You’re Not From Around Here, Are You
A Lesbian in Small-Town America
Louise A. Blum
A pregnant lesbian living in the middle of God’s country: it sounds like the premise of a sitcom, but this personal narrative of love and childbirth in Wellsboro, Penn., is by turns poignant and wonderfully witty. Blum (Amnesty), a novelist and college professor, recounts the difficulties that being gay presents when one simply wants to get a mortgage, fix up a house and attend Lamaze classes in a small town. But to Blum’s credit, this is no rose-colored, resolutely middle-class, ‘we’re just like everyone else’ kind of gay autobiography. She is refreshingly honest not only regarding her ambivalence about having children, but also regarding the sexual tensions the pregnancy causes in her relationship with her partner. Her descriptions of finding a sperm donor are hilarious (‘He’s attractive, I’d think, shaking someone’s hand. I wonder what his sperm count is?’). And the book is filled with touching surprises such as that Blum doesn’t admit to herself that she’s gay until a year after moving in with her lover. With astonishing resilience, she describes her family’s close-mindedness, as well as the prejudice she encounters from the townspeople she’d come to trust. Unfortunately, there’s no escaping the miniature terrors of small-town life; as Blum points out, describing a trip across America, ‘Wellsboro is everywhere.’
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
–This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
For most Americans, relocating to a small town, getting married, and starting a family is a clich . For gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people fearing isolation, ostracism, and worse such a step requires courage. Blum and her partner meet with obstacles not experienced by most Americans, as when they decide Blum will undergo alternative insemination and they are refused service by the first doctor they go to. After she gets pregnant, Blum is subjected to a hate sheet put out by students speculating that her child will be deformed. Even the couple’s friends and supporters can’t fathom the depth of their vulnerability. Blum’s memoir ends at the birth of the couple’s daughter, just when it becomes even more interesting: what is it like for a child to grow up with gay parents in small-town America? Blum’s at times cautionary tale will be a reality check for LGBT readers and an eye-opener for straight ones. Recommended for all collections. Ina Rimpau, Newark P.L., NJ
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Details
| ISBN | 9780299170943 |
| Genre | Autobiography/Biography |
| Publication Date | 08-Apr-01 |
| Publisher | University of Wisconsin Press |
| Format | Trade Paperback |
| No. of Pages | 272 |
| Language | English |
| Rating | NotRated |
| BookID | 15096 |
