I'm no great fan of autobiography but this is one of the best tooled autobiographies. I've ever read. My problem with the book is that it seems to meander through comonplace events that have been told in more engaging ways elsewhere. No matter how nice the cup, poor coffee is still poor coffee. The writing here is excellent and at times brilliant but the story itself is unengaging.

While it deals with one man's journey from private midwestern schoolboy to jaded Stonewall rioter it just barely maintained my interest enough to finish it.

On the summary level it's a story about a young Michigan man coming of age and coming out in the 60's

It even ends with the Stonewall riots but the character doesn't seem to have resolved his issues by the end of the book.

The title is NOT a line from the book. As far as I can tell it doesn't even sum up any particular scene. It may be that the young man's life is empty. It is pretty autobiographical and the protagonist does end up a failed writer of sorts. Maybe the title is an inside joke or a summary of sorts, I'm not sure that that is correct and if it is, whether the author would be summarizing this book or his life or both.

If this book had appeared in 1978 it might have been important and ground-breaking but it didn't. It appeared in 1988 and much of what's covered here had by that time already been told better elsewhere.

I'd say that the book is an important read. I'm glad that I read it, for the lovely imagry, if nothing else, but I'd suggest that it be read over time and savored for what it contains. It's sort of the green mint jelly that one serves with lamb. Great for its lovely color and the flavor that it adds but, I wouldn't recommend it as a main course.