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Family Outing: What Happened When I Found Out My Mother Was Gay
Describes the author's teenage discovery about his mother's sexual orientation in the years prior to modern understandings about homosexuality, tracing his personal journey from a mom-hating homophobe to a gay-rights advocate with a unique perspective about sexual identity and social awareness.
- GenresNonfictionLGBTMemoir
256 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2008
67 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 30, 2008
I guess I was supposed to think that reading about this guy being a jerk for most of his teenage and adult life was funny. I didn't think it was funny, and I felt sorry for his mother for having to put up with him. I also don't feel like the author is as "okay" with his mother's sexual orientation as he wants everyone to think he is.
February 27, 2020
I really appreciated the author’s sincerity and honest telling of his story. I did not appreciate his sense of humor it was pretty crude and over the top in my opinion. I almost gave up on the book several times but I did love the end so I’m glad I stuck with it.
August 4, 2008
Coming to terms with a suddenly out gay parent.
What would you do if a neighbor said your mother was a lesbian? Troy broke down and cried. He didn’t really understand what lesbian or homosexual meant, but he knew something had drastically changed and he had lost his mother. Family Outing is Troy’s destructive journey away from and circuitous path back to his mother.
Family and friends distanced themselves from Troy’s mother when she came out, and so did Troy. He told the family counselor it didn’t matter as long as his mother was happy, but he lied. It did matter. It wasn’t as hard for Troy as it was for his sister because “Kim could see more of herself in our mother, and it sufficiently scared the crap out of her. In my case, well – thank God it wasn’t Dad.”
Troy chronicles his descent into juvenile delinquency, a brief almost-acquaintance with LSD, a longstanding love affair with booze, wild parties, and sex and a month-long stay on a psych ward with wicked humor, wry observations and a deep and abiding fear of his own sexuality. From the moment Tattle Dyke and her daughter, Freckle Spawn, stopped him on his way to school to ask out Troy’s mother, Family Outing takes a wild and often painful ride into the destruction and understanding that is Troy Johnson’s life.
I have never laughed so hard or felt so much empathy for a young man’s struggle. Johnson’s observations are irreverent and shocking and honest, demonstrating the impact of society’s reactions to homosexuals and how those actions affect them and their families. Johnson doesn’t spare middle class morality, the government, the religious community or himself as he comes to terms with himself and his mother’s choices.
Family Outing should be required reading for every family in America – gay and straight.
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What would you do if a neighbor said your mother was a lesbian? Troy broke down and cried. He didn’t really understand what lesbian or homosexual meant, but he knew something had drastically changed and he had lost his mother. Family Outing is Troy’s destructive journey away from and circuitous path back to his mother.
Family and friends distanced themselves from Troy’s mother when she came out, and so did Troy. He told the family counselor it didn’t matter as long as his mother was happy, but he lied. It did matter. It wasn’t as hard for Troy as it was for his sister because “Kim could see more of herself in our mother, and it sufficiently scared the crap out of her. In my case, well – thank God it wasn’t Dad.”
Troy chronicles his descent into juvenile delinquency, a brief almost-acquaintance with LSD, a longstanding love affair with booze, wild parties, and sex and a month-long stay on a psych ward with wicked humor, wry observations and a deep and abiding fear of his own sexuality. From the moment Tattle Dyke and her daughter, Freckle Spawn, stopped him on his way to school to ask out Troy’s mother, Family Outing takes a wild and often painful ride into the destruction and understanding that is Troy Johnson’s life.
I have never laughed so hard or felt so much empathy for a young man’s struggle. Johnson’s observations are irreverent and shocking and honest, demonstrating the impact of society’s reactions to homosexuals and how those actions affect them and their families. Johnson doesn’t spare middle class morality, the government, the religious community or himself as he comes to terms with himself and his mother’s choices.
Family Outing should be required reading for every family in America – gay and straight.
###
June 9, 2009
i probably have a biased opinion here, but my bias also probably goes both ways.
this book is HILARIOUS at times (just like the author), but also seems like its really trying to hard at times (just like the author). i definitely had some great laughs while reading it, but overall, was just ready for it to be done with. i prefer johnson's writing in magazine articles - it's really good in small doses (just like the author).
it should be noted, however, that both my mother and i are mentioned in this book!
this book is HILARIOUS at times (just like the author), but also seems like its really trying to hard at times (just like the author). i definitely had some great laughs while reading it, but overall, was just ready for it to be done with. i prefer johnson's writing in magazine articles - it's really good in small doses (just like the author).
it should be noted, however, that both my mother and i are mentioned in this book!
March 9, 2011
This is an interesting book, about a guy who found out his mom was gay when he was an adolescent. He's very funny at times, and the book brings up issues about what it's like to grow up with a gay parent, issues those "touchy-feely" books never get into. But the book also drags and is a bit all over the place, focusing less, sometimes, on the mom, and more on Troy. Overall, a good read. Worth picking up.
July 28, 2011
Humorous, well written, and interesting memoir of a guy who is unable to cope with his mother being a lesbian - so he becomes a drunk slutty bigot and then has to find his way back from being a total asshole. The author is frank and funny, as he describes sleeping around to prove that he wouldn't suddenly activate a gay gene, and he doesn't shy away from presenting his past in an unflattering light. A worthy addition to the memoir genre and the field of queerspawn lit.
October 7, 2008
Such lousy cover art for such a gut-wrenching, laugh-out-loud account of being the son of a mother he thought was traditional--only to find she's gay! Written years after its setting, every detail is remembered, and especially the angst in knowing his mother represents his fiercest ally as well as the most feared parts of himself.
June 25, 2008
Witty and honest story about what it was like to grow up with a gay mom in the Reagan 80's.
February 10, 2009
a funny queerspawn memoir
Read
March 13, 2010Funny and honest
Read
August 2, 2016It was good. Made me cry, made me laugh too.
August 5, 2016
Memoir of a boy coming to terms with his mom's gayness. An easy read that is entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews