Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land [Paperback]

A Bioneers Best Reads Selection Years ago, I had a student who wrote wonderful short stories but struggled to translate her skills to creative nonfiction. At 18, she didnt think anyone would want to read about her life because shed grown up in a small Midwestern town where nothing ever happened. How I wish Taylor Brorbys new memoir, Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land, had existed back then so I could share it with her... As in Tara Westovers Educated, learning allowed Brorby to envision a different kind of future for himself, one that would eventually lead him to places where people were more accepting of his sexuality.... A great memoir, however, renders moments wholly outside of the readers experience in ways that evoke emotion and understanding. I tensed with fear at Brorbys recollections of harassment and beatings, felt the still-unhealed wound of his being outed by his aunt and effectively estranged from his parents, and teared up with hope when he came out to his beloved grandfathers.... Brorby has written not only a truly great memoir, but also a frighteningly relevant one that speaks to the many battles we still have left to fight. Environmental activist Taylor Brorby masterfully recounts his upbringing... Brorbys memoir opens with superbly detailed insight into North Dakotas geography, which becomes a powerful symbol throughout To put it simply, Taylors North Dakota memoir is the pain of human existence amid the poetry of natural beauty. The love for North Dakotas land shines from every page. One can feel prairie breezes through the hair, and smell the wildflowers. But this loveliness is nestled within an alienation from the people who inhabit the same land. I found myself laughing out loud in parts and with tears in my eyes in others. It is a touching and difficult story about growing up gay in the land of my childhood. It is a book that everyone should read. A searing account of growing up in the harsh landscape of North Dal3N