Queer 13: Lesbian And Gay Writers Recall Seventh GradeForward by Dale Peck Seventh grade: You remember it, don't you? Sweet sixteen seemed impossibly far away, an elegant, unattainable future. All that we had was the doldrums of thirteen -- not so sweet, and definitely queer. Now, some of the finest observers of the gay experience take us back to the homerooms and hallways of our youth, in a collection of original essays that captures that time of adolescence when social and sexual development was at its raging worst. From gym class to kissing parties, obsessive crushes to after-school pummelings, every day held the possibility of discovery -- and complete humiliation. For those of us who are gay, our sexuality added another twist, that extra little way we didn't quite fit in. It was a time of becoming who we truly are, a passage into adulthood that was as memorable as it was agonizing. Queer 13 tells these tales of teenage trauma -- from funny to painful, reflective to literary -- all ringing with the universal truths of a poignant, extraordinary time. |
Contents
| 13 | |
The Beginning of My Worthlessness | 39 |
Outtakes | 55 |
Notes on Camp | 69 |
Beckys Pagination | 89 |
1976 | 103 |
A Close Escape | 117 |
Waiting for Blastoff | 135 |
Still Life with Boys | 151 |
Awake | 173 |
The Change of Life | 191 |
Cool for You | 211 |
The White Album | 217 |
First Passion | 237 |
Thirteen | 257 |