Not Like Other Boys Growing Up Gay: A Mother and Son Look Back

By Marlene Fanta Shyer and Christopher Shyer

Book Overview

"By offering different perspectives on their shared pasts, the Shyers produced a complex and emotionally persuasive family portrait." Kirkus Reviews "A deeply moving memoir." Publishers Weekly "What... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395709393
• ISBN13: 9780395709399
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 259 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Great for everyone.

I read this book only a few months after I came out. At that time in my life I still didn't accept myself as gay. This book helped me see that you don't have a be a queen to be gay. This book also helped me look back on my own childhood. That helped me see that I've been gay all along and that I was discovering it instead of creating it.This book is an absolute joy to read. My parents read this book, too, and that helped both of us start our conversations from some common ground.

You must read this book!

A wonderful book for anyone who comes in contact with, works with, is friends with, is or is related to a gay person--and that's EVERYONE. This book gives gay people courage knowing that they are not alone, blasts stereotypes of the "freaks" that some people think gays are, and is a helpful "guide" for parents who need to re-think their mindset on what a perfect family is.

Mother and son write alternate chapters

I picked this up at a PFLAG meeting and couldn't put it down. From his kindergarten teacher to a series of child psychiatrists they all assured his mother he was not homosexual. Gays are the only minority who, harrassed at school, can't turn to their family for support.

Mother's perspective is particularly inspiring

Reading this book as a gay man struggling to find a way to discuss sexuality with my parents, I found Marlene's chapters to be a refreshingly honest look at how a mother deals with her own concerns about the possibility of her son being gay. It opened my eyes to the chance that all this time, what I kept locked in as my own secret really had been considered and feared by my parents. Her early reluctance is later broken away by an acceptance we all should hope could come from a family. Highly recommended reading for parents, though a frank discussion between a mother and son is necessary to counteract Chris's unique story, which is certainly different from many others', including mine.

Required reading for parents!

"Not Like Other Boys" chronicles two interconnected stories at once: the awareness and coming out of Christopher Shyer, and the gradual acceptance he achieved from his mother, Marlene.The book is told in alternating viewpoints, chapter by chapter -- a format which rarely works, but does here. Whereas both stories are riveting -- and certainly all gay men, especially of Chris' age and socioeconomic status, can relate to Chris's story -- it is the story of a mother realizing (when her son was age 5!) and ultimately accepting and actively supporting his homosexuality which will truly touch your heart.It is refreshing to see a mother, raised in another, less-accepting generation, open her heart in such a way, and it offers a glimmer of hope to all of us who hope for such a reaction from our own mothers. Truly a unique, touching viewpoint.