Seems to Be a Very Compelling Story
I really regret that I read the preview pages too late to be eligible to claim or win a copy of this book. I am surprised at how immediately interesting Brian, the first-person narrator, is. The opening encounter with blond Bertrand really emphasizes the shaky ground of fast hook-ups based only on stereotypes of what one believes - and wants- the other to be, like a fantasy come true. Still, the relationship's demise on a neighborhood basketball court was a sad one, as were the childhood memories of being a gay Black male among a school full of very athletic Black males.
The immediate segue into a scene with a female was interesting but also heartbreaking in Brian's attempt to find an easier pathway in life by trying to be a boyfriend to a beautiful black twenty-year-old woman. The approving smiles of passers-by as Brian walks the street with her are the easy part. His failure to get much farther than kissing is not funny; the reader's heart will ache for him.
The synopsis of this book might have sounded like simply another own voices plot line, but the brutally honest details and emotions make it excel.
The immediate segue into a scene with a female was interesting but also heartbreaking in Brian's attempt to find an easier pathway in life by trying to be a boyfriend to a beautiful black twenty-year-old woman. The approving smiles of passers-by as Brian walks the street with her are the easy part. His failure to get much farther than kissing is not funny; the reader's heart will ache for him.
The synopsis of this book might have sounded like simply another own voices plot line, but the brutally honest details and emotions make it excel.