{"product_id":"9780312361693","title":"The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Robert Leleux\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy \u003c\/i\u003eis \u003ci\u003eThe Houston Press\u003c\/i\u003e's Best Houston Book of the Year for 2008.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIn the Dear John letter Daddy left for Mother and me, on a Saturday afternoon in early June 1996, on the inlaid Florentine table in the front entry of our house, which we found that night upon returning from a day spent in the crème-colored light of Neiman's, Daddy wrote that he was leaving us because Mother was crazy, and because she'd driven me crazy in a way that perfectly suited her own insanity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a memoir studded with delicious lines and unforgettable set pieces, Robert Leleux describes his East Texas boyhood and coming of age under the tutelage of his eccentric, bewigged, flamboyant, and knowing mother.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLeft high and dry by Daddy and living on their in-laws' horse ranch in a white-pillared house they can't afford, Robert and Mother find themselves chronically low on cash. Soon they are forced into more modest quarters, and as a teenaged Robert watches with hilarity and horror, Mother begins a desperate regimen of makeovers, extreme plastic surgeries, and finally hairpiece epoxies---all calculated to secure a new, wealthy husband. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMother's strategy takes her, with Robert in tow, from the glamorous environs of the Neiman Marcus beauty salon to questionable surgery offices and finally to a storefront clinic on the wrong side of Houston. Meanwhile, Robert begins his own journey away from Mother and through the local theater's world of miscast hopefuls and thwarted ambitions---and into a romance that surprises absolutely no one but himself. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten with a warmth and a wicked sense of fun that lighten even the most awful circumstances, \u003ci\u003eThe Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy\u003c\/i\u003e is a sparkling debut.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Winning…sprightly…head tossing, high-strung comedy.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Utterly beguiling…witty, irreverent, a romp on paper.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Philadelphia Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Wonderful—tender, funny, and intelligent.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Houston Press\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Wickedly funny and tender…ridiculously tasty.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Seattle Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“For the reader, at least, she will be forever memorable, uniquely, wonderfully, weirdly herself--Jessica Wilson, the mother of a beautiful boy. This hilarious, heartbreaking memoir is a pure joyride for the reader.” —\u003ci\u003eTimes-Picayune (New Orleans)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Leleux] displays a nice self-effacing wit, a talent for constructing funny scenes, and a genuinely sweet spirit that engages the reader's sympathy.” —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“positive, witty tone” —\u003ci\u003eConnecticut Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“a charming account” —\u003ci\u003eJust Out\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Leleux's] funny, but poignant tale of growing up gay with a narcissistic, but lovable and witty mother in Petunia, east Texas, is the new must-read... pitch-perfect sentences that are both heartbreaking and laugh out loud funny” —\u003ci\u003eWashington Blade\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“well-wrought... a sweet guy, and he has a nice way with an anecdote.” —\u003ci\u003eAustin American-Statesman (Texas)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“wittily written, entertaining...refreshingly clear-eyed.” —\u003ci\u003eSalem Press\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780312361693\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"St. Martin's Griffin","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40671124783310,"sku":"9780312361693","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_0fa53de3-8ee9-4821-b4a1-97a6d4e7cc13.jpg?v=1639801539","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780312361693","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}