Prompted by his older son's coming out, and the subsequent election of President Trump, Richie Jackson's book is framed partly as a personal history, and partly as an advice manual for how to be a gay man in America.
Gay Like MePrompted by his older son’s coming out, and the subsequent election of President Trump, Jackson’s book is framed partly as personal history, partly as advice manual for how to be a gay man in America. “That’s your issue, not mine,” his son informs him when Jackson probes for details on the other same-sex families at his son’s school, and the book seems intended as a prolonged correction: No, son, it’s your issue too, whether you know it or not.
What saves this book from reading like an extended lecture is Jackson’s deeply felt rendering of the changes he’s witnessed within his lifetime. “When I left for college, I had no gay self-esteem,” he writes. And even when he arrived in cosmopolitan New York City from his sheltered Long Island town, he was surprised by “how marginalized gay people were.” In the decades that followed, he witnessed violence, a plague, public vilification—all of this shaping his political sensibility.
In some ways, this is a small and focused book: a particular message, delivered as an urgent plea to a son about to embark upon adulthood. But it can also be seen as part of a larger genre of work that is asking profound questions about how a community handles a legacy of suffering.
The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
BUILD Book Club: Fill your reading list with these new books from our distinguished celebrity guestsWhether you're a fan of memoirs, fiction, poetry or more, you'll find something to add to your reading list here.
Read more »
'American Dirt' Publisher Cancels Author Tour After ThreatsThe publisher of the controversial new novel 'American Dirt' — about a Mexican mother and son fleeing drug cartel violence — has canceled the rest of its book tour because of 'specific threats' to author Jeanine Cummins and booksellers.
Read more »
Super Bowl: Father-son coaches, the Embrees, are assistants for the 49ers and ChiefsSuper Bowl LIV is also Embree Bowl I. Father Jon and son Taylor coach for the 49ers. Son/brother Connor coaches for the Chiefs.
Read more »
Volcano victims were well-known Indian Americans in AtlantaAn American husband and wife have now both died from injuries suffered in a New Zealand volcanic eruption, authorities say, leaving behind twin 6-year-old girls and an 11-year-old boy. Story by nickgbperry.
Read more »
Father quarantined for coronavirus claims Chinese officials left disabled son at home to dieThe coronavirus began infecting workers in a wholesale seafood market in the Hubei province city of Wuhan late last year.
Read more »
Santa Cruz decriminalizes psychedelic mushroomsA California town has passed a new resolution to decriminalize the use of psychedelic mushrooms.
Read more »