Rough

by Thomas L. Marshall

Ah, the marathon dance of life. As children we all wanted it to be endless days at Disneyland, and for some it was, but for the rest, what to do? See how a child copes with abuse and its aftermath, root for him as he finds the means to recover and come out. Be an intimate onlooker as the young man falls in love in the Vietnam Era Army- with another man. Discover how he makes lemonade out of the AIDS Crisis, and just keeps on dancing... Rough is a book length, It Gets Better. Rough is A Child Called It, through recovery. Life isn't a crap shoot. It's what you make it. A must read for trauma therapists and students of psychology.
The author was a psychiatric nurse at Stanford University Medical Center who specialized in the care of children with eating disorders. Rough is the compelling account of a boy's recovery from child abuse and is in many ways unlike any such account previously written particularly as it follows the subject through 60 years of life. Thomas Marshall: "I challenge anyone to read this book and not come away forever changed!"

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2013

About the author

Thomas L. Marshall has lived and traveled the United States, particularly in the Southwest and South, and internationally to points in Mexico, the Philippines, and across the pond. While an army buck sergeant stationed in Germany, he motorcycled throughout Europe mountain climbing, snow skiing, and breaking hearts when not defending the free world from communism. He was Director of Staff Development at Harbor Hills Hospital and also worked at Stanford University Medical center for 13 years as a Certified Psychiatric RN specializing in the care of children with eating disorders. Thomas Currently lives on the West Coast. His writing focuses on sexuality, faith and violence in contemporary settings.

Reviews

[Grady · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Book, A Man You Want to Love

Thomas Marshall dazzled us in his June 2013 novel SOLDIER BOY - a tightly written, expressive, sensual story of a character Bryce Tyconnel, a gay adventure hero whose every move and every action demanded attention. That novel presented to the literary world a new writer of irresistible force and promise. And because of the impact of that reading experience, finding this debut novel ROUGH published only a month before SOLDIER BOY irresistible. ROUGH is a memoir and as such can be forgiven some of the flaws of the book - and there are significant ones.

Marshall opens his book with tales of his abusive childhood with a punitive mother who seemed to loathe his existence and a `father' (the bear) who beat him at every opportunity. He knows he is `different' as he is attracted to boys, but he is so darkly and deeply in the closet that there only occasional suggestions of satisfying ray of light that enter. When his special few friends are off to college he joins the army during the years of draft (the Vietnam debacle) and is stationed in Germany. The military offers some semblance of self-esteem and he falls in love with promising men who fail to deliver completely - primarily because of Marshall's fear of being outed. Once out of the Army he discovers gay life in California, has affairs, finds love and bars and `the life', but is inevitably disappointed in the lack of monogamy in relationships. When he finally does discover a true life partner, AIDS raises its hideous head and takes that away from him, too. Along the way Marshall imagines himself an alcoholic and finds solace and camaraderie in AA (only later to discover that he is not an alcoholic, but a victim of a life of lonely abuse searching for meaning), becomes a nurse, loses his money repeatedly, finds another possible life partner in a Filipino boy - a partnership that again falls short of satisfying, and finally suffers chronic pain from an injury and then finds a state of salvation in Jesus and in caring for abused children. He has had a gruesomely rough life but he has survived.

All of the above is related with a sophisticated sense of writing, but as is often the case with first novels, this book begs for an editor, not only one who could correct all the typos and grammatical errors, but who could actually `edit' the flow of the story. Much of the writing approaches incessant whining and cries of a victim. When he is in Germany in the military a good deal of the dialogue and writing is in German (no translations), and when he is with his partner Sergio the use of Spanish hampers the story for those unfortunate enough to not read Spanish. And there are other unnecessary barriers that resist the flow of the novel.

But the biggest disappointment after struggling though this almost 400 page novel is the ending - a kick in the gut for having identified with a man who has had a very tough life and in the end allows the causative agent to be warmly embraced. Marshall is a far better writer than this - he has already proved it. When he concentrates on his craft, his art, he is among the finest writing today. Perhaps now with that he has purged in public he will return to the innate gifts of literary finesse. Or perhaps have a fine editor reduce this volume to half its length. When he is good, he is very very good, and when he slides into obsession with life's slings and arrows as they pierce his life he needs our trust.

Grady Harp

[Jodi Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought that I would read about someone's life that reminded me of my own. I took this book to heart as it seemed so personal and I understood what he was feeling/felt. This really is a great book. As I am having a hard time putting my feelings into words, I can say that I would recommend this book to others to read.