I ended up liking this story quite a bit, actually. I do agree that it seems disjointed and hard to distinguish between two almost competing narratives at FIRST. Once Bobby is introduced, the story becomes much more coherent and a lot more compelling to me.
It didn't horrify me per se, but it was immensely enjoyable and thought-provoking. I suppose it had a personal resonance, since familial rejection, homelessness, and suicide among LGBT people is a pretty pressing issue to me. I'm not completely sure how I react to the subject matter here, since there's the competition between the philosophy of reflecting truth at all costs, especially ugly truth in LGBT media, and the philosophy that "suicidal queer" narratives are unproductive and harmful (possibly giving validation to the notion of suicide for people contemplating it). To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure what side I fall on, but this story did make me think about that quite a bit after hearing it.
All in all, I'd say the first part could use another few run-throughs with an editor, but from the point Bobby is introduced as a character onward, it's quite good.
« Last Edit: November 15, 2012, 09:45:52 PM by NickAlmand »
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