Ahh! I get it! So many people had been telling me to read this book for so long and now I get it. Now I want to read every book mentioned in Fun Home,Ahh! I get it! So many people had been telling me to read this book for so long and now I get it. Now I want to read every book mentioned in Fun Home, too. I am moved by the clarity and insight Alison Bechdel has into her own life (wow therapy is cool, huh). There's something I miss about writing creatively and the way it makes excavating your feelings about your experiences such a tactile thing. It's so special to be able to see and read and learn from someone else's doing this. I related so much to this-- being 'raised catholic' (we always say it that way because that's the truth. I was 'raised' Catholic but I am not Catholic.), self-editing and connecting dots later on about sexuality, family especially father-queer-daughter relationships, college and queerness, grief and trauma and so. many. feelings.-- Ah! There's just so much. I can't wait to read "Are you my mother?"...more
**spoilers of themes, no spoilers of plot details**
I was stoked to find this at the Simmons library for a couple of reasons- 1. It's on my reading lis**spoilers of themes, no spoilers of plot details**
I was stoked to find this at the Simmons library for a couple of reasons- 1. It's on my reading list, 2. I didn't have to buy it, 3. As I was reading the old tattered copy I couldn't help but think of all the young inquiring queer minds who'd read it before me.
I really enjoyed the read-- after a summer spent (being gay as hell) in Jacksonville I have a soft spot for stories of Southern queerness (OK fine, and Southern Lit in general including Southern Gothics). I was warned not to become too attached to the setting as it would shift throughout the novel but actually I really felt that thread carry throughout. As I move through the world and enter into new queer communities in different cities where narratives of queerness differ (often with an air of glitter and irreverence for the difficulties of growing up queer in some places) I feel a bit of disconnect. It felt comforting to read the perspective of someone whose past lingers in this way, who struggles with the class implications of queerness and actually talks about them.
I have heard people say there are other books to read that better present an image of this kind of queer story and I'm sure that's true. There were definitely some moments of cringe, some moments of me pausing and repeating the publishing date to myself as a reminder that yes, the language and stories presented are DATED. Because they are.
But overall, I enjoyed this read and would recommend it to others! It's a quick enough read as well! ...more
The first time I heard about iO Tillett Wright I was watching that StyleLikeU series where people get undressed as they talk about themselves and progThe first time I heard about iO Tillett Wright I was watching that StyleLikeU series where people get undressed as they talk about themselves and progressively expose more about themselves while they... expose more of themselves. So maybe I started following iO on Instagram and hurredly bought his book because... I think he's hot. At least I'm willing to admit it!
But I think there's actually something to that. There was something important to me about reading the memoir of a queer person I am attracted to, I am inspired by, and whom I admire. Darling Days did not disappoint and has wasted no time becoming one of my favorite books, one I am sure I will read and re-read and re-read. But truthfully, I would have bought and finished this book even if I didn't love it (& not just because iO is attractive... jeez). Because it is powerful to be able to see something I can relate to in many ways on a book shelf. It is special to me to be able to step into the experience of another queer person, whose life is so very different from mine but who puts to paper many things I have questioned and continue to question about myself.
It's more than putting words to experiences I've yet been able to express, Darling Days is one of the most beautifully written books I've read in a long time and I simply couldn't put it down.
I'm recommending it to every queer I know... which is actually most people I know....more
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