The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy

The latest entry in the "growing up gay in a dysfunctional, eccentric southern household" sweepstakes won't get first prize, but it definitely places!

Previously supported by the in-laws, Robert and his mother find their emotional and financial lives in turmoil when his father abandons them for another woman. Like another southern belle who tried to conquer the world dressed in her mother's portières, Jessica calculates that all she needs to do is attract a rich husband, and so she is off to the plastic surgeon and the wigmaker. Robert, in the meantime, is dealing with the fact that he's gay. Now you would think that a boy who watches Bette Davis movies, keeps Vanity Fair magazines under his bed and considers Neiman-Marcus to be heaven show more on earth, would have realized this sooner, but it's not until he auditions for a community theatre program and falls immediately in love with the choreographer that he gets it. Mother, of course, knew it all his life.

I have to say that my first impression of Robert's mother was not a very positive one. She comes across as shallow, overly concerned with money and appearances, and just not very nice. But, eventually, one realizes that she is playing the hand she was dealt, the only way she knows how.

The second half of the book is primarily concerned with Robert and Michael's relationship, how it develops, and, more important, how Robert's relationship with Michael's family leads him, eventually, to the beginnings of a reconciliation with his father.

And how do you not love a book that is dedicated, in part, to some of my favorite Texas women - Molly Ivins, Sissy Farenthold and Ann Richards. show less

Robert Leleux has a wicked way with words. The descriptions and stories of his mother are hilariously intense - she must be a kick in the pants in person. I loved how he described how no one else could get away with the huge plastic hair and pancake makeup but her - because EVERYTHING is big in Texas! She fit right in. I don't have a problem with Robert being so young and being able to write a memoir - I would like to read version II, III, IV as the years progress and see where his life and writing take him. This is a very funny, sweet and loving tribute to his mother (who I would be almost afraid to meet;) Highly recommended.

Robert Leleux’s memoir begins with his father leaving him and his mother for a pregnant girlfriend. He and his mother, who is flamboyant and narcissistic, comfort themselves with trips to Neiman Marcus and old movies. Before long they are living on returning clothing to high end department stores and his mother begins her quest of marrying another wealthy man. This being Texas, this quest involves tricking her son into taking her for breast and lip implants as well as glued on hair extensions.

There are many funny “scenes” in this life, but I found it to be quite sad because although the voice Leleux uses is cynical, sarcastic and knowing, the person behind the voice was a sheltered adolescent. His mother who did love him and was, show more I’ll admit, in many ways a good mother for a gay son also poisoned him against his extended family with morbidly humorous songs wishing for their deaths etc.

The book became much more pleasant for me when Robert meets and falls in love with his future partner, Michael and Michael’s large French-Cajun family. As he learns that loving people involves not being cruel to them and finds that family can be big and messy, I found myself laughing out loud watching the thoughtlessly mean little boy turn into a considerate (but still meanly funny) man.

I recommend this book for anyone who likes memoir in the messed up childhood vein. It will be particularly fun for folks who like their humor in the wittily campy way of gay men. show less

Robert spent the first years of his life without knowing want, that is until his father walked out on his mother, leaving them virtually to fend for themselves. Not an easy plight for his mother, used to a life of ease and comfort, nor for Robert, who now has to contend with his mother's often extreme measures to find herself another rich husband before she looses her good looks, and all her hair.

Robert's memoirs of his childhood, his coming of age, and his finally meeting Michael, the love of his life make for a most entertaining read. He paints a vivid picture of his flamboyant mother, and it is clear he shares many of her traits; the only person to be surprised to learn that he is gay is Robert himself. He tell his story with great show more honesty and a humour that frequently verges on the hilarious. No one is safe from his often acerbic wit, including Robert himself.

As a first novel this bodes well for Robert's future as a writer, he writes with confidence and style. show less

Throughout this book I find myself wavering between envy that my own family is so humdrum and normal that I would never get an interesting memoir out of them, and a giddy glee and quite a bit of relief that they're nothing like the menagerie of crazy characters that inhabit Robert Leleux's world.

From his larger-than-life mother (who should be played by Bette Davis in the film version and whom you'd like to strangle quite a few times throughout the book), evil teachers, flamboyant drama coaches, to his in-laws, who, however quirky, you can't help but love for their sincerity and loyalty, there's a plethora of circus freaks to behold. I'm quite impressed that Leleux turned out to be a seemingly functional adult with that kind of youth. show more

The minus is that the book feels like a series of scenes (some literally laugh-out-loud funny - like his mother's lip-implant disaster - and some heart-wrenchingly sad - like his father's attempts at reconciliation) rather than a fluent story. Perhaps Leleux is still too close in time to these events to be able to write anything more emotionally invested than vignettes. There is a hint of a story arch (it's told chronologically), but I think there's a need to mold true life into a dramatic story.

Is it still worth a read? Absolutely. Without hesitation. Not to mention how much I look forward to Leleux using his distinct voice for fiction in the future. show less

I'm a huge fan of memoirs -- particularly funny memoirs about messed up childhoods. Think Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs or some of David Sedaris's books about his childhood. This memoir is along those lines, and it was a fun, fast read. Like Sedaris and Burroughs, Mr. LeLeux grows up as a gay son of a unusual and different mother (though Mr. LeLeux's mother takes the cake in terms of flamboyance). His mother is pretty much the star of the book. A Texas Blonde (but only because she wears a wig) who is left by her husband, Robert's mother puts Operation Snag Another Rich Husband into play when Robert is in his early teens. The story of her attempts to turn back the clock and get a man forms the heart of the book. Plastic show more surgery, hair replacement attempts -- his mother's attempts to regain her former lifestyle are both sad but hilarious. The bulk of the book chronicles his mother's various antics. These remembrances are a kick to read -- but I'm sure glad I didn't have to live them. The book also covers Robert's realization that he is gay (a shock only to him) and his subsequent love affair with Michael LeLeux. Although his mother moves to California during the last third of the book, she is never far away -- even though you wish poor Robert could just get a chance to be out from under her drama. This is a wonderfully written and fun memoir. I really enjoyed it and I hope the author continues to write more about his life and his larger-than-life mother. show less

This was, quite simply, one of the funnest books I have ever read. It is just charming. The voice of the main character is amusing and light and his relationship with his mother is hilarious and touching at the same time. It is the story of a gay coming of age, but it transcends that and simply shows us how to laugh at ourselves. Seriously, I laughed out loud reading this and people around me thought I was nuts -- but I just couldn't help it. Somehow this book made my life a little lighter and more fun.