Like the classic ‘The Velvet Rage’ (Alan Downs) and Matthew Todd’s ‘Straight Jacket’, the topic of Walt Odet’s book is the struggle gay men go through to feel safe and comfortable in their own skin, having grown up (even in the most progressive households) in stigma, fear and shame.
Walt Odets is a clinical psychologist and uses his own relationships and the stories of some of his patients to illustrate the journey through trauma to love, acceptance and compassion. The prose is honest, poignant and beautiful and I think pushes the themes of the aforementioned books even further. It also serves as a vital reminder of the immense tragedy of the HIV epidemic, and calls for us not to forget the many lost to AIDs, as well as those who lived through it and survived.