Synopsis
In A Member of the Family the most talented gay writers of our time turn their hearts and psyches inside out to show us the families who gave birth to them, raised them, rejected them, exiled them, and loved them.
There are no stereotypes here. Each essay, commissioned specifically for this collection, describes a family that is unique and so idiosyncratic that it can belong only to the author - and so familiar and universal that it reminds us startlingly of our own. John Preston begins the anthology with the question interviewers still ask him: "What do your parents think?" Then he remembers his past, the angry letter he left for his parents the day he moved out of their home forever, and the unsuspected impact that letter had on his younger brother. Other authors write too of letters they left or sent, of hurts they gave and received, of reconciliations and unresolved conflicts.
The results are extraordinary. Michael Nava writes of his stoic, enigmatic grandfather, embittered in middle age and a living portrait of the man Nava himself might become; Eric Latzky, on the other hand, makes the heart ache with his portrayal of his grandfather, Louis; and Larry Duplechan mixes laughter and tears with his hard-edged, wise-cracking description of his mother, who called the love of his life "crap" and said learning he was gay was like hearing he'd been killed in a car crash...but he was still her baby. Growing up with parents who survived the Holocaust left Harlan Greene with different kinds of scars; and Brian Kirkpatrick has created a brilliant gem of introspection, fantasy, and pain about the mother who abandoned him in a Catholic orphanage.
Through their daring honesty and exceptional talents, each of the twenty-four authors has created modern American literature out of autobiography with masterfully rendered episodes that risk exposing so much about their lives, and in turn, effectively reveal to us much about our own. A deeply emotional and beautifully conceived collection, A Member of the Family raises simple truths about our families to the universal truth of art.
Reviews
Preston ( Hometowns ) collects 24 personal, intensely moving accounts of gays' family relationships in this splendid anthology. One is a reflection on the unsuspected depths of a man's blooming relationship with a much younger brother, In another, Michael Nava recalls his quiet, stern Yaqui Indian grandfather. PW contributing editor Bob Summer, Brandon Judell, Michael Bronksi and Clifford Chase are among those who write of important moments with parents, sisters, brothers, uncles, cousins and grandparents that defined both familial identities and the authors' own developing identities as homosexual adults. Distinguished by the excellence of the writing--direct, graceful, elegant, moving--this collection is, as Preston notes in the introduction, "not about being a perfect child in a perfect family . . . It is about being human in our world."
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Preston, editor of Hometowns ( LJ 8/91) and The Big Gay Book (NAL, 1991), has brought forth a new collection that examines the intensely personal and often painful relationship of gay men with members of their families. These 24 essays run the gamut of human emotion--some are humorous, some sad, some poignant, some bitter. Stories range from a young black man who pays homage to a gospel-singing mother; a Southern son who grows up with a Holocaust survivor; and a gay man who tries to forgive his abusive father. Preston has chosen his selections wisely and in his introduction succinctly states his thesis: "Examining our families and understanding what they have done to us and what we have done to them is a crucial part of our learning about how we are gay in our society." In this presidential election year when politicians decry the lack of family values, this extraordinary anthology reminds us just how profound family influence is on all of us. Highly recommended for all public libraries.
- Richard Drezen, Merrill Lynch Lib., New York
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
