In the Arms of Mountains: A Memoir of Land, Love, and Queer Resistance in Red America

In the Arms of Mountains is a beautifully written memoir that shows that the political is always personal. LeFavour recalls their unique childhood--anyone else have Hunter S. Thompson for a neighbor?--and builds to their life as an LGBTQ activist. The book is a reminder of the slow arc of change and the heartbreaking sacrifices that accompany it. Yet overall, this memoir is optimistic--we can all fight for and find our place in the world.

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Rural America deserves more than an elegy: A powerful story of hope, resilience, and political resistance where you least expect it, from Idaho’s first openly LGBTQ+ lawmaker

Cole LeFavour was 11 years old when their hippie parents moved the family to a guest ranch in Idaho. Hours to the North, as the LeFavours unpacked pots and pans, Richard Butler dreamed of establishing a white separatist nation. It’s here, in one of the reddest states on the map, where Cole learned to raise ducklings, hike the wilderness alone, and build political resistance where you least expect it.

This is the story rural America deserves to tell—and that the rest of the country needs to hear. Follow LeFavour’s show more journey from their 2-mile walk to the school bus along a dirt road to their monumental election as Idaho’s first openly queer state senator. Cole recounts anti-apartheid protests in Berkeley, the solitary life of a fire lookout, and the gravitational pull of unexpected romance and loss. In the Arms of Mountains is a memoir with dirt under its nails and heart on its sleeve. It shatters the carefully constructed “monolithic heartland” myth and rewrites Hillbilly Elegy’s bleak epitaph.

Haunting, hopeful, and full of fight, Cole’s story reminds us of what’s possible when we look beyond red and blue, right and left, to meet each other at the edge of the wild.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: I liked this read just fine. I was more interested in the author's journey to becoming an Idaho state legislator than their family history, but both held my attention.

Seeing myself in their life's journey was not simple, but my curiosity pulled me along, and I ended my read feeling "here's someone I think would not like me personally but would be interesting to chat with at a cocktail gathering."

Beacon Press politely holds out a hand expecting you to put $17.95 in their palm for an ebook. show less

I listened to the audiobook. The reader does an excellent job. The story has three main parts - the wilderness, the LGBTQ and state political struggle for rights and finally, the relationship. It made me laugh, cry and understand the struggle better.