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Book Boy
Everybody has a story as good as a movie, and this one belongs to author Cade Jay Hathaway, creator of the Happy Endings Sleepover gay youth book series. Hathaway has enjoyed career success, in love, and in his 25 years has accomplished more than most. But there is one area in his life that has fostered a very dark hole. Much of his family, especially his mother, do not accept him for who he is. The fact that he is gay contradicts their steadfast evangelical Christian beliefs, which has caused a schism between them that evades reconciliation. Book Boy is the tale of an exceptional young man who sees the brighter side and is proud of who he has become despite the harsh judgment of others.
372 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 29, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 23, 2018
Meh, I'm not much for autobiographies, especially from someone so young (only 25), soooooo yeah.
The one thing that I absolutely LOVED about this story was how young Cade actually TOLD ON his oppressors, which I think took a lot of courage.
His asshole, religious mom and step-dad abuse him? Call Grampy! Call those zealoutous bigots to the carpet, immediately. I love that shit. So very hard
But the rest of the book felt sort of a mish-mash of stories, slightly out of order at times, without going into quite as much details as I would've liked.
I did get the feeling that 'some' of the details that I would've appreciated are actually contained in other books written by this author, but as I haven't read them (and may not), I was left wanting those details here.
(And the last chapters felt a bit preachy, coming from such a young protagonist, even if he had seemed to have led a very full life in his two and a half decades.)
I'd rate this story at around 3 stars, as the story was 'fine', but didn't really leave me with baited breath to read more.
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January 22, 2022
One of the most unique gay memoirs I've read, it's a roller coaster ride of some great highs and poorly written lows, the worst being that Hathaway is guilty of the very judgmental condemnation that he accuses others of. Overall the book is an anti-Christian mess but there are so many interesting and at times insightful things about it that I had to give it four stars and will reread at some point.
I have never heard of this author before, and while he claims he is a minor publishing success, I am uncertain what his biographical fiction books are like. But he spends a lot of the pages of this book directly quoting from those. It's annoying to have a writer copy verbatim 20 pages or so from his fictional works and present them as factual.
There are also many gaps in the book and it is incomplete. He skips over entire stories saying "I covered that" in a fictional book. It makes no sense, causes a lot of reader confusion, and he does a sloppy job of presenting his life story. At age 25 he may have been too young to do a memoir and it shows.
His childhood story is simply hard to believe (as are many sections of the book). Ironically a couple of times he admits people won't believe his stories--but those weren't the ones I found hard to swallow. Instead it was some of the pointed anti-evangelical storyline involving his horrible mother and stepfather. It's difficult to believe people could be so cruel. At the same time he had an amazing grandfather who literally saved him.
The way Cade writes his life is all black-and-white: his parents and anyone who believes in the Bible are the evil bad guys, his gay lovers are the perfect partners, and his grandparents are great because they allow him to live as he wants. He claims that he hated his faith starting as a child and calls Christianity all sorts of horrible names, including "cult." While you certainly feel sorry for how he was supposedly mistreated at home, he doesn't help his case by acting the same way as his mother in slamming her faith. In truth Cade is very similar to his foul-mouthed disrespectful believing mother trying to shove her beliefs down his throat, only he's doing it with the opposite viewpoint.
The book is filled with contradictions. While he condemns the use of the n-word (and compares how he was called names to it) then why does he actually use the n-word a couple times? He condemns his parents, who do a horrible job communicating their Christian concern over his eternal future, but doesn't seem bothered at all by the guys he has sex with who cheat on him and take advantage of him. His longtime high school boyfriend lies, steals, and runs off with someone else. His husband in Denmark cheats on him for a long time and Cade walks in on them in bed. In case after case there are no real great gay role models here, but the author has no problem acting like that's all forgivable and no big deal while anything Christian is to be totally condemned.
Since I've seen both sides of these issues I can say that Hathaway has every right to be upset at how church people treated him, that it's understandable that he would reject his faith based on how his parents failed to show love, but that he doesn't see that he does the very same thing to others that he has done to him when he overstates his hatred of Christianity, Republicans, Trump, and conservatives.
For a guy that preaches love and tolerance he certainly fails to practice it. And it's funny to read how "kind" he says he is and how he has "never done anything to hurt others," when in truth he responded horribly to his parents and church. (And the little old couple that he stole money from when he was 17!). Cade Hathaway made a lot of bad choices but ignores most of them to continue to mentally relive his childhood abuse. These books appear to be his therapy by reliving the trauma--maybe it's time to get some real help and find some objective truth.
Just when you give the guy up for lost, he suddenly gets hired in a CIA job. Huh? The CIA? He didn't even really do college--he left high school and went off on a ship, then randomly applies to the CIA without any education. Yet he brags about how smart he is and how important knowledge and education are, but he doesn't appear to have anything to back it up beyond his fascination with books at the middle school library (thus the title).
The CIA sections are fascinating but way too short (again, see his fiction books I guess if you want to know more!). And when he finally meets his future husband there are so few details to the relationship that it makes no sense. They were best buddies for a year but never knew each other were gay? This is from the guy that everyone in high school and at church knew was homosexual--why would he hide that from a peer he was in love with from the moment they met?
The night of their big mutual reveal, in a hotel room before Cade's first big CIA assignment, does nothing to make Hathaway look smart. He chooses to go against his government boss, take his new gay lover along to the CIA assignment, lock him in the trunk while transporting a Russian spy, resulting in the lover getting shot and the boss having to come kill the Russian. What a mess. Then with a straight face he tries to claim that it wasn't about being gay or having hot sex the night before. Right. Couldn't figure out why he wasn't immediately fired...until a couple chapters later when it's revealed his boss is a lesbian and they socialize together.
Cade highlights many of the problems of being a gay man, even though he fails to accept responsibility for his role in some of them. Certainly there's empathy for how he was mistreated, but reality is that he often would think with the wrong head and place his sexuality above other things. He claims being gay isn't all about sex, yet that's how it comes across when all he does is act like the typical gay guy who beds anyone. He also doesn't seem respectful of others--most disturbing is the scene where his mother and young siblings are invited to stay overnight but Cade doesn't tell them that his "roommate" has AIDS and an accompanying active infection, allowing the kids to just play freely with the sick guy. It's simply irresponsible.
While he wants to be a good role model, by the end of the book he seems like just another sex-hungry kid whole falls in love too easily and escapes from his blood family to try to claim others as those who will love him to the end. He hopefully has plenty of years ahead so he has no idea how this story will really play out. You never know who will actually be there for you when times get rough and the end comes.
Next time he should wait to write about his life, step back and give it some real perspective, stop worrying about everyone else, and start to look deep inside to see if he's really the kind of boy he claims to be.
I have never heard of this author before, and while he claims he is a minor publishing success, I am uncertain what his biographical fiction books are like. But he spends a lot of the pages of this book directly quoting from those. It's annoying to have a writer copy verbatim 20 pages or so from his fictional works and present them as factual.
There are also many gaps in the book and it is incomplete. He skips over entire stories saying "I covered that" in a fictional book. It makes no sense, causes a lot of reader confusion, and he does a sloppy job of presenting his life story. At age 25 he may have been too young to do a memoir and it shows.
His childhood story is simply hard to believe (as are many sections of the book). Ironically a couple of times he admits people won't believe his stories--but those weren't the ones I found hard to swallow. Instead it was some of the pointed anti-evangelical storyline involving his horrible mother and stepfather. It's difficult to believe people could be so cruel. At the same time he had an amazing grandfather who literally saved him.
The way Cade writes his life is all black-and-white: his parents and anyone who believes in the Bible are the evil bad guys, his gay lovers are the perfect partners, and his grandparents are great because they allow him to live as he wants. He claims that he hated his faith starting as a child and calls Christianity all sorts of horrible names, including "cult." While you certainly feel sorry for how he was supposedly mistreated at home, he doesn't help his case by acting the same way as his mother in slamming her faith. In truth Cade is very similar to his foul-mouthed disrespectful believing mother trying to shove her beliefs down his throat, only he's doing it with the opposite viewpoint.
The book is filled with contradictions. While he condemns the use of the n-word (and compares how he was called names to it) then why does he actually use the n-word a couple times? He condemns his parents, who do a horrible job communicating their Christian concern over his eternal future, but doesn't seem bothered at all by the guys he has sex with who cheat on him and take advantage of him. His longtime high school boyfriend lies, steals, and runs off with someone else. His husband in Denmark cheats on him for a long time and Cade walks in on them in bed. In case after case there are no real great gay role models here, but the author has no problem acting like that's all forgivable and no big deal while anything Christian is to be totally condemned.
Since I've seen both sides of these issues I can say that Hathaway has every right to be upset at how church people treated him, that it's understandable that he would reject his faith based on how his parents failed to show love, but that he doesn't see that he does the very same thing to others that he has done to him when he overstates his hatred of Christianity, Republicans, Trump, and conservatives.
For a guy that preaches love and tolerance he certainly fails to practice it. And it's funny to read how "kind" he says he is and how he has "never done anything to hurt others," when in truth he responded horribly to his parents and church. (And the little old couple that he stole money from when he was 17!). Cade Hathaway made a lot of bad choices but ignores most of them to continue to mentally relive his childhood abuse. These books appear to be his therapy by reliving the trauma--maybe it's time to get some real help and find some objective truth.
Just when you give the guy up for lost, he suddenly gets hired in a CIA job. Huh? The CIA? He didn't even really do college--he left high school and went off on a ship, then randomly applies to the CIA without any education. Yet he brags about how smart he is and how important knowledge and education are, but he doesn't appear to have anything to back it up beyond his fascination with books at the middle school library (thus the title).
The CIA sections are fascinating but way too short (again, see his fiction books I guess if you want to know more!). And when he finally meets his future husband there are so few details to the relationship that it makes no sense. They were best buddies for a year but never knew each other were gay? This is from the guy that everyone in high school and at church knew was homosexual--why would he hide that from a peer he was in love with from the moment they met?
The night of their big mutual reveal, in a hotel room before Cade's first big CIA assignment, does nothing to make Hathaway look smart. He chooses to go against his government boss, take his new gay lover along to the CIA assignment, lock him in the trunk while transporting a Russian spy, resulting in the lover getting shot and the boss having to come kill the Russian. What a mess. Then with a straight face he tries to claim that it wasn't about being gay or having hot sex the night before. Right. Couldn't figure out why he wasn't immediately fired...until a couple chapters later when it's revealed his boss is a lesbian and they socialize together.
Cade highlights many of the problems of being a gay man, even though he fails to accept responsibility for his role in some of them. Certainly there's empathy for how he was mistreated, but reality is that he often would think with the wrong head and place his sexuality above other things. He claims being gay isn't all about sex, yet that's how it comes across when all he does is act like the typical gay guy who beds anyone. He also doesn't seem respectful of others--most disturbing is the scene where his mother and young siblings are invited to stay overnight but Cade doesn't tell them that his "roommate" has AIDS and an accompanying active infection, allowing the kids to just play freely with the sick guy. It's simply irresponsible.
While he wants to be a good role model, by the end of the book he seems like just another sex-hungry kid whole falls in love too easily and escapes from his blood family to try to claim others as those who will love him to the end. He hopefully has plenty of years ahead so he has no idea how this story will really play out. You never know who will actually be there for you when times get rough and the end comes.
Next time he should wait to write about his life, step back and give it some real perspective, stop worrying about everyone else, and start to look deep inside to see if he's really the kind of boy he claims to be.
January 22, 2022
One of the most unique gay memoirs I've read, it's a roller coaster ride of some great highs and poorly written lows, the worst being that Hathaway is guilty of the very judgmental condemnation that he accuses others of. Overall the book is an anti-Christian mess but there are so many interesting and at times insightful things about it that I had to give it four stars and will reread at some point.
I have never heard of this author before, and while he claims he is a minor publishing success, I am uncertain what his biographical fiction books are like. But he spends a lot of the pages of this book directly quoting from those. It's annoying to have a writer copy verbatim 20 pages or so from his fictional works and present them as factual.
There are also many gaps in the book and it is incomplete. He skips over entire stories saying "I covered that" in a fictional book. It makes no sense, causes a lot of reader confusion, and he does a sloppy job of presenting his life story. At age 25 he may have been too young to do a memoir and it shows.
His childhood story is simply hard to believe (as are many sections of the book). Ironically a couple of times he admits people won't believe his stories--but those weren't the ones I found hard to swallow. Instead it was some of the pointed anti-evangelical storyline involving his horrible mother and stepfather. It's difficult to believe people could be so cruel. At the same time he had an amazing grandfather who literally saved him.
The way Cade writes his life is all black-and-white: his parents and anyone who believes in the Bible are the evil bad guys, his gay lovers are the perfect partners, and his grandparents are great because they allow him to live as he wants. He claims that he hated his faith starting as a child and calls Christianity all sorts of horrible names, including "cult." While you certainly feel sorry for how he was supposedly mistreated at home, he doesn't help his case by acting the same way as his mother in slamming her faith. In truth Cade is very similar to his foul-mouthed disrespectful believing mother trying to shove her beliefs down his throat, only he's doing it with the opposite viewpoint.
The book is filled with contradictions. While he condemns the use of the n-word (and compares how he was called names to it) then why does he actually use the n-word a couple times? He condemns his parents, who do a horrible job communicating their Christian concern over his eternal future, but doesn't seem bothered at all by the guys he has sex with who cheat on him and take advantage of him. His longtime high school boyfriend lies, steals, and runs off with someone else. His husband in Denmark cheats on him for a long time and Cade walks in on them in bed. In case after case there are no real great gay role models here, but the author has no problem acting like that's all forgivable and no big deal while anything Christian is to be totally condemned.
Since I've seen both sides of these issues I can say that Hathaway has every right to be upset at how church people treated him, that it's understandable that he would reject his faith based on how his parents failed to show love, but that he doesn't see that he does the very same thing to others that he has done to him when he overstates his hatred of Christianity, Republicans, Trump, and conservatives.
For a guy that preaches love and tolerance he certainly fails to practice it. And it's funny to read how "kind" he says he is and how he has "never done anything to hurt others," when in truth he responded horribly to his parents and church. (And the little old couple that he stole money from when he was 17!). Cade Hathaway made a lot of bad choices but ignores most of them to continue to mentally relive his childhood abuse. These books appear to be his therapy by reliving the trauma--maybe it's time to get some real help and find some objective truth.
Just when you give the guy up for lost, he suddenly gets hired in a CIA job. Huh? The CIA? He didn't even really do college--he left high school and went off on a ship, then randomly applies to the CIA without any education. Yet he brags about how smart he is and how important knowledge and education are, but he doesn't appear to have anything to back it up beyond his fascination with books at the middle school library (thus the title).
The CIA sections are fascinating but way too short (again, see his fiction books I guess if you want to know more!). And when he finally meets his future husband there are so few details to the relationship that it makes no sense. They were best buddies for a year but never knew each other were gay? This is from the guy that everyone in high school and at church knew was homosexual--why would he hide that from a peer he was in love with from the moment they met?
The night of their big mutual reveal, in a hotel room before Cade's first big CIA assignment, does nothing to make Hathaway look smart. He chooses to go against his government boss, take his new gay lover along to the CIA assignment, lock him in the trunk while transporting a Russian spy, resulting in the lover getting shot and the boss having to come kill the Russian. What a mess. Then with a straight face he tries to claim that it wasn't about being gay or having hot sex the night before. Right. Couldn't figure out why he wasn't immediately fired...until a couple chapters later when it's revealed his boss is a lesbian and they socialize together.
Cade highlights many of the problems of being a gay man, even though he fails to accept responsibility for his role in some of them. Certainly there's empathy for how he was mistreated, but reality is that he often would think with the wrong head and place his sexuality above other things. He claims being gay isn't all about sex, yet that's how it comes across when all he does is act like the typical gay guy who beds anyone. He also doesn't seem respectful of others--most disturbing is the scene where his mother and young siblings are invited to stay overnight but Cade doesn't tell them that his "roommate" has AIDS and an accompanying active infection, allowing the kids to just play freely with the sick guy. It's simply irresponsible.
While he wants to be a good role model, by the end of the book he seems like just another sex-hungry kid whole falls in love too easily and escapes from his blood family to try to claim others as those who will love him to the end. He hopefully has plenty of years ahead so he has no idea how this story will really play out. You never know who will actually be there for you when times get rough and the end comes.
Next time he should wait to write about his life, step back and give it some real perspective, stop worrying about everyone else, and start to look deep inside to see if he's really the kind of boy he claims to be.
I have never heard of this author before, and while he claims he is a minor publishing success, I am uncertain what his biographical fiction books are like. But he spends a lot of the pages of this book directly quoting from those. It's annoying to have a writer copy verbatim 20 pages or so from his fictional works and present them as factual.
There are also many gaps in the book and it is incomplete. He skips over entire stories saying "I covered that" in a fictional book. It makes no sense, causes a lot of reader confusion, and he does a sloppy job of presenting his life story. At age 25 he may have been too young to do a memoir and it shows.
His childhood story is simply hard to believe (as are many sections of the book). Ironically a couple of times he admits people won't believe his stories--but those weren't the ones I found hard to swallow. Instead it was some of the pointed anti-evangelical storyline involving his horrible mother and stepfather. It's difficult to believe people could be so cruel. At the same time he had an amazing grandfather who literally saved him.
The way Cade writes his life is all black-and-white: his parents and anyone who believes in the Bible are the evil bad guys, his gay lovers are the perfect partners, and his grandparents are great because they allow him to live as he wants. He claims that he hated his faith starting as a child and calls Christianity all sorts of horrible names, including "cult." While you certainly feel sorry for how he was supposedly mistreated at home, he doesn't help his case by acting the same way as his mother in slamming her faith. In truth Cade is very similar to his foul-mouthed disrespectful believing mother trying to shove her beliefs down his throat, only he's doing it with the opposite viewpoint.
The book is filled with contradictions. While he condemns the use of the n-word (and compares how he was called names to it) then why does he actually use the n-word a couple times? He condemns his parents, who do a horrible job communicating their Christian concern over his eternal future, but doesn't seem bothered at all by the guys he has sex with who cheat on him and take advantage of him. His longtime high school boyfriend lies, steals, and runs off with someone else. His husband in Denmark cheats on him for a long time and Cade walks in on them in bed. In case after case there are no real great gay role models here, but the author has no problem acting like that's all forgivable and no big deal while anything Christian is to be totally condemned.
Since I've seen both sides of these issues I can say that Hathaway has every right to be upset at how church people treated him, that it's understandable that he would reject his faith based on how his parents failed to show love, but that he doesn't see that he does the very same thing to others that he has done to him when he overstates his hatred of Christianity, Republicans, Trump, and conservatives.
For a guy that preaches love and tolerance he certainly fails to practice it. And it's funny to read how "kind" he says he is and how he has "never done anything to hurt others," when in truth he responded horribly to his parents and church. (And the little old couple that he stole money from when he was 17!). Cade Hathaway made a lot of bad choices but ignores most of them to continue to mentally relive his childhood abuse. These books appear to be his therapy by reliving the trauma--maybe it's time to get some real help and find some objective truth.
Just when you give the guy up for lost, he suddenly gets hired in a CIA job. Huh? The CIA? He didn't even really do college--he left high school and went off on a ship, then randomly applies to the CIA without any education. Yet he brags about how smart he is and how important knowledge and education are, but he doesn't appear to have anything to back it up beyond his fascination with books at the middle school library (thus the title).
The CIA sections are fascinating but way too short (again, see his fiction books I guess if you want to know more!). And when he finally meets his future husband there are so few details to the relationship that it makes no sense. They were best buddies for a year but never knew each other were gay? This is from the guy that everyone in high school and at church knew was homosexual--why would he hide that from a peer he was in love with from the moment they met?
The night of their big mutual reveal, in a hotel room before Cade's first big CIA assignment, does nothing to make Hathaway look smart. He chooses to go against his government boss, take his new gay lover along to the CIA assignment, lock him in the trunk while transporting a Russian spy, resulting in the lover getting shot and the boss having to come kill the Russian. What a mess. Then with a straight face he tries to claim that it wasn't about being gay or having hot sex the night before. Right. Couldn't figure out why he wasn't immediately fired...until a couple chapters later when it's revealed his boss is a lesbian and they socialize together.
Cade highlights many of the problems of being a gay man, even though he fails to accept responsibility for his role in some of them. Certainly there's empathy for how he was mistreated, but reality is that he often would think with the wrong head and place his sexuality above other things. He claims being gay isn't all about sex, yet that's how it comes across when all he does is act like the typical gay guy who beds anyone. He also doesn't seem respectful of others--most disturbing is the scene where his mother and young siblings are invited to stay overnight but Cade doesn't tell them that his "roommate" has AIDS and an accompanying active infection, allowing the kids to just play freely with the sick guy. It's simply irresponsible.
While he wants to be a good role model, by the end of the book he seems like just another sex-hungry kid whole falls in love too easily and escapes from his blood family to try to claim others as those who will love him to the end. He hopefully has plenty of years ahead so he has no idea how this story will really play out. You never know who will actually be there for you when times get rough and the end comes.
Next time he should wait to write about his life, step back and give it some real perspective, stop worrying about everyone else, and start to look deep inside to see if he's really the kind of boy he claims to be.
December 14, 2018
I’m 15% into this snooze fest and can’t keep my eyes open. I don’t even care about what I might be missing. I’m done. This goes on my DNF shelf.
Read
February 9, 2020Need to read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews