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A review by eriknoteric
Lawnboy by Paul Lisicky
5.0
Gay bildungsromans are a dime-a-dozen these days, but Paul Lisicky's "Lawnboy," a story of coming of age, gay, in South Florida, is the truest, purest, most thoughtful of the genre that I've ever encountered.
"Lawnboy" follows the story of a boy who at the ripe age of 17 abandons home to move in with his much, much older neighbor. Though the sex between them is amicable, eventually he realizes something is missing, and he moves out to find his brother. As he rediscovers his relationship with his brother, he falls in love with Hector, though whether he is loved back is much shrouded. In the end he sets out again in search of himself and what he finds is bruised and battered but not beyond repair. At the end of the day, "Lawnboy" is about finding your queer self in ways you never could have expected, and it's about loving yourself in ways you never would have thought possible.
Written in 1998, "Lawnboy" has stood the test of time and is as true and important today as it was before the turn of the century. Lisicky captures the tensions, dramas, and turmoils of coming to fully know and appreciate your gay self in a way that few, if any, other gay writers have managed. For this reason, and many others, I'm already excited to read this book over and over again.
"Lawnboy" follows the story of a boy who at the ripe age of 17 abandons home to move in with his much, much older neighbor. Though the sex between them is amicable, eventually he realizes something is missing, and he moves out to find his brother. As he rediscovers his relationship with his brother, he falls in love with Hector, though whether he is loved back is much shrouded. In the end he sets out again in search of himself and what he finds is bruised and battered but not beyond repair. At the end of the day, "Lawnboy" is about finding your queer self in ways you never could have expected, and it's about loving yourself in ways you never would have thought possible.
Written in 1998, "Lawnboy" has stood the test of time and is as true and important today as it was before the turn of the century. Lisicky captures the tensions, dramas, and turmoils of coming to fully know and appreciate your gay self in a way that few, if any, other gay writers have managed. For this reason, and many others, I'm already excited to read this book over and over again.