When figuring out our identities, books can be an important place to start. If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume that you agree books are important. Pride Month reminds me how huge they can be for LGBT folks.
It was in books that gay Chris first met characters who made me think, “Hey, I feel that way, too” and “I’m not the only one?”
Books have helped me — and many others — figure ourselves out, to the extent that we’ve actually done that, including the gems below.
“Becoming a Man,” by Paul Monette, won a National Book Award and is a memoir classic. The title refers to his belief that he didn’t really become a man until he stopped keeping the secret (even from himself) that he was gay. Kleenex recommended.
“Fun Home,” by Alison Bechdel, is probably as well known for being a Tony Award-winning musical as it is for the original graphic memoir. I vividly recall my friends Mary Beth and Therese taking me to a reading in the basement of the now-defunct Amazon/True Colors store in Minneapolis. It was jammed and hot and uncomfortable, but Bechdel’s tales of growing up were so wonderful I barely noticed the lack of escape routes. Even more incredible was her description of the detailed, labor-intensive way she creates her graphic novels — in this case, one about realizing that she and her dad shared a secret: Both were gay.
“The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker, is a lyrical novel about two enslaved women who don’t need to put a name to their bond. Several characters have fluid identities in the book, which stands as a reminder that we’ve always been here.
“Becoming a Man: The Story of a Transition,” by P. Carl, is the memoir of the former head of Minneapolis’ Playwrights’ Center, who lived most of his life as a lesbian, and how he and his wife navigated their transition. Carl writes about the difficult journey with nuance and compassion for those who don’t understand what it’s like to be trans.
“Giovanni’s Room,” by James Baldwin, is a window into gay life in the 1950s. First, David grapples with bisexuality and then with whether he’s homosexual — all of which is spurred by an affair he has on vacation in Italy. The writing is gorgeous and, like Monette’s book, it has a lot to do with what it means to be a man.
“Brown Girl Dreaming,” by Jacqueline Woodson, is supposedly for 9- to 12-year-olds but is really for everyone. It’s the autobiographical, sometimes painful, story of growing up in North Carolina when the civil rights movement was changing the world. The MacArthur “genius grant” recipient doesn’t explicitly deal with gay themes but the protagonist’s questions hint at the direction Woodson’s life would take.
“The Man of the House,” by Stephen McCauley, is pure joy. Most books on this list are full of pain but McCauley’s comic novels are almost guaranteed to end happily. You could start with the first and best-known, “The Object of My Affection,” or my fave, “Man.”
