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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
A funny and at the same kind of horrifying account of a journalist's youth in Scotland. His childhood parallels the time Margaret Thatcher spent as Prime Minister, and his family and upbringing call to mind the various programs and policies she enacted during her time in office -- policies and programs that were decidedly unpopular in the author's working class community.
Had I known more about the politics of this time in the UK, this book might have made more of an impact -- certainly a failing on my part and not Barr's! Still, the pain of coming out in a small town amid a conservative community that doesn't really understand you is something that many of us have felt. I found myself rooting for him from page one. I'm so glad he made it through and shared this story.
Had I known more about the politics of this time in the UK, this book might have made more of an impact -- certainly a failing on my part and not Barr's! Still, the pain of coming out in a small town amid a conservative community that doesn't really understand you is something that many of us have felt. I found myself rooting for him from page one. I'm so glad he made it through and shared this story.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
V compelling insight into what it was like to grow up gay and in poverty in 1980s Glasgow (Shuggie Bain could never!!!) Funny with a clear narrative voice. Skated over some kind of important details but I think that comes from being very detailed elsewhere. Not sure how I feel about the Maggie apologism but interesting ideas about being different and wanting to leave your community behind (relatable)
funny
informative
medium-paced
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
This book has a brilliant cover! Damian Barr recounts his rather chaotic childhood in this memoir which resists becoming a misery-memoir despite some truly horrible things happening. Growing up gay in a village where your Gran gets to hear everything wasn't going to be very easy... And that's not the worst of it. But the humour and peaking lyrical sentances were fun to come across. And I liked Heather. I'm glad she got to go to the club in Glasgow too.
Maggie walks out of the IRA-bombed hotel unharmed on the same night that Damian, his sister and his mother spend their first night away from home after his parents split up, and so becomes linked with his drive to get away. She seemed a little incidental to the story at times, easily forgotten with all else that was going on.
Maggie walks out of the IRA-bombed hotel unharmed on the same night that Damian, his sister and his mother spend their first night away from home after his parents split up, and so becomes linked with his drive to get away. She seemed a little incidental to the story at times, easily forgotten with all else that was going on.
i didn’t realise this was a memoir which changed my rating from two stars to four. the writing is good and being someone whose very close to motherwell and gay, i really felt personally tied to what was being written.
A memoir about growing up in working class Scotland in the 1980s, this book reminded me of Kerry Hudson's work, but is of course its own story too. Damian was born into a fairly unremarkable family but by middle childhood his parents were divorced and his mother (his primary carer) had experienced a stroke which had long-lasting effects. She (and Damian) go on to live with a succession of unpleasant men, whilst Damian seeks solace in books and friendships (though the latter also prove difficult at times as he struggles to fit into the heteronormic, violent culture around him). Damian's childhood and teenage years are set against a Scotland having its industry decimated by Thatcher, and this, plus the depictions of conflict between Protestants and Catholics, provide an interesting and valuable piece of social history.