Dancing with Bears

When a writer takes a "walk with bears," a journey begins that takes him from the unruly forests of Minnesota to the wilds of Manhattan and the seductions of Saskatoon. Lyle and the writer didn't plan for Ben Creswell, the feral Vietnam vet, to wind up splattered across his cabin wall. Lyle's wife didn't plan to mention Lionel Running Bear and their sweat-soaked grapplings in mud and radishes. Does Lyle, bear researcher and culinary avant-gardist, love his bears too much and his wife too little? Is the writer becoming too much like Lyle, rounding up not only Lyle's bears but Lyle's wife as well? Does Diane, who moves her unmentionables into Lyle's wife's closet, love success more than she does Lyle? Does Lyle's wife find the writer bearish enough? What meets our eyes changes shape, those we love transmute into strangers, and accidents fling us onto paths that seem to be the ones we wanted to travel after all. And then there's the spontaneity of lust, the slipperiness of love, and the meanderings of good intentions.