“Our mothers are why we are here.”
This memoir of a black, gay man growing up in Texas and Kentucky, is a moving parable of the unspoken love for his mother; as much as it is an ode to his trysts with finding himself and making peace with his sexuality.
Saeed Jones builds an immersive narrative about his adolescent years; which was often abound in confusion and angst. He brings to our knowledge how he used his sexuality as a weapon against himself. The umpteen hook ups with strangers; wherein sex is no longer about pleasure and orgasm; but about filling a vast void of pain and loneliness; is so telling and disturbingly resonant with what most gay guys go through (including me), irrespective of race, geography or ethnicity.
Second half of the book is all about his mother and his faltered, fractured relationship with her. Saeed describes that, despite his immense love for her; how he’s always found it difficult to paraphrase it and show it in action. The silence between him and his mother is deafening. The love difficult and demanding at times.
The book is poetic in it’s rendition. The emotional journey is so deftly articulated. It made me misty eyed for the most bit; but warmed my soul nonetheless.
~ JUST A GAY BOY. 🤗
the shiny diaries 