What do you think?
Rate this book
De jongens op de rots
16-jarige jongen ontmoet in 1968 een paar jaar oudere man: liefde op het eerste gezicht.
175 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
4 people are currently reading
1671 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
August 6, 2013
A queer solo classic that I hope is still not out of print. (John Fox died of AIDS in 1990 with nothing beyond a few other short stories published. Stonewall Inn Editions put the novel back out in 1994, and I've seen it around even the occasional B&N.) A quick read that really could be the proto-type for every breezy, generic teen coming out book and movie. That is not a slight-The Boys on the Rock should be acknowledge for its footprint. As it came out in 1984, and takes place in the last summer months of 1968 (right after Stonewall), it's place as a forefather should be noted. Also, and if I am wrong do let me know, it was the first gay novel I've seen that received straight writer blurb acclaim in its era-while Edmund White contributes, so do Russell Banks (The Sweet Hereafter, Rule of the Bone) and Richard Price (Clockers, Blood Brothers). The book is dedicated to Russell Banks and Janet Chalmers, so I thought Banks, Chalmers, and Price may have been teachers of Fox.
There's a swiftness and a colloquial sharpness to The Boys on the Rock that A Boy's Own Story doesn't have. The greatest surprise and enjoyment is the three act stylistic structure: 1. While Billy Connors still struggles with his sexuality at the start, the prose is spastic, doubling back on itself, 2. When he comes to an inner understanding, telling us 'no more lies,' the prose becomes more serene and then giddy as he enters his first relationship with another guy, 3. Then the final chapter that achieves a deeply melancholy combination of the two previous styles, with a fate for characters both major and minor that is quietly shattering in its construct.
There's a swiftness and a colloquial sharpness to The Boys on the Rock that A Boy's Own Story doesn't have. The greatest surprise and enjoyment is the three act stylistic structure: 1. While Billy Connors still struggles with his sexuality at the start, the prose is spastic, doubling back on itself, 2. When he comes to an inner understanding, telling us 'no more lies,' the prose becomes more serene and then giddy as he enters his first relationship with another guy, 3. Then the final chapter that achieves a deeply melancholy combination of the two previous styles, with a fate for characters both major and minor that is quietly shattering in its construct.
April 27, 2010
I'm surprised there are only two written reviews of this on Goodreads. People give it high ratings, but nobody (except those two reviewers) is saying anything about it. Here's what I would like to say about this book:
I'd always heard this book was quite good but I only got around to reading it this week, when I was going through stacks of books in my house. I'd forgotten that a book group I was in a few years ago read this. I'd bought it but hadn't had time to read it, and missed the group's discussion of it. So, now that I have finally read it, I can say THE BOYS ON THE ROCK is one of the most realistic books about gay life that I've ever read. It is particularly accurate in its portrayal of life near, but not in, Manhattan. I'm from Long Island, a suburb of New York, so the characters may stand out for me more than for readers from other parts of the country, but I doubt that. THE GREAT GATSBY, for example, takes place on Long Island, and while I recognize it as a great novel, I can't say the Long Island it shows is in any way familiar to me. THE BOYS ON THE ROCK is realistic because it is truthful about how people behave. That it gets New York dialogue right is a merit, but it is very good at showing how its main character thinks, how he feels and why.
On the surface, it is a coming-of-age novel, but it's deeper than that. It takes place a year before the Stonewall riots sparked the gay rights movement. It's two main characters work for the presidential campaign of Eugene McCarthy, and therefore it deals with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. It foreshadows the violence of 1968 Chicago Convention and is informed by the other assassinations of the 1960's, in particular the one which took place slightly before the two protagonists of this story meet, that of Martin Luther King. Without even mentioning Stonewall, which happens after the action of this novel, John Fox shows us people living routine lives in a time of great tumult. The main character, Billy Conners, white, lower-middle-class, in his late teens, is coming to terms with being gay and he sympathizes with the struggle of blacks for equality. This isolates him from most of his peers, who wear their bigotry on their sleeves. He becomes sexually involved with another McCarthy campaigner, Al, but Al's compromises on all levels cause Billy to examine his priorities. Al, ostensibly liberal, is climbing. Billy may or may not be climbing, but he stands up for his rights, something Al does not always do. Manhattan (where the Stonewall riots would take place)is referred to at one point, when Billy is watching the waves from the Jersey Shore. I'm reminded of an anecdote about Frank Sinatra, who, of course, came from New Jersey. He was sitting by a picture window in a restaurant in Newark, looking at the Manhattan skyline in the distance. He looked at somebody who was also looking out the window and said, "It's further than you think." THE BOYS ON THE ROCK describes a young gay man who is not political, but who learns, through experience, that he must acknowledge his orientation if he is to help others who share it.
I'd always heard this book was quite good but I only got around to reading it this week, when I was going through stacks of books in my house. I'd forgotten that a book group I was in a few years ago read this. I'd bought it but hadn't had time to read it, and missed the group's discussion of it. So, now that I have finally read it, I can say THE BOYS ON THE ROCK is one of the most realistic books about gay life that I've ever read. It is particularly accurate in its portrayal of life near, but not in, Manhattan. I'm from Long Island, a suburb of New York, so the characters may stand out for me more than for readers from other parts of the country, but I doubt that. THE GREAT GATSBY, for example, takes place on Long Island, and while I recognize it as a great novel, I can't say the Long Island it shows is in any way familiar to me. THE BOYS ON THE ROCK is realistic because it is truthful about how people behave. That it gets New York dialogue right is a merit, but it is very good at showing how its main character thinks, how he feels and why.
On the surface, it is a coming-of-age novel, but it's deeper than that. It takes place a year before the Stonewall riots sparked the gay rights movement. It's two main characters work for the presidential campaign of Eugene McCarthy, and therefore it deals with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. It foreshadows the violence of 1968 Chicago Convention and is informed by the other assassinations of the 1960's, in particular the one which took place slightly before the two protagonists of this story meet, that of Martin Luther King. Without even mentioning Stonewall, which happens after the action of this novel, John Fox shows us people living routine lives in a time of great tumult. The main character, Billy Conners, white, lower-middle-class, in his late teens, is coming to terms with being gay and he sympathizes with the struggle of blacks for equality. This isolates him from most of his peers, who wear their bigotry on their sleeves. He becomes sexually involved with another McCarthy campaigner, Al, but Al's compromises on all levels cause Billy to examine his priorities. Al, ostensibly liberal, is climbing. Billy may or may not be climbing, but he stands up for his rights, something Al does not always do. Manhattan (where the Stonewall riots would take place)is referred to at one point, when Billy is watching the waves from the Jersey Shore. I'm reminded of an anecdote about Frank Sinatra, who, of course, came from New Jersey. He was sitting by a picture window in a restaurant in Newark, looking at the Manhattan skyline in the distance. He looked at somebody who was also looking out the window and said, "It's further than you think." THE BOYS ON THE ROCK describes a young gay man who is not political, but who learns, through experience, that he must acknowledge his orientation if he is to help others who share it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2011
This was the first gay fiction novel I read - it changed my life!
November 2, 2018
The Boys on the Rock by John Fox is a surprising coming-of-age story that brings together the main character's discovery of his sexuality and desires with the turmoils of American society in the late 1960s, such as the assassination of Robert Kennedy and the looming threat of the Vietnam War.
Billy Connors, an apparently well-adjusted and popular teenager, divides his time between school, friends and swimming practice. His time alone, however, is taken up by an attempt to understand who he really is and what (and who) he truly wants in his life.
His journey of self-discovery is at times funny and at times infused with melancholia. Billy's sarcastic comments and attempts to make sense of his place in society, while navigating between hypocrisy, bigotry and a grown-up world he barely understands, turn this short novel into a compelling trip into the mind of a teenage boy who's defiant but also desperately in need of affection and understanding.
As pointed out by other reviewers on GR, John Fox's writing style is also very interesting: Billy is a self-confessed liar and when the reader reaches the end of the novel's first part, his admission of having indulged in a number of lies, forces one to reassess everything that's been said so far under the light of this new discovery.
The first part of the novel, the lying part, is also the moment when Billy struggles more fiercely with his desires and the smokes and mirrors strategy he implements could be read as a reflection, even linguistically, of his attempt to hide his true nature behind the acceptable façade of nights out with girls, double dates etc.
In the second section of the book, even his writing style becomes more self-assured and rebellious and his voice becomes truly his own and not some simulated mask.
The final part of the book, which is very short and quite shocking in its developments, leaves Billy poised on the brink of maturity, in front of a life which is uncertain but still full of possibilities.
This is the only novel ever written by John Fox, who died of AIDS in 1990 when he was only 38-years-old, and presents a number of autobiographical elements. It is also a moving journey into the mind of a teenager, his unreliability, his sudden passions and hatred, his visceral need to make sense of himself and the world around him.
It may seem rushed at times or difficult to get into due to the willing lack of clarity used by the writer at the beginning of the story, but the characters and the plot really grew on me and I was left moved and exhilarated by the last page.
This is certainly a novel that deserves to be discovered.
Billy Connors, an apparently well-adjusted and popular teenager, divides his time between school, friends and swimming practice. His time alone, however, is taken up by an attempt to understand who he really is and what (and who) he truly wants in his life.
His journey of self-discovery is at times funny and at times infused with melancholia. Billy's sarcastic comments and attempts to make sense of his place in society, while navigating between hypocrisy, bigotry and a grown-up world he barely understands, turn this short novel into a compelling trip into the mind of a teenage boy who's defiant but also desperately in need of affection and understanding.
As pointed out by other reviewers on GR, John Fox's writing style is also very interesting: Billy is a self-confessed liar and when the reader reaches the end of the novel's first part, his admission of having indulged in a number of lies, forces one to reassess everything that's been said so far under the light of this new discovery.
The first part of the novel, the lying part, is also the moment when Billy struggles more fiercely with his desires and the smokes and mirrors strategy he implements could be read as a reflection, even linguistically, of his attempt to hide his true nature behind the acceptable façade of nights out with girls, double dates etc.
In the second section of the book, even his writing style becomes more self-assured and rebellious and his voice becomes truly his own and not some simulated mask.
The final part of the book, which is very short and quite shocking in its developments, leaves Billy poised on the brink of maturity, in front of a life which is uncertain but still full of possibilities.
This is the only novel ever written by John Fox, who died of AIDS in 1990 when he was only 38-years-old, and presents a number of autobiographical elements. It is also a moving journey into the mind of a teenager, his unreliability, his sudden passions and hatred, his visceral need to make sense of himself and the world around him.
It may seem rushed at times or difficult to get into due to the willing lack of clarity used by the writer at the beginning of the story, but the characters and the plot really grew on me and I was left moved and exhilarated by the last page.
This is certainly a novel that deserves to be discovered.
March 8, 2021
Sweet and smart coming-of-age/first love story. Short and very readable.
February 2, 2022
4.5*
Voice matters in a narrative. And Billy Connors' voice in this coming-of-age / first-love saga is as true as you're going to find from a 16-year-old, even when he's lying. In fact, his lies (in the first part of the story) can be seen as authentic attempts to reveal a teen desperate to hide his true emotions before coming to grips with his same-sex attractions.
But what makes this novella sing is the quirky attention to details that grow large in tense moments. And for a teenage boy, experiencing first-dates, first kisses, first homophobic assaults, first sexual fumblings, tense moments with their looming details begin to proliferate. Here is Billy waiting in the livingroom of a first-date with the father of his date, to whom he has just declared his favorite baseball team is "'None,' which of course was the wrong answer":
My back was drenched and under my thighs from the plastic covers which were nailed onto the chair like upholstery, not just fitted over them like in Joey's house. The thought entered my mind that if my parents ever put plastic covers on their furniture I'd move out, I swear I would, or else never sit on them.
Refreshingly, Billy can be shy one moment then cocky the next; he's capable of tossing back what he's forced to take. And when another swimmer calls him a "faggot" at a school swim meet, he lands a blow to the kid's gut that shuts him up mid-sentence.
But it is the description of those first sensual moments, the pre-sexual ones, in which he's pulled by an attraction to a slightly older Al in ways he never was towards his "girlfriend" Sue that compels. In fact, the entire development of their relationship, the slow gradual awakening then admitting then acting upon his feelings towards Al captures the splendor of awkwardness as well as awareness. Their sexual fumbling, once they get to it, is also recorded with a raw vividness, again more precious for the precision of the detail. As is the aftermath:
I was awake facing a window. We were in his bed in his room which I didn't even remember going in there. The position we were in was like two broken-in baseball gloves, me tucked inside the other one. . . . . I reached back, trying not to wake him, and felt along his rump which was smooth and solid. I grazed over the hairs on his thigh. He burped, a small one, like you wouldn't have heard it six feet away. His knee came up toward me so his thigh was now nestled in right below my ribcage. I tucked my hand in under there above the back of his knee and held on.
Yes, the narrative is non-linear, and some of the backtracking may seem momentarily confusing, but it relates to the teenager's voice growing honest as it becomes more possible and then more necessary. I can't recall when I've had a narrator lie to me AND later admit it. Yet, the lies and the chronological detours seem intricate to the voice and even the story, as the character grows up. Long before, you will know Billy, and, if you're like me, want to.
Voice matters in a narrative. And Billy Connors' voice in this coming-of-age / first-love saga is as true as you're going to find from a 16-year-old, even when he's lying. In fact, his lies (in the first part of the story) can be seen as authentic attempts to reveal a teen desperate to hide his true emotions before coming to grips with his same-sex attractions.
But what makes this novella sing is the quirky attention to details that grow large in tense moments. And for a teenage boy, experiencing first-dates, first kisses, first homophobic assaults, first sexual fumblings, tense moments with their looming details begin to proliferate. Here is Billy waiting in the livingroom of a first-date with the father of his date, to whom he has just declared his favorite baseball team is "'None,' which of course was the wrong answer":
My back was drenched and under my thighs from the plastic covers which were nailed onto the chair like upholstery, not just fitted over them like in Joey's house. The thought entered my mind that if my parents ever put plastic covers on their furniture I'd move out, I swear I would, or else never sit on them.
Refreshingly, Billy can be shy one moment then cocky the next; he's capable of tossing back what he's forced to take. And when another swimmer calls him a "faggot" at a school swim meet, he lands a blow to the kid's gut that shuts him up mid-sentence.
But it is the description of those first sensual moments, the pre-sexual ones, in which he's pulled by an attraction to a slightly older Al in ways he never was towards his "girlfriend" Sue that compels. In fact, the entire development of their relationship, the slow gradual awakening then admitting then acting upon his feelings towards Al captures the splendor of awkwardness as well as awareness. Their sexual fumbling, once they get to it, is also recorded with a raw vividness, again more precious for the precision of the detail. As is the aftermath:
I was awake facing a window. We were in his bed in his room which I didn't even remember going in there. The position we were in was like two broken-in baseball gloves, me tucked inside the other one. . . . . I reached back, trying not to wake him, and felt along his rump which was smooth and solid. I grazed over the hairs on his thigh. He burped, a small one, like you wouldn't have heard it six feet away. His knee came up toward me so his thigh was now nestled in right below my ribcage. I tucked my hand in under there above the back of his knee and held on.
Yes, the narrative is non-linear, and some of the backtracking may seem momentarily confusing, but it relates to the teenager's voice growing honest as it becomes more possible and then more necessary. I can't recall when I've had a narrator lie to me AND later admit it. Yet, the lies and the chronological detours seem intricate to the voice and even the story, as the character grows up. Long before, you will know Billy, and, if you're like me, want to.
December 19, 2021
After wading in the dim and swampy waters of true crime and thrillers, I desperately needed to read something lighter. I began The Boys on the Rock at 11pm tonight intending to dip into it as a kind of palate cleanser, but couldn't put it down, finishing the book in a single sitting just a few hours later.
The first thing I did afterwards was double check the date of publishing -1984 - which I had trouble believing. Some parts seemed to tread extremely familar gay coming-of-age fiction tropes. Jarring moments featuring slang and slurs of the time aged the book more directly, but other moments made me think "no, this is modern, this is pandering and nostalgic and cheesy".
But it's the real deal - it is cheesy, like good pizza, and it's rude and shameless and sexy. It echoed many of my own experiences as a teen and young adult, but it offers a strangely headstrong main character, one I was nothing like as a kid. He's actually kind of a jerk at first. But what seems like selfishness or vanity or attitude gives him an edge in his journey that so many young queer kids could use - he's unapologetic. He goes from being a character who lies constantly to a character who tells the truth.
The Boys on the Rock does something rather wonderful between its foggy, crass and drunken first chapter and its last few paragraphs of blue sky clarity: it reflects the main character's awakening and suggests the empathetic strength it gives him. In 2021 that may seem a little pandering, but I think in 1984 it must have been simply radical.
The first thing I did afterwards was double check the date of publishing -1984 - which I had trouble believing. Some parts seemed to tread extremely familar gay coming-of-age fiction tropes. Jarring moments featuring slang and slurs of the time aged the book more directly, but other moments made me think "no, this is modern, this is pandering and nostalgic and cheesy".
But it's the real deal - it is cheesy, like good pizza, and it's rude and shameless and sexy. It echoed many of my own experiences as a teen and young adult, but it offers a strangely headstrong main character, one I was nothing like as a kid. He's actually kind of a jerk at first. But what seems like selfishness or vanity or attitude gives him an edge in his journey that so many young queer kids could use - he's unapologetic. He goes from being a character who lies constantly to a character who tells the truth.
The Boys on the Rock does something rather wonderful between its foggy, crass and drunken first chapter and its last few paragraphs of blue sky clarity: it reflects the main character's awakening and suggests the empathetic strength it gives him. In 2021 that may seem a little pandering, but I think in 1984 it must have been simply radical.
July 23, 2017
*** Spoilers, possibly***
Quite possibly the most authentic YA LGBT novel I've read. Rather than a) one of the main characters tragically dying and becoming a forever martyr to his lover or b) the two living happily ever after, true loves until the day they die, 'The Boys on the Rock' describes an almost painfully accurate first relationship between two young men. The kind where you say things you don't mean to, constantly shoot yourself in the foot, love them, insult them, overreact, and find yourself as pissed off with them as you do happy with them.
The first two or three chapters are fairly awful. Badly written clunkers that almost jolt you along, but after that it settles into a pretty lovely rhythm. John Fox also makes use of a politically turbulent 1968 at the time of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination as a background to the turbulence of this painful and awkward first love story.
Get past the first couple of chapters and it's a beautiful story.
Quite possibly the most authentic YA LGBT novel I've read. Rather than a) one of the main characters tragically dying and becoming a forever martyr to his lover or b) the two living happily ever after, true loves until the day they die, 'The Boys on the Rock' describes an almost painfully accurate first relationship between two young men. The kind where you say things you don't mean to, constantly shoot yourself in the foot, love them, insult them, overreact, and find yourself as pissed off with them as you do happy with them.
The first two or three chapters are fairly awful. Badly written clunkers that almost jolt you along, but after that it settles into a pretty lovely rhythm. John Fox also makes use of a politically turbulent 1968 at the time of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination as a background to the turbulence of this painful and awkward first love story.
Get past the first couple of chapters and it's a beautiful story.
January 21, 2023
The voice of Billy Conners remembered things in a gentle way that really spoke to me.
December 3, 2022
Absolutely love this novel and I managed to find a hardcover first edition. I first read this over 30 years ago and I’m still left wanting more, wondering what happens to Billy, Al & Kevin. The voice of Billy still connects. It’s tragic John Fox only released this one novel. One I will always treasure.
March 17, 2025
(I'm not good at reviews so forgive)
I'm not going to lie this book was hard for me to get into it at first however the more I read it the more I enjoyed it. However, I think any queer person who wants to expand on queer literature that's just not Red White, and Royal Blue all the time I think should give this gem a read. It's sometimes funny, relatable, a little sad, and sometimes even gross.
I thought the unreliable narrator trope was interesting once I got the hang of it. There are even certain points where he (Billy) says that he's lying and you get to see a little bit of that guilt and so he eventually tells the truth.
For the romance part between him and Al, I liked it but I also thought it was very frustrating and also in a way very bittersweet. You have one character Billy who at first seems to be struggling with his sexuality but eventually comes to terms with it albeit in his way. Then we have Al who suffers from major internalized homophobia and lets the thoughts of others dictate his life. It's a bit heartbreaking seeing it because it comes out in ways from his anger and jealousy to his fear and anxiety. Hell even when Billy wanted to top he was so dead against it because he viewed the role as "womanly" even if it's just from Billy's POV thoughts.
However, I found the ending to be a little disappointing because for me personally I just wanted more. I wanted there to be some type of resolution between Billy and Al and I thought the whole twins thing was a little odd at the very end. Still a great book and it kind of reminds me of The Long Run by James Acker when it talks about the attraction of masculinity and the smells and the horniness although this book cranks it up a notch. That's also another book I recommend but I also recommend this book. Unfortunately, this is the author's only piece of work so I won't be able to explore their writing. Mr.Fox, unfortunately, died of AIDS back in 1990 but I hope more people get to read this milestone in queer literature that has been forgotten.
I'm not going to lie this book was hard for me to get into it at first however the more I read it the more I enjoyed it. However, I think any queer person who wants to expand on queer literature that's just not Red White, and Royal Blue all the time I think should give this gem a read. It's sometimes funny, relatable, a little sad, and sometimes even gross.
I thought the unreliable narrator trope was interesting once I got the hang of it. There are even certain points where he (Billy) says that he's lying and you get to see a little bit of that guilt and so he eventually tells the truth.
For the romance part between him and Al, I liked it but I also thought it was very frustrating and also in a way very bittersweet. You have one character Billy who at first seems to be struggling with his sexuality but eventually comes to terms with it albeit in his way. Then we have Al who suffers from major internalized homophobia and lets the thoughts of others dictate his life. It's a bit heartbreaking seeing it because it comes out in ways from his anger and jealousy to his fear and anxiety. Hell even when Billy wanted to top he was so dead against it because he viewed the role as "womanly" even if it's just from Billy's POV thoughts.
However, I found the ending to be a little disappointing because for me personally I just wanted more. I wanted there to be some type of resolution between Billy and Al and I thought the whole twins thing was a little odd at the very end. Still a great book and it kind of reminds me of The Long Run by James Acker when it talks about the attraction of masculinity and the smells and the horniness although this book cranks it up a notch. That's also another book I recommend but I also recommend this book. Unfortunately, this is the author's only piece of work so I won't be able to explore their writing. Mr.Fox, unfortunately, died of AIDS back in 1990 but I hope more people get to read this milestone in queer literature that has been forgotten.
September 23, 2020
Who knew what gay lit was missing was campaign/election based novels! Published in '84, set in '68, this is a lovely tale of a high schooler struggling with his sexuality, as he meets a possible boyfriend while volunteering for the McCarthy primary campaign for president against RFK and eventually Humphries. The ending seems rushed, thrown together and ill developed, but everything leading up to there is sublime. Accurately and cleverly captures the coming out process from literally rewriting memories and personal stories to astute and hot descriptions of first kisses and first sexual acts. I immediately went looking for additional John Fox novels only to find out, alas alack unsurprisingly, this is the only one before he died of AIDS. RIP.
June 5, 2013
WOW
The Bronx, 1968, in the midst of political turmoil and Billy Connors meets Al DiCicco while Al is campaigning for McCarthy. Billy is a high school sophomore on varsity swim team, and Al is a twenty y/o aspiring politician who dreams of becoming the first Italian-American president. It's love at first sight, and in a Holden Caulfield whirlwind summer, Billy and Al experience the ups and downs of their adolescent romance.
This is one that will stay with me.
The Bronx, 1968, in the midst of political turmoil and Billy Connors meets Al DiCicco while Al is campaigning for McCarthy. Billy is a high school sophomore on varsity swim team, and Al is a twenty y/o aspiring politician who dreams of becoming the first Italian-American president. It's love at first sight, and in a Holden Caulfield whirlwind summer, Billy and Al experience the ups and downs of their adolescent romance.
This is one that will stay with me.
October 27, 2016
John Fox died of HIV/AIDS in 1990, six years after publishing "The Boys on the Rock." His novel remains an influential prototype of young coming out stories, and I really enjoyed it in 2015. Strongly identifying with the main character's coming out process, I remembered all the bewildering and tough moments, and I got giddy right along with his excitement. A quick read for a gay book club in Manhattan; I highly enjoyed.
Gay rating: I'd give this to 19-year-old me if I could.
Gay rating: I'd give this to 19-year-old me if I could.
December 14, 2021
Stone cold classic. The first few chapters are a bit clunky, (but that’s all part of the book’s deliberate structure) and then it opens up into a wonderfully authentic and sharply observed coming of age story. A short book and one to savour.
October 10, 2025
AUDREY'S ONE-SENTENCE BOOK REVIEWS
What if we kissed 😳 on the 1968 Eugene McCarthy presidential campaign trail 😳
What if we kissed 😳 on the 1968 Eugene McCarthy presidential campaign trail 😳
May 31, 2025
Ik hou doorgaans van coming-of-ageverhalen, maar dit boek wist mij niet echt te raken. Er zijn zeker in het tweede gedeelte mooie scènes, maar als geheel bood het me te weinig en vond ik het tempo te laag.
January 4, 2022
WOW What a beautiful book!
I had never heard of this classic until a very good friend of mine told me about it. I'm so glad I finally read it.
This is the best coming of age/coming out book I've read. I wish I had read this earlier in life. It has some 'Catcher in the Rye' in it.
Billy's story is so true to life. I felt like I was right there with him going through the whole thing. This book delves into the mind of the young teen struggling with accepting himself and the struggles of coming out. Especially during the era this book takes place.
Billy's every need to lie/hide who he is. I felt it. I've done it. The scatter brain segments of the first part of the book brilliantly captured the struggling mind of a 16 year old.
The in depth description of the muscles(on the male body) that Billy focuses on was actually really fun and erotic.
From hiding himself, first real love to accepting himself Billy's growth was fantastic.
Can't recommend this classic enough. You feel every emotion the characters are going through in this book. It's too bad the author passed away at such a young age and didn't get the opportunity to give us more.
Anyways, loved this book! This is a book I can see re-reading again and again later on. I never read this when I was younger but am glad to have read it now. I can only imagine how radical of a book this must have been when it was published in 1984! Blows my mind.
I had never heard of this classic until a very good friend of mine told me about it. I'm so glad I finally read it.
This is the best coming of age/coming out book I've read. I wish I had read this earlier in life. It has some 'Catcher in the Rye' in it.
Billy's story is so true to life. I felt like I was right there with him going through the whole thing. This book delves into the mind of the young teen struggling with accepting himself and the struggles of coming out. Especially during the era this book takes place.
Billy's every need to lie/hide who he is. I felt it. I've done it. The scatter brain segments of the first part of the book brilliantly captured the struggling mind of a 16 year old.
The in depth description of the muscles(on the male body) that Billy focuses on was actually really fun and erotic.
From hiding himself, first real love to accepting himself Billy's growth was fantastic.
Can't recommend this classic enough. You feel every emotion the characters are going through in this book. It's too bad the author passed away at such a young age and didn't get the opportunity to give us more.
Anyways, loved this book! This is a book I can see re-reading again and again later on. I never read this when I was younger but am glad to have read it now. I can only imagine how radical of a book this must have been when it was published in 1984! Blows my mind.
September 4, 2014
A fast read, the main character is engaging yet very frustrating
A good coming of age story, I’m happy I read it, but I’m not sure I can really say much without spoilers.
Written in more of a stream of consciousness, the book is told from the point of view of the main character. It’s intensely teenagerish –teenage boys are not reliable narrators, yet they can be really intriguing.
Set in time frame of spring 1968 thru the summer, our narrator, Billy grows up. It’s really a fast read, so brace yourself. It’s a well written story, you feel like you are looking over Billy’s shoulder and you really get to know his friends and love interests. As I mentioned earlier, I’m happy that I read it, but have a really hard time describing it without spoilers.
Here are some tags/trigger warnings.
I think it's well suited to high school and up.
Violence warning:. Some, but not much and it happens “off screen”.
Adult situations: Yes!. Teenage boy, so lots of sex, masturbation, straight sex and gay sex. Adult language
I recommend this book, It’s engaging, and worth the read.
It should be five stars, but I was frustrated with the ending so I took a star away. Not a bad ending, but not the ending I thought it should have had.
A good coming of age story, I’m happy I read it, but I’m not sure I can really say much without spoilers.
Written in more of a stream of consciousness, the book is told from the point of view of the main character. It’s intensely teenagerish –teenage boys are not reliable narrators, yet they can be really intriguing.
Set in time frame of spring 1968 thru the summer, our narrator, Billy grows up. It’s really a fast read, so brace yourself. It’s a well written story, you feel like you are looking over Billy’s shoulder and you really get to know his friends and love interests. As I mentioned earlier, I’m happy that I read it, but have a really hard time describing it without spoilers.
Here are some tags/trigger warnings.
I think it's well suited to high school and up.
Violence warning:. Some, but not much and it happens “off screen”.
Adult situations: Yes!. Teenage boy, so lots of sex, masturbation, straight sex and gay sex. Adult language
I recommend this book, It’s engaging, and worth the read.
It should be five stars, but I was frustrated with the ending so I took a star away. Not a bad ending, but not the ending I thought it should have had.
March 21, 2022
I can see how this would have been an important counterpoint to the gay fiction of its time, unfortunately it doesn’t pack the emotional punch of the era’s best work. Suggested for the scholar and completist (like me??), but otherwise not particularly memorable.
January 10, 2025
eeeee i really loved billy’s narration!!! in my head he lives a long happy life with a hot husband. it’s what he deserves
February 2, 2022
"I wondered if I was nuts or a pervert or that maybe I should have been a girl and that thought made me madder because I like being a guy, I like my body...I have to tell you I feel perfect physically if you want to know the truth. And so my brain my mind what I think and feel why should that be any different?"
.
.
.
This book is so underrated, I'm upset that I'm just now stumbling upon it and that it didn't win any awards. Now that may sound corny but when you read The Boys on the Rock it's not just a story it's an experience. I feel connected to Billy because his questions about himself and his feelings about the same sex are so real. You can just tell that the author, John Fox, interwove his own experiences as a guy man into the story. Sometimes when I'm reading queer literature it just doesn't feel authentic when the author is straight, almost like when you watch a lgbt movie and the actors are straight. This book is what I needed right now, sometimes I feel like I'm alone and no one understands me, there aren't many people in my and Billy's life to talk to and get advice about the feelings we have. Billy grew up in the 1960s where there was no internet and the queer community was not as accepted as it is today, but even with the advances we have today I feel like growing up in the U.S. with same sex attraction puts a target on my back. As you can tell this book made me emotional and it's one that I will read again and again for years to come. Please comment down below if you've read this book, I would love to talk to someone about it.
.
.
.
This book is so underrated, I'm upset that I'm just now stumbling upon it and that it didn't win any awards. Now that may sound corny but when you read The Boys on the Rock it's not just a story it's an experience. I feel connected to Billy because his questions about himself and his feelings about the same sex are so real. You can just tell that the author, John Fox, interwove his own experiences as a guy man into the story. Sometimes when I'm reading queer literature it just doesn't feel authentic when the author is straight, almost like when you watch a lgbt movie and the actors are straight. This book is what I needed right now, sometimes I feel like I'm alone and no one understands me, there aren't many people in my and Billy's life to talk to and get advice about the feelings we have. Billy grew up in the 1960s where there was no internet and the queer community was not as accepted as it is today, but even with the advances we have today I feel like growing up in the U.S. with same sex attraction puts a target on my back. As you can tell this book made me emotional and it's one that I will read again and again for years to come. Please comment down below if you've read this book, I would love to talk to someone about it.
October 18, 2011
4.35
Unique and delightful, especially in terms of the time period, setting, and narrator's voice. I've never read a gay YA story quite like it.
The only thing I found bothersome was the final chapter, which apparently bothered other readers as well. It wasn't the abruptness or ambiguity of it -- any slice-of-life novel, to be realistic, can't tidy things up too much at the end -- but rather Billy's seemingly cavalier dismissal of a man he deeply desired and claimed to love. Kids that age seethe with emotion; they don't have passionate relationships and simply decide to write them off, regardless of the loved one being a "bad fit." Some hint of suffering might have been in order. And I didn't understand why a secondary character was essentially pulled in by the shorthairs, especially under such shocking circumstances, and put front and center. It left me rather puzzled.
What I did like, a lot, was the passing but tantalizing mention of Manhattan in the final sentence. It seemed to suggest that Billy, clearly in the process of becoming out and proud, might just be present at the Stonewall Inn the following summer . . . and perhaps on the night of June 28.
Unique and delightful, especially in terms of the time period, setting, and narrator's voice. I've never read a gay YA story quite like it.
The only thing I found bothersome was the final chapter, which apparently bothered other readers as well. It wasn't the abruptness or ambiguity of it -- any slice-of-life novel, to be realistic, can't tidy things up too much at the end -- but rather Billy's seemingly cavalier dismissal of a man he deeply desired and claimed to love. Kids that age seethe with emotion; they don't have passionate relationships and simply decide to write them off, regardless of the loved one being a "bad fit." Some hint of suffering might have been in order. And I didn't understand why a secondary character was essentially pulled in by the shorthairs, especially under such shocking circumstances, and put front and center. It left me rather puzzled.
What I did like, a lot, was the passing but tantalizing mention of Manhattan in the final sentence. It seemed to suggest that Billy, clearly in the process of becoming out and proud, might just be present at the Stonewall Inn the following summer . . . and perhaps on the night of June 28.
January 30, 2021
Read this again for a project I'm working on so I'm re-logging it. I'm struck again by how much I love the narrative voice more than anything else -- there honestly feels like nothing more truthful than a young queer character constantly lying, exaggerating, deflecting, talking around his recollection of events, and then feeling guilty and recontextualising to a degree of truth he's more comfortable with. I feel like we've all gone through that, or even still are.
In this way it has the tone of a YA novel for sure, but I'd definitely not classify this book as one of those due to its pretty bold and unwatered-down sexuality, as well as more than a few details that would raise objection in this day and age (i.e. the somewhat less acceptable age gap between the two main characters, plus the suggestions of incest between two others).
But even so I don't think these are enough for me to consider this as any less probably one of my favourite coming of age queer novels of all time. It's so short but packs such a punch of detail and emotion.
In this way it has the tone of a YA novel for sure, but I'd definitely not classify this book as one of those due to its pretty bold and unwatered-down sexuality, as well as more than a few details that would raise objection in this day and age (i.e. the somewhat less acceptable age gap between the two main characters, plus the suggestions of incest between two others).
But even so I don't think these are enough for me to consider this as any less probably one of my favourite coming of age queer novels of all time. It's so short but packs such a punch of detail and emotion.
February 23, 2011
An entertaining, believable story. Billy's feelings sound plausible and "real", and the sex scenes are handled very well.
Why I didn't rate it with three stars: I had minor troubles with the writing style, it was too hurried in places (especially the beginning, it gave me trouble getting into the story) and jumping around in places with an too often unreliable narrator - plus switching from past to present tense within paragraphs. And the ending felt rushed.
Why I didn't rate it with three stars: I had minor troubles with the writing style, it was too hurried in places (especially the beginning, it gave me trouble getting into the story) and jumping around in places with an too often unreliable narrator - plus switching from past to present tense within paragraphs. And the ending felt rushed.
September 20, 2014
absolutely one of the best short gay YA books ever. Stunningly brief, succinct, with a hint of 'Catcher in the Rye' without going overboard, this small book is exemplary of the literary loss from AIDS. Imagine what more poetic literature Fox could have written...
February 21, 2018
I really enjoyed this book when it first came out, as I was coming out, back in the mid 80's. Well written, good story, very important piece of gay fiction from an era of great fear and a lot of sadness.
October 22, 2014
Probably my favorite "Coming Out" story.
December 24, 2025
A beautifully written, coming of age novel. A story being told by Billy, as he experiences life, with the lies, the stories and all the internal dialogues. Skilfully written, I have read this book for a second time 4 years later with the same zeal.
August 9, 2021
Processing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews