America's Boy

In this age of Augusten Burroughs and his ilk, it looks like everyone and their mothers have written memoirs. It took me a while to be really appreciative of them, honestly, since I am not a fan of Mr. Burroughs. I could be cynical you see (as if you did not know that!) I have had a cheap ARC copy of this  book, AMERICA'S BOY, by Wade Rouse,  for a while now.  I have tried to read it over and over again, but I have ended up losing interest more than a couple of times. And then I think about Maya Angelou says about reading, "Just continue, and most of the time you will find gems," and I gave this one yet another try. Well, I couldn't say that I thoroughly enjoyed  this book, but I wouldn't call it a waste of time either. For half the book, he talks about growing up in the Ozarks, and muses about the complexities and simplicities of life. Honestly, it wasn't really all that interesting, but later on I got caught up with his eccentric family, and the devastating loss of his teenage older brother. The later third of the book talks about his late-in-life coming out, and the meeting of his partner, Gary, but that story is much too ordinary. Plus, I felt he held back and we did not get the full story about them.  But I always tell myself to find the positive in things, and all through out the book, his stories are peppered about stories and descriptions about members of his family, and in the end, I really appreciated that. I don't think his story was unique enough to have warranted a book, but it seems to have been a success, and he has written two books since (actually the latter books look more appealing) so what the hell do I know?


Oh, and the cover of my ARC wasn't the final one, it was this, so anal retentive me just had to point it out.

(Wade Rouse - American Boy-3)