Boys Like Us: Gay Writers Tell Their Coming Out Stories

by Patrick Merla and Hetrick Martin Inst

Book Overview

In stunning essays written especially for this collection, twenty-nine noted gay writers recount their true coming out stories, intensely personal histories of that primal process by which men come to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380973405
• ISBN13: 9780380973408
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Length: 365 Pages
• Weight: 1.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.6" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Coming-Out

Merla, Patrick. "Boys Like Us", Harper Paperbacks, 1997. Coming-Out Amos Lassen Although not a new boom, Patrick Merla's "Boys Like Us" is an interesting collection of twenty-nine coming-out essays by some of our most prominent gay writers. Merla, himself, has been active in gay publishing as a literary agent and editor and has therefore been able to bring together such a collection. We get all kinds of encounters which result in revelations about the gay lifestyle and coming to it for the first time. Each essay has a defining moment from which each life is changed forever. The book looks at the meanings of coming-out and most of the selections are intense. Beginning with the pre-Stonewall era the book progresses to the 1990's and we get a good overall picture of homosexuality and the way it is considered. Each essay also has a photograph of the author and each is written in the first person this making the selections very personal. Many of the selections are moving and I found myself laughing and crying as I read. The topic is important and the book is very much needed. This is a book to be read and reread and shared.

Excellent Anthology of Coming Out stories!

I was very moved by this collection of stories by gay authors. It's a book you'll read again and again. I especially liked the way the book starts with essays about coming out in the 50's and moves up to present day experiences. Gay men will see something of themselves in the stories, and others will come to understand what it's like for a gay person to deal with their sexuality.

Excellent Book

I am a lesbian who also enjoys reading books about gay boys & men. Coming out stories are of special interest to me. This book is exceptionally well written. It begins with pre-Stonewall entries and tells each person's story up thru the 1990's---so that the reader gets a very good overall historical view of the way homosexuality is viewed and the progress the gay community & individuals have made. Each of the stories (there are approx. 29) is told in the first person, telling the author's own experiences from youth to adulthood. With only one or two exceptions, the stories are extremely well told. All of the stories told are written by men who are professional writers. In addition, there is a photograph of each of the men the way he appeared in his youth at the time the story happened, and in the back of the book a picture of how he looks today---along with a brief bio about him and other writings he has done. These men really reached out and touched me. Each one made me feel as if I really knew him.

Read This Book and Come Out Wherever You Are!!!!

A must read for those who have come out, are coming out, haven't come out, or those who want to try to understand those who are coming out. You'll laugh, you'll cry! Better than cats--you'll read it again and again and again.... Reading this book, it was great to find out that different thoughts, feelings, experiences that occured through my coming out were shared by others, even those much older than I!

Landmark!

This is some anthology -- on a vital, primal topic. A real treasure, and very much needed. You'll definitely be re-reading it as the years go by. In particular, check out the pieces by Alan Gurganus, Scott Heim, Ron Caldwell and Ed Sikov