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the_original_shelf_monkey's review
5.0
What is most surprising about Hannaham's tale is how superbly he handles all sides of the issue. Gary is absolutely sincere in his desire to change that which can never be, although it is obvious that he's happiest and most 'himself' when he accepts his nature. When he enters a program to 'remove' his homosexuality, a lesser writer would likely use the opportunity to condemn such actions as ludicrous and hateful. But Gary and his teachers are fundamentally good people, led by firm beliefs that what they do is right. This is not an attack on Christianity, but a dissection of people who take the Bible very seriously at the expense of their own unique individualities. There are no cheap shots, no laughs at the expense of bigotry. Hannaham's tale slowly expands itself into an exploration of how we all lie to ourselves to make ourselves feel better, and how we all alter our behaviour to suit the beliefs of others. Gary and his fellow students at the ministry are devout in their belief that they can change an innate portion of their being to satisfy others, even though the entire notion is inherently laughable. The rest of their lives will be spent in hollow denial of themselves, if the treatment actually worked: "Dr. Soffione's treatment didn't offer a 100 percent cure. From the way Bill and Gay spoke about it, nobody could. Did Christ really want that for us? Would we have to spend the rest of our lives counting the seconds to make sure our hugs didn't go into overtime?"
Read the rest of the review here.
Read the rest of the review here.
aspeed's review
4.0
A very well written book about an obese, extremely devout African American man in the South who is gay and doesn't want to be, so he struggles very hard to be "normal", a prospect doomed to failure. He tries marriage to a woman, a year of "free checking", an "ex-gay" ministry, but in the end, perhaps he can only accept what he truly is. His own contradictions and hypocrisies are shown in a very realistic way, and even the easy to mock ex-gay crowd are portrayed in a sympathetic (if self-loathing) light. I will admit the characters' Candide like naiveté was a little tiring at times, and I didn't always like him, but that's not a bad thing. An excellent read, and very different from the usual McSweeney's fare.
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