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Catching On
Early encounters with gay identity
'Catching On' is about that moment of personal awareness when your gay identity becomes clear. All new writing from eleven authors.
Editorial: ... I wanted them to tell us in lively ways how they came to know they were gay. ...
Review
Thought you never wanted to read another coming out anthology? Iconic Gay Ebooks Australia has just released Catching On and word is out: it's excellent. Catching On contains 11 stories capturing that moment of personal awareness when gay identity becomes clear. Intertwined as coming out is around notions of sexual identity, some argue that both concepts are obsolete, as the song says 'kissing boys, kissing girls, it's all the same...'
The premise for Catching On is that coming out, at least in a modern westernized country like Australia, remains a necessary rite of passage.
Happiness, personal fulfilment even sanity and health are dependant on homosexual people being honest with themselves and others, argues writer Ian McNeil who compiled and edited Catching On.
"I wanted the writers to tell us in lively ways how they came to know they were gay," says McNeil. "This confrontation with ourselves must surely give us insights into human nature, denied those who get to waltz at their own weddings, no matter how many frogs they had to kiss before they slipped the ring on."
Each story captures the burgeoning self-awareness of coming out, which McNeil correctly points out in his introduction "... is a life long test of character even in our type of country: ask the elderly entering nursing homes." Poignant or funny and always insightful, Catching On encompasses first love, missed opportunity and awakening sexual awareness evocative at times of an Australia existent only in the authors' memories.
Alistair Sutton
reporting for evolution news/Queensland Pride © 22 September 2010
'Catching On' is about that moment of personal awareness when your gay identity becomes clear. All new writing from eleven authors.
Editorial: ... I wanted them to tell us in lively ways how they came to know they were gay. ...
Review
Thought you never wanted to read another coming out anthology? Iconic Gay Ebooks Australia has just released Catching On and word is out: it's excellent. Catching On contains 11 stories capturing that moment of personal awareness when gay identity becomes clear. Intertwined as coming out is around notions of sexual identity, some argue that both concepts are obsolete, as the song says 'kissing boys, kissing girls, it's all the same...'
The premise for Catching On is that coming out, at least in a modern westernized country like Australia, remains a necessary rite of passage.
Happiness, personal fulfilment even sanity and health are dependant on homosexual people being honest with themselves and others, argues writer Ian McNeil who compiled and edited Catching On.
"I wanted the writers to tell us in lively ways how they came to know they were gay," says McNeil. "This confrontation with ourselves must surely give us insights into human nature, denied those who get to waltz at their own weddings, no matter how many frogs they had to kiss before they slipped the ring on."
Each story captures the burgeoning self-awareness of coming out, which McNeil correctly points out in his introduction "... is a life long test of character even in our type of country: ask the elderly entering nursing homes." Poignant or funny and always insightful, Catching On encompasses first love, missed opportunity and awakening sexual awareness evocative at times of an Australia existent only in the authors' memories.
Alistair Sutton
reporting for evolution news/Queensland Pride © 22 September 2010
ebook
First published July 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 23, 2012
This anthology contains stories of how the authors had their first moment of awareness of themselves being gay. The book has real experiences, so don't go looking for something that's pretty and well- orchestrated.
My favorite story is First Encounter by Jim Anderson. It is my long held belief that little gestures of tenderness beat the heck outta rough and passionate. Glad to see the same echoed in someone else's thoughts too :)
My favorite story is First Encounter by Jim Anderson. It is my long held belief that little gestures of tenderness beat the heck outta rough and passionate. Glad to see the same echoed in someone else's thoughts too :)
Displaying 1 of 1 review