Rating: 
Summary: Pedophilia & Homosexuality from the First Person Perspective
Review: This was a difficult book to read, not only because of the oppressive subject matter, but because of the lyrical, poetic, sometimes disjointed writing style. When I was 20 or 30 pages into the book, I kept asking myself, "Do I really want to know more about this pedophile and how his victims coped with the abuse?" But I plodded on anyway because the book is only 224 pages, and was ultimately rewarded for my patience.The story begins when Aphias Zhe, nicknamed Fee, a 12-year old part-Korean boy, is accepted into a prestigious boys choir. It is soon obvious to Fee that the choir director preys upon his choir members, but they're all too terrified or embarrassed to do anything about it. The book lurches from scene to scene with thankfully much of the sordid details left to one's imagination, but some of the prose is so ambiguous, with incomplete sentences and dangling thoughts, that my reaction was sometimes "Huh? What did he mean?" Eventually, the choir director is revealed, convicted of 12 counts of pedophilia and sentenced to a long term in prison. His imprisonment, however, does not end the torture of some of his victims. Two of Fee's friends eventually committed suicide, and Fee is tormented with memories, nightmares and the realization that he is also gay. He acts out in bizarre ways, rebels, and experiments with drugs and casual sex. Fee does eventually settle into a relationship with Bridey, and they move together to Maine to allow Fee to take a temporary teaching job as a swim coach at a small private school where coincidentally, Warden, the son of the convicted pedophile is a student. Warden develops a crush on Fee and it's starting to look like the pattern will repeat itself. In spite of the sordid plot, it is easy to empathize with the angst and soul-searching Fee endures in his quest to find his place in the world. The ending of the book was a satisfying conclusion to what was ultimately a very sad story.
| 
