Man or Bear or Setting? by Jenn McKinlay

 JENN McKINLAY: Recently, my Instagram feed was full of the debate of man vs bear. For those of you who missed it, let me sum up. The question was if a woman was alone in the woods would she rather come across a strange man or a bear, meaning would she feel safer with a strange man or a bear? 

Pic from the CBC article: How the 'man vs. bear' trend exposes troubling issues (Hint: It's not about the bear)

As you can imagine there were many many many opinions, some very strong, about this topic but that’s not why I’m writing this post. 

Pic from Life Hacker Australia article: The Man or Bear Question: Why It’s Capturing the Internet’s Attention Right Now

I’m writing it because I posed the question to several of my female friends and every single one of them said they’d choose the strange man, which blew my mind because I’d choose the bear. Deeper analysis leads me to believe our different choices come from the quality of the adult male role models in our formative years, but that, too, is a post for another day.

CNN: Man or bear? A viral question has spawned scary responses

Now when I flipped the question and asked, “Okay, you walk downstairs to your kitchen for breakfast and there’s a strange man seated at the counter or a bear foraging in your refrigerator, which do you choose?” They all said bear. Which made me realize that this entire conversation speaks to the importance of setting!

A few books/series where I believe the setting is as important as the main characters are Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux series, as well as, Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe’s Los Angeles.

What about you, Reds? What are some of the books where you believe the setting was as vital to the story as the characters? And just for the heck of it, strange man or wild bear in the woods? Strange man or wild bear in your house?

HALLIE EPHRON: And I wanted to talk about “the man or the bear”! What kind of bear? It makes a difference. What kind of man??? That makes a difference, too. We could talk wardrobe…

But addressing the question: Where’s the bear? And does setting make a difference. OMG yes!

Looking for creepy? You can’t do better than the deep South of Joe R. Lansdale’s EDGE OF DARK WATER. Or cold in Julia’s Adirondacks in winter (I read IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER huddled in a blanket.) Or Leonia Swann’s verdant Irish countryside where a flock of sheep come upon their dead shepherd, George, in THREE BAGS FULL. Or Ruth Rendell’s Notting Hill in PORTOBELLO.  

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Wait, in the woods? A bear, definitely. You’d just run.  Or whatever you’d do. And is the bear attacking you, or just..over there? 

A strange man not in a ranger outfit would terrify me.

And if I saw a bear in the kitchen, I’d just go back upstairs. And call Bear 911.

A man is much scarier–they have a different kind of intentions.

 I kinda  think it’s less setting and more…motivation.

And this is hilarious.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: We had this discussion during the family Zoom call. The girls and I agreed “bear in the woods” instead of “strange man in the woods,” but Spencer, the one man, began to ask, “What if it was an angry mother bear?” and somehow the conversation devolved into what the best ways to fight a bear might be.

As for the kitchen scenario, I’d rather see a man in the house - I figure I have a chance of talking him down, a la, Queen Elizabeth when she woke up in her bedroom with that strange man there. Plus, my Shih tzus might scare him off, where they’d probably get squashed by a bear.

Books where the locale is absolutely central? I’ll go back to my two most important early influences: Margaret Maron’s BOOTLEGGERS DAUGHTER series, and Archer Mayor’s Joe Gunther series. The former is so steeped in North Carolina, you can smell the curing tobacco and BBQ. The latter is utterly evocative of Vermont - I’ve said a reader could drive all across the state, navigating solely from Mayor’s books.

RHYS BOWEN: There are so many variables in these decisions. If the strange man looks like a fellow hiker with backpack, and is walking purposefully up the trail I’d be happy to say good morning and pass him.  If I find him following me or sitting looking ‘strange’ then I’d not be happy. Clare tells me that this discussion has been going on for a long time on social media with women concerned that they will not be believed or be arrested if they fight back against a man. If they kill a bear nobody minds.

In my kitchen, definitely the bear. I’d make sure it has an easy exit then make a big noise to scare it off if it’s a black bear. A grizzly? I’d retreat until it had gone. Any my insurance would cover the damage.

Locale in books is so important to me. Think Prince of Tides. The locale was the story. IN my Constable Evans series the mountains play a big part in every plot.

LUCY BURDETTE: On the bear subject, definitely prefer to meet the bear rather than the man. According to Rhys Bown in the latest Molly Murphy book, all you have to do is make yourself look as big as possible and make a lot of noise. (Or am I hallucinating the bear in your book, Rhys?)

Setting: Kent Krueger is a master at this, both in series and standalones. Ditto for CJ Box’s Wyoming. And it seems like the Icelandic authors are amazing at writing setting, which is NO surprise, given how important that cold and treacherous landscape is. 

Okay, Readers, your turn. What books have a setting that you felt were as important as the story? And man or bear? If you're a dude, the same question applies (I just watched a documentary on serial killer Gacy and men are at risk, too, which is something I don't think we acknowledge enough).