THE BEDFELLOW

by Eliot Asinof ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1967

Perhaps eroticism is supposed to reach a more titillating level when the bedfellow is a Negro but in this case it's sheer featherbedding. Hero and narrator is ""A contented Negro. Got that?"" Check! And why shouldn't he be. Mike Sorrell is an ex-extra famous baseball star now married to a gorgeous white chick and living a soft life of acceptance in Manhattan's intellectually integrated social swirl. The scene opens at a cocktail party hosted by Mike's boss (he's now in promotion), D. J. Biddle. Biddle, little, white is also a superior ""cocksman"" and right now he's trying to softsoap Mike's wife Janice into doing a soap commercial. She seems more than ready...and willing and Mike gets drunk for the first time. He manages to introduce a new low in party games and it's the first long step toward disintegration that sees him one-upped by whitey every time he steps to the plate. Actually it doesn't take much time...only a few days counting the time spent out of bed and not reminiscing about how he won Janice and some glorious nights etc. In the meantime he learns that his brother was killed and his hated gangster of a father mysteriously materializes. The final strikeout comes when his father teams up with Biddle and becomes Mike's boss. There goes the old ball game but few will last till the final inning.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1967

Categories: FICTION