All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto

I read this book for a Banned Books Book Club. We've been reading more literature, so when I began reading this, it didn't measure up. However, it's not "literature," it's more of an instructive memoir. As such, I think it is done fairly well. To get more stars, it needed a few more drafts and some editing. My personal opinion is that I would have like to have felt more of what he described instead of it being so dry. However, if there had been more emotion to the sex scenes, then it would have run the danger of being less instructive and more porn-like, so probably that was a conscious choice.

Yes, there are three explicitly described sexual encounters. I talked this over with my 29 year old daughter to get a younger opinion. The encounters are presented factually, not like a sex scene in a romance novel. It's closer to describing the act like might be done for sex ed if they covered gay sex along with basic heterosexual sex. One of those encounters is statutory rape. These are things that it's okay to talk about. Stuff happens. It's important to acknowledge it, and know that there are readers who need to know they aren't alone.

Not for me.
The word manifesto makes me think of the unabomber.
It's icky.

There's a lot of problems here.

wonderfully written.

This writing is important and relevant.

This is the book I wished I had when I was in my late teens, but I am so glad that I got to read it as a 30yo as I look back over my life thus far as a black gay man. This book felt like a hug!