J. P. Cassidy

The Pretend Years J. P. Cassidy

Oh, I don't know, it's just a book about growing up QUEER! I really hate that word - but there you have it. This book only scratches the surface of what it is like to grow up in a bigoted society, but I believe gets my point across. It also conveys what it's like to be taught by nuns who seemed to be crazed because of sexual starvation. What it is like to be raised by a grandmother who should have been a nun - she would have fit in so well. It's about a father she rarely saw and who always 'popped-up' in the wrong places and with the wrong person. It is about young queer love and young queers. I believe, though, it will appeal to straight people as well. They will hopefully see that love is love no matter what form it takes. That people are just people and emotions are all the same. That pain and rejection hurt just as much, and love and relationships mean just as much to those that are homosexual and lesbian as they do to heterosexuals. Hopefully, they will come to understand that God made two types of people - gay and straight - and he loves us equally. Also, this book is written to reach out to straight men that feel intimidated by lesbians and feel less than love for us. I believe it is not just a question of them feeling threatened that we might take some of their women away - I believe it's also because they know our dicks are bigger than theirs.