A readable, inspiring memoir that displays a balanced, surprisingly reverent view of the Marine Corps and military service.
TV comedy writer White recalls the grueling yet confidence-building three-month Marine Corps boot camp training he endured as a still-closeted teenager in 1979.
Having moved numerous times throughout his childhood, at the age of 18, the author lived with his mother and brothers in Dallas. On a whim and with no future goals, White agreed to accompany his friend, a recent Air Force Academy cadet, and enlist in the Marine Corps. Physically unfit, admittedly effeminate, and considerably underweight, he was suddenly forced to share tight living quarters with dozens of straight young men and endure arduous physical endurance challenges, not to mention brutally demanding drill instructors. White lived in fear that he would be outed as gay, which could have led to a dishonorable discharge or, worse, a beating. Yet years before the passage of “don't ask, don't tell,” the boot camp proved to be a tremendously equalizing experience. As White eventually began to excel in areas he never anticipated, he also realized that each recruit, no matter the level of athletic prowess or supposed masculinity, was dealing with anxieties and shortcomings in a united quest to complete the course. Ultimately, the author’s fear gradually took a back seat to his more urgent desire to not only achieve a meaningful goal, but also gain acceptance. “I gained confidence from membership in a group I never thought I could belong to, a group I never thought would accept me,” he writes. “I adopted the same attitude they did; I did everything anyone did. I was a man with a job, a man who happened to be gay. Being a Marine is hard work and takes a lot of focus, practice, and dedication. I learned that I had to respect myself if I wanted others to respect me.” The author demonstrates that respect and delivers a heartening coming-of-age story.
A readable, inspiring memoir that displays a balanced, surprisingly reverent view of the Marine Corps and military service.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9967103-2-9
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Querelle Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2015
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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