I found this slightly-battered trade paperback at a neighborhood yard sale, and as I'd read and enjoyed the book I thought I'd nab this for a release copy.

This was an involving story; I enjoyed Monette's writing as much as the tale he was telling, and will be looking for more of his books. His sense of isolation and loneliness was painful to read, although his parents' denial seemed more benign than the reactions of other gay kids' families (see Mark Doty's Firebird for a very different look at growing up gay). There's a particularly painful moment when Monette has just decided to write to a close friend and tell him he's gay - only to learn of his friend's accidental death...

By the time Paul did find romance I think I was more relieved to hear it than he was. His discussions of romantic love, who wants it and who doesn't, what kinds of relationships there might be, and what types of emotional baggage each of us carries around were fascinating, though the knowledge that Monette would lose two lovers to AIDS before dying of it himself lent some bitterness to the subject. Still, it's an involving story, and I'm glad I read it.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I left this book on the book-swap shelf in the Tyngsboro post office lobby at about 2:30. Hope the finder enjoys it!