Reviewer: Merrick Hansen
Publisher:
Pages: 344
Peterson has written something that could be an honest relief to many. He recounts a difficult childhood – from being teased for playing with girls to far worse experiences as he grew older. On top of that, his story takes place in the Midwest where I grew up.
This is something that isn’t in the popular narrative of queer literature. Nobody really talks about the places where the same kind of harassment Peterson talks about still happens. Because where I am in Iowa, it might as well still be the 1970′s. Sleepy little towns still see plenty of us “different” folk being teased or at the very least stared at. For instance, I’ve been kicked out of a barber shop at least once within the last 7 years just for asking for a hair cut.
Obviously reviewing an autobiography is a little different, but what I can tell you is this: there is comfort in reading the story of someone who has been through similar harassment and experience. It is a comfort to see that things do improve, that they do eventually change and the people around us are generally only temporary – particularly if they’re negative or hateful.
