'A sweet, filthy peach of a memoir from a cultural explosion of a man.'
CAITLIN MORAN Born in the mid-twentieth century and raised in the heart of
conservative North Carolina, Armistead Maupin lost his virginity to another
man on the very spot where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
Realizing that the South was too small for him, this son of a traditional
lawyer packed his earthly belongings into his Opel GT (including a beloved
portrait of a Confederate ancestor), and took to the road in search of
adventure. It was a journey that would lead him from a homoerotic Navy
initiation ceremony in the jungles of Vietnam to that strangest of strange
lands: San Francisco in the early 1970s. Reflecting on the profound impact
those closest to him have had on his life, Maupin shares his candid search
for his logical family, the people he could call his own. Sooner or
later, we have to venture beyond our biological family to find our logical
one, the one that actually makes sense for us, he writes. We have to, if
we are to live without squandering our lives. From his loving relationship
with his palm-reading Grannie who insisted Maupin was the reincarnation of
her artistic bachelor cousin, Curtis, to an awkward conversation about
girls with President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office, Maupin tells of the
extraordinary individuals and situations that shaped him into one of the
most influential writers of the last century. Maupin recalls his losses and
life-changing experiences with humor and unflinching honesty, and brings to
life flesh-and-blood characters as endearing and unforgettable as the
vivid, fraught men and women who populate his enchanting novels. What
emerges is an illuminating portrait of the man who depicted the liberation
and evolution of America's queer community over the last four decades with
honesty and compassion--and inspired millions to claim their own lives.