Sometimes You Get the Bear is a novel with action, suspense and drama, all built around a moral: Attitude is everything. It is the tale of two brothers who learn a lot about themselves and about life during a tumultuous two-year period. Chris Holland is a young man on the right track, but his career is derailed when he talks freely about his wayward brother to a reporter. His comments get him fired, an act Chris considers racist and cowardly. Chris’ bad luck is just beginning. He takes a job for which he is overqualified and loses that too. He suffers through a series of menial jobs, then loses his girlfriend. Too bitter to simply get on with life and too proud to accept help, Chris ends up homeless in South Florida. The streets are a little meaner than Chris anticipated, and it begins to look like disaster may find him before his family does. Dan Holly’s “Sometimes You Get the Bear” is a novel with action, suspense and drama all built around a moral: Attitude is everything.