In high school, one of the local misfits introduces him to diet pills, which help him overcome his shyness. In an amphetamine high, he meets Cindy, who he hopes will steer him along the “morally straight” path of the Boy Scout Oath he swore to.

Nathan is infatuated with a young doctor down the street, Nicholas (Dr. B), who embodies all the things his mother would love him to be. On one of his secret forays in Dr. B’s house, he hides in a closet and witnesses his idol having sex with man while the wife is out of town. Dr. B’s affair leads to tragedy, forcing the doctor to leave town.

At college in New Orleans, Nathan meets a group of rebels and expands his drug use. Marc, a bisexual Cajun charmer becomes Nathan’s first male sexual experience, but promptly leaves town.

Nathan has a chance encounter with Dr. B, who has moved to New Orleans. Dr. B is in a relationship, but still closeted. Frustrated by Dr. B’s cool reaction, Nathan goes on a six-month binge of amphetamines and anonymous sex. On one night of debauchery, he overdoses and ends up in the emergency ward.

Nathan’s near death rallies Dr. B and Nathan’s other friends to force him into rehab. On the way home from work, Nathan witnesses the gruesome aftermath of the 1973 Up Stairs Lounge fire that devastated the gay population of New Orleans. As a result of the fire, Dr. B’s live-in boyfriend leaves town, freeing Dr. B to explore his feelings for Nathan.

REVIEW:

Warning: The main character is a victim of an incident of child molestation. While he’s clearly damaged by it to some degree it’s a relatively small event as compared to other events in his young life.

This is NOT a frothy M/M romance. It’s a fictional memoir of growing up gay and different in a small southern town during the Vietnam era. Nathan is a young man who determines his own sense of morality as evidenced by his explorations of his neighbors homes when they are away. His youthful willingness to accept that his sexual preferences are different from his playmates also suggests that he’s an independent thinker, not bound by the morality judgments of others. Though the book covers his coming out, it also covers his coming of age, and to some degree, the historical coming of age of the American consciousness.

There are sex scenes and some are as sweet as anything you’ll read in conventional m/m romance, but the emphasis here is on one young man’s coming into his own. There is a happy ending of sorts here but it’s more one of promise than one of fulfillment. It’s a bit reminiscent of the film Casablanca in it’s denouement. We don’t see the fruition of a romantic M/M relationship… more the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

Though this was not at all what I expected when I initially selected this book for review, I’m glad that I read it and can highly recommend it. Though I’m a bit younger than the main character’s here, this book brought back many memories of that era… and certainly added some fiber to my admittedly overly sweet reading diet.

RATING:  

BUY LINKS:

Ninestar Press

Amazon