Searching for Intruders: A Novel in Stories

By Stephen Raleigh Byler

Book Overview

A novel of hunting, fishing, love, loss, and relationships traces the evolving self-awareness and experiences of Wilson Hues, an unfortunate drifter who finds himself obsessed with the consequences of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0066212944
• ISBN13: 9780066212944
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.6" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Moving and insightful

I was recommended this book by a friend and bought it not knowing about the critical praise it had received. Maybe that is giving me a little less bitter and objective view of the book. I could not put the book down and devoured it in one sitting. I thought Mr. Byler's chapters were each moving, touching and enlightining. I needed to know what happended next. I, for one, can't wait to pick up a copy of his next book. He told this remarkable set of stories without sensationalizing them. I don't understand why other readers feel that they need to make personal attacks on Mr. Byler and his education background for one? Why not just review a book?

Bitter?

I've just read Searching for Intruders. It is an excellent piece of fiction that is justifiably well received by Byler's peers and literary critics. And then I read the reviews on this site. Have the people trashing this book even read it? Do they have any clue about what good writing is? One person mentions that the author uses personal experiences in the novel. Um, isn't that what artists do? It's almost as if these people know Byler and are envious of his startling success, while they spend the next ten years writing obits for their local paper. After seeing Byler read an excerpt from the book last week here in Boston, I am convinced that he's the real deal. His persona is as honest as that of Wilson Hues, the main character of his book. My advice? Pick up a copy, read it, and develop your own informed opinion.

The real story-what guys really think....

"Beauty Queen" is incredible. So nice to find a guy like Stephen Byler who tells it like it is. Now we know there is a guy in the locker room who is on our side...Cheers to Byler for standing up.

DO believe the hype!

What a pleasure to read a novel that is refreshingly unpretentious, witty, intelligent, and endearing.As a woman, I especially appreciated Wilson Hues's determined refusal to succumb to a "typical" American male behavior - the tendency to repress emotion. He faces tragedy head-on, and instead of allowing it to consume and embitter him, he transforms into an exceptional example of what a man is capable of being. If this book does nothing else (besides launch what's sure to be a stellar career for Byler), I hope it encourages other males to have the guts to give it a try as well.

Wilson Hues for President!!

In this book, Stephen Byler's debut novel, we are introduced to Wilson Hues, a rather average modern man. Through the 11 short stories told in this novel, we are witness to some of the more profound and some of the more touching events in the fictional life of Wilson Hues. Wilson is your everyday male trying to fit into a world that attempts to force the sexes into certain roles. He hangs out with an acquaintence who turns out to be a much more aggressive and unbalanced man than originally thought. He has problems fitting in with his college tennis team because he won't join in their macho woman bashing. When he attempts to avoid telling his girlfriend about his past, it comes out later to cause even more pain. Simply put, Wilson has nothing but poor luck. In the end (as a reviewer put it) you want to give him a hug and tell him everything will be just fine.