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Summary: a wonderful read, says author Joel Rothschild
Review: a great book and very important but the other 1/2 a man is my own book SIGNALS This is a warmup for Signals
Rating: 
Summary: This is an excellent coming of age memoir.
Review: A young friend recommended this book, and I could not put it down. Monette's experiences are painful. He demonstrates that gay men die from the misery of loneliness as surely as they die from AIDS. The closet, Monette observes, is a painful place, and it is transparent in spite of all attempts to make the walls thick. This book is a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth your time
Review: Although I thought this book would be an interesting read when I got the assignment from my English professor, it turned out to be pretty boring. The book seems more like a cathartic experience for Paul than an interesting story for the rest of us. He should have written it but never published it.
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Summary: An Inspiring Glimpse into the Closet
Review: Beautifully written and terribly personal, Becoming a Man has achieved what every memoir hopes to: a painful reminiscence of the past with thought-provoking reflections on the changes that have occurred. People of all background and sexuality will enjoy this book and appreciate it as the work of art it is.
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Summary: Brilliantly Written but Disingenuous
Review: Born in 1945 to a small-town, middle-class New England family, Paul Monette--like most Americans of the era--was spoon-fed a negative knee-jerk re homosexuality. When he himself began to realize that his own sexuality was at odds with society's dictums he entered two decades of struggle: first a struggle to at least give the appearance of conformity, then a struggle to step beyond the status quo itself. And BECOMING A MAN is a very powerful testament of that struggle, of the price paid, of the self-destructive behavior that the false conformity of "being in the closet" inevitably produces.It is extremely difficult to read BECOMING A MAN without sharing the sense of fury and bitterness that Monette felt when he contemplates his life, and if ever there were an argument in favor of sexual honesty, this is it: the language, an artful mix of the literary and the hardbitten, is remarkable, and Monette pulls no punches when it comes to detailing the fear that drove him. Truly, the book deserves every accolade heaped upon it. All the same, it is a remarkably disingenuous memoir. Even as Monette displays a justifiable loathing for the social institutions that buried him alive for some three decades, he tends to disregard a basic point: he was in many ways a remarkably privileged individual who actually fed upon those same institutions, having a host of opportunities that few people--gay or straight--ever have. It was his own determination to place social advantage above personal integrity that led to his decision to remain in the closet in the first place. True, Monette (who died of AIDS not long after this book was published) was born and came of age in an era that had little tolerance for anything beyond the status quo. But Monette presents being in the closet as something forced upon him by external forces--and this is not strictly true. There was a choice, and bitter though it was for him and the many others who made it, being in the closet was actually the path of least resistance at the time. To pretend that it was otherwise does a tremendous disservice to those of his generation who found the courage to select an even more difficult road of sexual honesty. GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly Written but Disingenuous
Review: Born in 1945 to a small-town, middle-class New England family, Paul Monette--like most Americans of the era--was spoon-fed a negative knee-jerk re homosexuality. When he himself began to realize that his own sexuality was at odds with society's dictums he entered two decades of struggle: first a struggle to at least give the appearance of conformity, then a struggle to step beyond the status quo itself. And BECOMING A MAN is a very powerful testament of that struggle, of the price paid, of the self-destructive behavior that the false conformity of "being in the closet" inevitably produces. It is extremely difficult to read BECOMING A MAN without sharing the sense of fury and bitterness that Monette felt when he contemplates his life, and if ever there were an argument in favor of sexual honesty, this is it: the language, an artful mix of the literary and the hardbitten, is remarkable, and Monette pulls no punches when it comes to detailing the fear that drove him. Truly, the book deserves every accolade heaped upon it. All the same, it is a remarkably disingenuous memoir. Even as Monette displays a justifiable loathing for the social institutions that buried him alive for some three decades, he tends to disregard a basic point: he was in many ways a remarkably privileged individual who actually fed upon those same institutions, having a host of opportunities that few people--gay or straight--ever have. It was his own determination to place social advantage above personal integrity that led to his decision to remain in the closet in the first place. True, Monette (who died of AIDS not long after this book was published) was born and came of age in an era that had little tolerance for anything beyond the status quo. But Monette presents being in the closet as something forced upon him by external forces--and this is not strictly true. There was a choice, and bitter though it was for him and the many others who made it, being in the closet was actually the path of least resistance at the time. To pretend that it was otherwise does a tremendous disservice to those of his generation who found the courage to select an even more difficult road of sexual honesty. GFT, Amazon Reviewer
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Summary: Inspirational story of someone that could be you or me...
Review: Each time I pick up this book I feel like I'm reading a letter from a friend. Paul Monette writes like you or I, in his most colourful autobiography, which pulls you in from the outset and doesn't let you go until the end. If you've read Borrowed Time, Monette's simple sentence at the conclusion strikes you with amazing inspiration - "Paul Monette, say hello to the rest of your life" as he meets Roger for the first time, his partner of many years to come. You realise that events that change your whole life can happen in an instant, with no warning. This is the story of his life up until that moment, filled with honest stories and no apology recollections. For anyone that has ever doubted whether it's worth it, this book is a must. If only for that brief moment at a party that changes the rest of your life, your past was definately worth it. Read this book!
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Summary: I felt an amazing amount of empathy with this man.
Review: I am a straight woman from Arkansas who can't believe how many similiar emotions this gay New englander and I have in common. I understand his isolation and self hatred. I know that we all
want understanding and love and I also know the rage that occurs when it doesn't seem to come. I just really connected with this book.
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Summary: Almost Too Close for Comfort
Review: I bought this book both because it was a coming out story and because of the National Book Award. I knew it would be a good read but had no idea of the power and sheer force of personality that would come through in Paul Monette's writing. As a gay man who also grew up in New England with parents of mixed religion, (although my father converted to Catholism) my experiences were so similar to Paul's that there were times I literally had to put the book down because my emotions were too much to bear. The pain, the loneliness, the self-loathing are all too familiar to any gay person, but this is by no means a book only for gays. Any straight person who knows and loves a gay person will find no better description of what it is to grow up knowing you are that THING that is to be hated and feared, and how hard it is to overcome those early lessons. But be warned, at no point does he "sanitize" the gay experience so as not to offend straights. I was saddened to learn Paul lost his battle with AIDS, and at a time when new treatments were so close. However, any writer who has to die too young could leave no better legacy than this memoir. It will live on long after Paul; it is a truly brilliant book.
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Summary: I Concur
Review: I don't think that I can add more than Doug Kilburg has already said. Paul, spoke to me. We attended similar schools, and had similar feelings. Paul, however, had more courage than I. I reflect on this as I read Becoming a Man. I may have lived longer, but Paul lived more and gave more in his writing than I. I can't recommend this book more hightly.
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