Overview

A turbulent telling of one woman's immersion in her faith, and one man's journey to acceptance. Seeking comfort in the isolation of the western landscape, young single mother Pansy Blackwell brings her son Butch to the Siskiyou Mountains. Fully engulfed in the Jehovah's Witnesses assurances for a soon-to-arrive end of the world, Pansy raises her son to conform to the constrictive requirements of their religion. But as Butch discovers the wonders of the world around him with an endlessly patient and kindhearted rancher, he embraces the cowboy culture and struggles to live as his authentic self. In the late 20th Century, rural communities in America were often hostile to the rising-awareness of LGBT people, and Butch is soon cast aside by his church for homosexuality. In The Gift, Scott Terry crafts a memorable and historically-accurate tale of religious extremism and the struggle for acceptance, before the truth of those times are swept under the forgotten rug of history.

Full Product Details

9781611535914

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Reviews

""Masterful ... very highly recommended to book club discussion groups interested in LGBTQ+ lives, history, and conflicts with faith. Its captivating exploration of how a gay boy finds a path towards acceptance, family, and a form of faith that allows him freedom as he reconsiders the Witnesses and forms different relationships over the course of his life proves hard to put down."" - Midwest Book Review ""A bold, uncompromising narrative recalling Dreiser and Zola and Gissing."" - Vincent Virga, author of The Gaywyck Quartet and A Comfortable Corner ""[A story] of survival, self-discovery, and acceptance ... relevant today and an excellent choice for LGBTQ+ readers struggling to find their way and accept who they are."" - Literary Titan Book Review

Author Information

Scott Terry was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, and spent his childhood praying for God and Armageddon to heal him of his homosexual thoughts. At the age of sixteen, he escaped from the Witness religion and was riding bulls in the rodeo as a gay cowboy.Scott's memoir, (Cowboys, Armageddon, and The Truth) was named one of the Top 20 Must Read Books of 2013 by Advocate magazine. It was named one of the best LGBT releases of 2012 by Out In Print and Band of Thebes book lists, and was a double-award winner of the Rainbow Book Awards (Best Gay Debut, and Best LGBT Non-Fiction, 2013). Scott's new novel, The Gift, is a work of fiction and scheduled for release in Fall 2024. Scott has written often for the San Francisco Chronicle, and his essays has been featured in the Huffington Post and Alternet Magazine, amongst others. Scott's rodeo gear, clothing, and championship buckles are in the permanent collection of the Autry Museum of the American West (Los Angeles), and are currently on display in the museum's Imagined Wests exhibit. He and his husband operate an organic farm in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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