QueerClick

Reviewed by Shaun Frisky

Patrick Ryan’s prose are so damn sexy it makes you want to glide your tongue along the spine of the book. The words cascade together in an excited stream to form a richly textured portrait of a complex family over 40 years. Almost every section is a snapshot in the life of one of the family members exploring his or her perspective, zigzagging through their history to contrast the past against the present. Ryan evokes the emotions of each of these characters with such sensitivity you’d think their experiences were his own.

One of the sons in the family, Frankie, is a trickster causing each of the family members to look at their lives in a different way. He’s unashamedly gay, quite casually declaring his crush on Luke Skywalker at a young age. Later in college he has outrageous sexual experiences while his inhibited (closeted) brother Joseph makes a muddled attempt at cruising in a public bathroom. The painful sense of discomfort Joseph has in expressing his sexuality is drawn sharply against Frankie’s (ultimately-dangerous) free attitude towards manly lovin’. Frankie is a fantasist and it seems very apt that he’s obsessed with extra-terrestrial experience as it feels like he’s not quite of this world. You’d think such an oddball wouldn’t be able to maintain a compatible relationship with the gentle-natured mother he ultimately returns to, but the bond between the two is demonstrated in a heart-breaking final scene. This is essential reading for all gay men who have trouble connecting with their family sometimes, which I’m guessing is almost all of us! It’s highly recommended that you read this book aloud while in bed with your lover in between bouts of Luke Skywalker/Hans Solo role play.

Thanks again to Kurt for the fab photos. See more of his work here. Buy Send Me at Amazon.