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Book, Farm Boys, by Will Fellows, best gay themed book I've read

Discussion in 'LGBT Later in Life' started by brainwashed, Nov 29, 2016.

  1. brainwashed

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    I've read a stack of gay themed books. Velvet Rage. Coming out of Shame. Many others. But Farm Boys, by Will Fellows is clearly the number one book for me.

    Why?
    a) I can relate to the stories 100%. Example: going out to the barn to fool around.

    b) There's info that pertains to me. I say to myself upon reading a tip bit of info, ya that's me too. But then there's the parts that makes me stop dead in my tracks. For instance: in one testimonial, it's stated, ~"I don't think my dad really liked me." I stopped and asked myself. You know I don't think my dad really liked me either.

    c) Fellows sets the testimonials up to show how if the parents are accepting, meaning, they accept life as it is, the result is, the man has WAY LESS trouble adjusting to the fact he is gay. As apposed to rejecting the young son all together. ~"you should have been born a girl." ~"go get in the kitchen where you belong" - kind of thinking.

    d) The book also tells how other gay men went about finding a partner if they elected to. I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO THIS.

    I'm only ~1/3 of the way through the book.
     
  2. Weston

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    I too found it thought provoking. Much that is in it resonated strongly with me, even though I grew up in a mostly urban environment. One thing that surprised me was the amount of gay sex many of these farm boys engaged in, often from a very early age, with neighbors, brothers, cousins, uncles, etc. It seems that those who did had fewer problems accepting their homosexuality and almost made me wish I had been in their shoes. In many cases, the hard work and isolation these boys endured produced strong and resilient men, albeit men who felt estranged from the mainstream of gay society. The danger in a book like this, for guys like me, is to over-romanticize their experience, i.e., do for farm boys what Brokeback Mountain did for cowboys.
     
  3. brainwashed

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    Very good points. I'm reflecting.