	07/05/2022
Sold by:	INDEPENDENT PUB GROUP - EPUB - EBKS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	164
File size:	865 KB
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Gary Eldon Peter is the author of Oranges, winner of the Gold Medal for LGBT+ fiction in the Independent Publisher Book Awards, the Midwest Book Award, and a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. His work has appeared in numerous literary journals and has been performed on the public radio program Selected Shorts. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and is a faculty member at the University of Minnesota.

Editorial Reviews

2022-03-29
In the midst of constant worries over losing his family’s dairy farm, Carl Paulsen, a gay 16-year-old, contemplates the complications of crushes and coming out.

As far as Carl knows, he’s the only gay person in his isolated, rural Minnesota town. Although he aches to escape and begin his life in the 21st century, he also can’t bear the thought of leaving behind his family’s dairy farm, the last connection to his mother, who passed away from cancer two years ago. When new student Andy Olnan introduces himself at sophomore registration, Carl can imagine for the first time having a boyfriend and opening up to his dad about his sexuality. A presumed all-White cast of characters populates this moody, introspective coming-out story. Readers may feel frustrated as, for most of the book, Carl pines and frets, seeming to willfully ignore the red flags in Andy’s behavior in hopes that he will realize they are meant to be together. Scanty dialogue and low action also make the narrative drag. Although the ending brings some hope, overt homophobia is prevalent in Carl’s community, and even the people who accept him can barely bring themselves to say the word gay. No one dies at the end, but the exploration of sexuality offers nothing new to the genre.

Dated and trudging. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews