The Best Little Boy In The World (1993) - Plot & Excerpts
That was a really interesting read, often funny.The narrator (and author) is not entirely likeable, yet we have so many common points, that I actually admired him. It takes balls to paint yourself as a jerk.I haven't managed to say all I wanted to or to say it properly or in a way that would inspire the indignation I wanted you to feel.Indeed, you did not. I'm not sure what I was supposed to feel indignant at: your behaviour? the oppression of homosexual? homosexuality? Often-times the narrator expresses the expectation that his homosexuality will shock the readers, but we know exactly what we get into when we start reading that book, so why would we if we found the subject offensive?That's why the book feels dated at several points. Obviously some homosexuals are still oppressed as of 2013, but most of them are better accepted as they were back when this was written.What IS mildly offensive is the narrator's attempt to interpret why each homosexual he met "became" homosexual. This one was small and feeble as a child, that one grew up fatherless and identified with his mother, that black guy was more intellectual than sporty, so he felt inferior to his black peers... the thing is, I'm still not sure how he explains how HE became gay. I think it was the point of the whole book, but his explanation of his own homosexuality isn't clear at all.On the whole, a quick, fun, shockingly frank book at times, with some interesting thinking - which may or may not be true. As an example, a quote I highlighted:In both cases, it is the prejudice, not the condition, that does the harm. It may be, as some would have it, that blacks are inherently inferior to whites or that homosexuals are all, by definition, sick. So what? Even if either condition truly is inherently undesirable, no manner of social pressure will turn blacks into whites or gays into straights. Social pressure will only exaggerate the handicap. It is still the prejudice, more than the condition, that does the harm.
The Best Little Boy in The World by Andrew Tobias - written as John ReidThis is the story of a boy that is the best little boy in the world (BLBITW) as measured by all standards - great grades, great in sports and bound to Yale. However he hides a secret: he's gay. So he proceeds to tells us the story of his coming out.Some coming out stories are classics that transcend the test of time. This book is not. Just like Tobias/Reid spends lots of times reciting Spartacus' guide to gay life in new York City, Boston, and Provincetown in the seventies - both that Spartacus issue and this books are "old news." Narrated from the first person point of view - it starts with a bang: "I was eighteen years old when I learned to fart." Tobias/Reid then goes on on masturbation, which he also discovered at age 18. (Don't believe it). From there he goes on to a series of boring descriptions of several relationships - must of which are nameless (for example Esquire is a lawyer, Mother is his mother and Father is his father). The most humanity in the book is when the writer decides that there may be a worthiness to some people other than their looks. Mr. Tobias/Reid comes out as a snob - favoring men who are Ivy League graduates or "butch." Effeminate men are discriminated upon. I could tolerate that, only because it was written in the seventies, but I was offended by the blatant racism: "I'm from Queents, New Yawuk, and my life'ss ambition iss to go to Puerto Rico and find some gorgeouss number to f**k me." p. 207.Even though the work could be considered as a time period capsule, I'm afraid I will pass on The Best Little Boy in the World Grows up.I think you should read something else....
What do You think about The Best Little Boy In The World (1993)?
I was really excited about reading it because it was voted as one of the 50 best gay books by AE readers, many call it a classic and it had an interesting title but it turned out very disappointing for me and I guess that shows you how very different people's tastes can be.-if you liked this book I advise you not to read the rest of my review-I didn't like it at all and could barely finish it.I was hoping that leaving it for a while and getting back to it would help and that I might find it bearable, that didn't work obviously... I think the personalty of the mc (the author)is kinda obnoxious and I can't find anything that I like about him or his story.he finds himself to be so smart and handsome and he can predict what people will do and he knows what they're thinking about. he is basically superior to everyone he knows except maybe his friend Hank. the entire time I was reading I was hoping for something horrible to happen to him and turn him into a decant person and I hope that doesn't make me as obnoxious as he was.and the parts where he explained how/why this person or that turned/developed gay and how the reason wasn't the same for him...like everyone was so easy to analyze and understand but he was (yet again) a superior being that was more complicated really annoyed meoverall I HATED IT.if you hate brats who have it easy all their lives and don't have any real world problems or worries this book is not for you.
—MBJ
What I'd heard about this book is that it's classic gay memoir, and that intrigued me. In general, I find gay literature from the 50s-70s really interesting. This book was very good through the first 3/4 of the story. The last 1/4 really dragged; however, the author admits this in his afterword, so I guess he heard that from other readers when it was first published.I read some reviews for this book on amazon several years ago and most people commented that the writer was very unlikeable. I didn't find that to be the case at all. I thought he was fairly self-aware, incredibly intelligent, and sometimes even quite funny.Overall, I don't know that I liked it enough to read the sequel, but I did like pretty well.
—Beth
A breezy, but important, book about What It's Like To Be Gay...or at least what it was like in the early '70s. Reid - the pen name of financial writer Andrew Tobias - describes his journey from childhood to coming out to learning to live "out" with humor and insight. This book was ahead of its time in its boldness, and it's sad that many of the same basic, logical, common-sense arguments for equality for gays and lesbians that still must be made today were in fact being made quite publicly back when this book dropped nearly four decades ago. Reid's musings on what makes someone gay, as well as his observations on the differences between various "out" gays at the time, as well as the similarities between gays and other groups, are written with keen insight into human nature, and are funny as hell. This was a quick read, but a good one, and I highly recommend it to anyone -- gay or straight. In fact, it ought to be required reading for any of us straights who think it's our place to comment on anyone's sexual orientation, or what rights that orientation ought to give or deny them.
—Joe Miguez
