Download Drama Club a Memoir Mikel Gerle 9781975619374 Books

Product details Paperback 234 pages Publisher CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (August 19, 2017) Language English ISBN-10 1975619374

Drama Club a Memoir Mikel Gerle 9781975619374 Books Reviews

• This memoir is a wonderful read. Gerle is a terrific storyteller, weaving beautifully crafted vignettes through Nebraska, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah, and Idaho. The characters are real and powerful and they're brought to life with color and humor and sadness. Whether you were a band geek or a hidden gay man or minority or even a popular jock, at some point we've all felt alone and different, and we've all felt the need to connect. Gerle takes you on his personal journey through young adulthood in such a clever and imaginative way that there is something you can relate to no matter what your background. There is challenge and heartache for sure in this bizarre family, but there is also love. Gerle doesn't lay it out simply, but rather with all the complexity any family embodies. Jill Soloway, if you're reading, this could absolutely follow the tradition on Transparent on the screen.
• “Drama Club” by Mikel Gerle is a collection of essays that give us a glimpse into the life of a youth’s journey navigating prejudice, religious oppression, joy, triumph, and sexual discovery. Murder makes two appearances the details of which are best read in the book. Mikel peppers the writing with thoughtful and descriptive ‘turns of phrase’ and while there is some overlap of timeline in the chapters which are not in chronological order, it is never repetitive. If you want to laugh, cry and be elated throughout, this book will not disappoint. I look forward to reading his memoirs on the next era of his life hopefully to include his foray into leather and his ultimate climb to the top where he emerges as a leader in that community and in other areas of life.
• Being a recovering Roman Catholic myself, it's very easy to identify with Mikel Gerle's moving coming of age memoir. But be warned all who fall effortlessly into the near-hypnotic way that Mr. Gerle often uses language, risk missing the precision of his choices.
  
  Gerle's stories clearly illuminate the tortured struggles of growing up trapped in the psychological Bermuda Triangle defined by religion, family and outlaw sexuality.
  
  These are the stories of a refugee from an oppressive theocracy, and many of us can relate. But there are ironies in oppression. He fled. We flee when it's at all possible.
  
  It's a poignant story, and well-worth the read. Gerle's book could only have been improved by the attentions of a skilled editor.