I began reading the book and right away, there was humor, there was a moment I had to put the book down because I was laughing so hard. The rest of the book, when considering the synopsis, was a disappointment. It was hard to find much of what Derfner tried to put off as humor funny. The book is about and insecure homosexual male who is trying to find ways to deal with his, insecurities and mental afflictions.
The synopsis implies that Derfner wanted to be the gayest gay ever. To most of the world, the gay community included, we take this to mean that he tried to be a shining example of a gay stereotype. Promiscuous sex, clubbing, catty attitude, flashy attire, feminine tendencies. If this is not what he meant by becoming the gayest person ever then he failed to explain what he thought becoming the gayest person ever meant to him.
While the book failed to deliver on it promises of humor and implied venture, it was still an awesome read. Joel suffers from a few mental aliments, which all seem to take turns controlling aspects of his life. The way in which he goes about dealing with them is typical of gay males. He uses sex at one point to deal with life and when he finds that things have gotten out of hand, he moves onto the next venture.
Joel never dose the total gay thing, we later find out that he is not a fan of gay bars or clubs, which I feel helped to make him an even better gay by the end of the book. While he thinks himself to be better than most and is constantly raising standards for finding true love we see that he comes to the realization that you cannot really predict or decide who you will fall in love with.
The books layout is setup in such a way that he uses one point of his life to explain a few others, but as the book is about someone’s life, at times it seems like your reading a poorly laid out sex and the city episode. Each chapter can stand on its own almost independently but as a whole, you are forced to remember the last in order to have a good grip of his chronology.
Towards the end of the book it becomes painfully evident that the book is in fact about the author, we see that this huge chunk of the book was written about his life while trying to write the book. I find that these chapters are amazingly well written and extremely easy to read. It is in these chapters that almost any gay can easily relate.
The book closes by touching, in great detail, on a delicate subject in the gay community, ex-gays. It is in this chapter that we truly see who Derfner is. I feel that if I were to give any more detail about this chapter it would be pointless to read.
In short I am pleased that I bought this book and feel it is worth reading for all gays and their friends. Thanks to the style and setup of this book, it is a quick read. All of Derfner’s points and commentaries will stay with you long after you put it on the shelf to start collecting dust or pass on to a friend..
