Before Summer

by H. Arlo Nimmo

Before Summer is a collection of sixteen interrelated short stories about a gay youth's coming of age in small town Iowa during the 1940s and 1950s. The book is an affectionate and sometimes sorrowful portrait of a bygone way of life in a small Iowa farming town and what it was like growing up gay in such a community. The first story is set in 1940 when the narrator, Lach MacLennan, is seven years old and the final one in 1956 when he graduates from college. One story takes place on an army base during World War II and three are set on a college campus; all the others are in the fictional town of Tools Rock that serves as backdrop for the narration. In some stories, Lach is the central character, but in others he is an observer of other people and the events of their lives. Each story explores Lach's youth as he realizes and comes to terms with his sexuality and the restrictions as well as the possibilities of his life.

218 pages, Paperback

First published November 17, 2013

About the author

Harry Arlo Nimmo August 26, 1936 – May 14, 2021
Harry Arlo Nimmo was a cultural anthropologist and short story writer. He published twelve books and dozens of articles that appeared in both academic and popular periodicals. Most of these publications are based on his Philippines research, but he has also written about American popular culture, San Francisco history and Hawaii's volcano goddess Pele. Nimmo was Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at California State University East Bay, and resided in San Francisco until his passing in 2021.
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