America's Boy: A Memoir

Wade Rouse's slightly better than average memoir elucidates snippets from his life growing up fat and gay in the Missouri Ozarks. He lives in an exceedingly rural community with an overwhelmingly close but loving family and therefore spends most of his life pretending he is not gay (although, as he states several times, it's quite all right to be fat). Most of the stories are humorous, such as when Wade dresses up in his mother's bikini and crowns himself "Miss Sugar Creek," and others are heartbreaking, like the entire section regarding Wade's brother's death.
Rouse is an engaging and descriptive writer, and I enjoyed reading about his life. I was going to give this book a completely average review, but the final section of stories, show more about Wade finally coming to terms with his sexuality, completely redeem the rest of the exceedingly mediocre book. show less

This book was more sad than I had expected. Wade is so funny in his other books. But it was a nice reminder that no one's life is all laughs that we all struggle. Wade's ability to overcome numerous challenges and sadnesses and maintain his sense of humor and to recognize what is important in life was very encouraging.

I've had my eye out for this since I read Rouse's other memoir. This one covers some of the same ground, but starts much earlier in his life. His voice rings true. His family is interesting and flawed. The tragic & untimely death of Rouse's brother is a crucible for all the surviving family members. Worth a read, if memoirs are your thing.

This is probably one of the best memoirs I've read in a long time. The author describes what he went through growing up as an overweight, gay boy in small-town America during the 60's & 70's. Even after moving away and losing all the weight, he still struggled with who he was and how others perceived him. A very honest and heartfelt story.

Great book!