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Cowboys Can Fly
Young Toby spends his days exploring the backwoods surrounding his UK country home. His imagination not only supplies adventure but also the exciting promise of lustful embraces and kisses with the handsome field hand. When Toby's mother, a nurse, brings home a sickly yet handsome youth, Cymon, to recuperate, Toby finds himself drawn to the older boy. Their friendship, awkward at first, blossoms as each offers the other much-needed comfort. Cowboys Can Fly presents a classic story of gay adolescence, one that is as heartbreaking as it is triumphant in spirit.“Woods and boys were born to be together; born to share each other’s unquestionable beauty. A woods is that special place where a boy’s quest to be spiritually free is born, a place of magic and mystery, a wonderful place to fall in love.� --Ken Smith
132 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 12, 2010
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148 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 4, 2013
This is a simple, beautiful coming-of-age/love story that does not follow any of the typical conventions of either genre, while simultaneously being entrenched in both the genres. There is no huge and life-changing moment in Toby's, the main character, life. And the love story is romantic only in the sense of a slightly out-of-use meaning of the word (that of idealistic, imaginative and/or adventurous). It has been a long time since I've read such a heartfelt, poignant and moving story that truly sounded as though it came from the voice of an innocent.
March 19, 2014
The book is to be a film. Keep in touch by the blog. Your comments are always welcome.
At present being narrated for audiobook.
At present being narrated for audiobook.
January 19, 2013
I'm not sure where to start with this one. I'm a bit of a crier anyway, but I don't often have tears rolling down my face when I read a book - this time I did.
I almost didn't download it after I'd read the sample because it felt so much slower than my usual reads, but I'm so glad I did. It's absolutely beautiful. It is a slow book, very little happens in terms of plot, just two boys (one very ill) learning about love, and the quiet joys of life.
A coming of age story, full of innocence and wide-eyed joy. It's a breathtaking read, that broke my heart.
I almost didn't download it after I'd read the sample because it felt so much slower than my usual reads, but I'm so glad I did. It's absolutely beautiful. It is a slow book, very little happens in terms of plot, just two boys (one very ill) learning about love, and the quiet joys of life.
A coming of age story, full of innocence and wide-eyed joy. It's a breathtaking read, that broke my heart.
December 4, 2011
best book i have ever read. moving, funny, sad, it truly brought out and touched all my emotions. one book i hoped would never end.
February 13, 2017
Bucolic coming of age tale. Nostalgia junkies open your main vein.
March 11, 2013
I've put off writing this review because I didn't want to react emotionally to the book. But the longer I wait, it seems the less rationally I can think about this story.
I'm afraid that my reaction to this story was tainted by a horrific short video I watched one night on Netflix. (Spoiler is the plot of the short film, honestly horrific... you're warned) So, even though I saw this film years ago, I'm still disturbed by it, and couldn't help drawing comparisons between Toby and the boy from the film
Toby's thought and speech patterns made me wonder at times if he might not also be slightly mentally handicapped. I understand that he was meant to sound like he's from an earlier time, but it didn't come across as vintage or dated speech to me, it came across as childish.
And I wish, I so badly wish, that I could have been in Cymon's head for at least one scene. I ended the book bewildered by his motives.
All that being said, when I could put those things out of my mind, the story was lovely and sweet. The descriptions of the countryside were fantastic, and the banter between the boys was endearing. I'm not sure I'll ever be willing to read this again, and I'm still not certain I'm glad I read it once. But it was certainly a unique and interesting blending of genres.
I'm afraid that my reaction to this story was tainted by a horrific short video I watched one night on Netflix. (Spoiler is the plot of the short film, honestly horrific... you're warned) So, even though I saw this film years ago, I'm still disturbed by it, and couldn't help drawing comparisons between Toby and the boy from the film
Toby's thought and speech patterns made me wonder at times if he might not also be slightly mentally handicapped. I understand that he was meant to sound like he's from an earlier time, but it didn't come across as vintage or dated speech to me, it came across as childish.
And I wish, I so badly wish, that I could have been in Cymon's head for at least one scene. I ended the book bewildered by his motives.
All that being said, when I could put those things out of my mind, the story was lovely and sweet. The descriptions of the countryside were fantastic, and the banter between the boys was endearing. I'm not sure I'll ever be willing to read this again, and I'm still not certain I'm glad I read it once. But it was certainly a unique and interesting blending of genres.
August 12, 2016
Having read some of the author's earlier work, I wasn't so sure what to expect from this which seemed to be such a change of style for him. However, while the subject matter may be somewhat different that style is very much there.
The light flowing of the words, painting pictures of youngster living the sort of childhood that made Enid Blyton a household name, but without the sickliness of rose colour glasses that often come with those works making them seem so dated to today's audiences.
The hero, and narrator of the book, Toby may live a life in a time gone by, where boys were still free to roam the countryside doing what boys do, but there's realism here too, along with comedy, pathos and, of course, love in all it's many forms but most noticeably that of the strongest of them all. First love.
That this first love is between two boys of similar age, is never really an issue either to them, or to those around them, apart from, that is the occasions when the local bully pokes his head into the proceedings, whilst all through the book are scattered details that can only have come from the author's own childhood, given how vividly they are painted.
The ending of the book may never really in doubt, but is handled very nicely in a way that is bound to touch your heart strings.
The light flowing of the words, painting pictures of youngster living the sort of childhood that made Enid Blyton a household name, but without the sickliness of rose colour glasses that often come with those works making them seem so dated to today's audiences.
The hero, and narrator of the book, Toby may live a life in a time gone by, where boys were still free to roam the countryside doing what boys do, but there's realism here too, along with comedy, pathos and, of course, love in all it's many forms but most noticeably that of the strongest of them all. First love.
That this first love is between two boys of similar age, is never really an issue either to them, or to those around them, apart from, that is the occasions when the local bully pokes his head into the proceedings, whilst all through the book are scattered details that can only have come from the author's own childhood, given how vividly they are painted.
The ending of the book may never really in doubt, but is handled very nicely in a way that is bound to touch your heart strings.
September 21, 2012
I knew it was coming and it still hit me like a ton of bricks.
July 6, 2023
This book really moved me, with both the author's description of a peaceful and lovely landscape and its poignant and touching story.
December 27, 2024
Slow? Manipulative? Predictable? Uneventful?
Sure, but it’s also a masterpiece.
It is not often that you hear the narrator of an audiobook choke up while reading but this splendid boyhood melodrama did the trick. This novella is an amazingly written pastoral coming-of-age meditation; one that plainly marks the distinction between primal and platonic love, without overly indulging in either. Ken Smith’s writing and Ian James� narration supplant the reader in 1960s Hampshire, UK, with amazing descriptors, subtle characterizations, and storytelling that could otherwise be corny but is nonetheless executed beautifully.
Truly a lost gem that deserves an audience outside of the LGBT niche. Please give this a chance, strangers.
Sure, but it’s also a masterpiece.
It is not often that you hear the narrator of an audiobook choke up while reading but this splendid boyhood melodrama did the trick. This novella is an amazingly written pastoral coming-of-age meditation; one that plainly marks the distinction between primal and platonic love, without overly indulging in either. Ken Smith’s writing and Ian James� narration supplant the reader in 1960s Hampshire, UK, with amazing descriptors, subtle characterizations, and storytelling that could otherwise be corny but is nonetheless executed beautifully.
Truly a lost gem that deserves an audience outside of the LGBT niche. Please give this a chance, strangers.
June 24, 2023
a book I have read and re-read for almost a decade. It makes me weep every time.
December 31, 2021
Am I going to hell for shunning the aspect where a 20 years old kissed a prepubescent child, aged 14, and loving this book?
Even if it's unarguably wrong, I just couldn't contain myself from loving this 😩 Forgive me lord. 🙏
(The fact that this book has only less than 80 reviews and was published more than a decade now, this is definitely a hidden gem to me. Might as well the author revise or remove that predatory aspect of the book because it's superficial and won't make the book any less.)
Even if it's unarguably wrong, I just couldn't contain myself from loving this 😩 Forgive me lord. 🙏
(The fact that this book has only less than 80 reviews and was published more than a decade now, this is definitely a hidden gem to me. Might as well the author revise or remove that predatory aspect of the book because it's superficial and won't make the book any less.)
December 13, 2022
A charming and touching love story with a suitably sad ending. Fourteen-year-old Toby roams the English countryside of the 1960s and dreams of romance with another boy until good-looking but ominously ill fifteen-year-old Cy almost magically enters his life and captures his heart. The blossoming of their love, both emotional and physical despite never being consummated, is marvelously captured.
Its promotion as a book about gay adolescence does not do it justice. Though his attraction to boys is what makes Toby feel vulnerable and in need of understanding, it could as well be something else. What makes Cy an especially appealing character (besides being kind, witty and good-looking!) is that he responds to Toby's longing for love and affection out of a profound humanity sharpened by his own physical suffering rather than because he identifies with him sexually.
It is this humanity which makes the story so appealing. One might think that the attitudes of the various characters who knew Toby and (one guesses) understood his sexuality would have been less benign in the 1960s, but I found them an entirely convincing tribute to the ability of individuals to react from their hearts rather than from preconceived social dogma, perhaps especially in those more innocent days.
Deeply infused with the author's passion for the countryside and appreciation of the boy's place in it, it is also a nostalgic paean to those pre-internet and nanny-state days when freedom, responsibility and adventure still made pubescence a magical age for many boys.
Edmund Marlowe, author of Alexander’s Choice, another 14-year-old’s love story,
Its promotion as a book about gay adolescence does not do it justice. Though his attraction to boys is what makes Toby feel vulnerable and in need of understanding, it could as well be something else. What makes Cy an especially appealing character (besides being kind, witty and good-looking!) is that he responds to Toby's longing for love and affection out of a profound humanity sharpened by his own physical suffering rather than because he identifies with him sexually.
It is this humanity which makes the story so appealing. One might think that the attitudes of the various characters who knew Toby and (one guesses) understood his sexuality would have been less benign in the 1960s, but I found them an entirely convincing tribute to the ability of individuals to react from their hearts rather than from preconceived social dogma, perhaps especially in those more innocent days.
Deeply infused with the author's passion for the countryside and appreciation of the boy's place in it, it is also a nostalgic paean to those pre-internet and nanny-state days when freedom, responsibility and adventure still made pubescence a magical age for many boys.
Edmund Marlowe, author of Alexander’s Choice, another 14-year-old’s love story,
September 29, 2014
4.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
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