He grew up in a small town in New England in the 1950's, watching lassie, going to church, getting straight A's at school, a scholar destined for success. But he already had a secret, and his public life with family and friends was already a constant round of ventriloquism as he played the joker and pretended to be the same as everyone else. For Paul Monette was gay.

BECOMING A MAN is about growing up gay, and about the tyranny and self denial of the closet - one man's struggle, for half his life, to come out. From the white-bread 1950's through the rebellious 1960's to the self-creating 1970's and beyond, it forms a passionately honest and unsparing account of the tortures of living a lie, a naked protrait of one man's fight for freedom in a time of ignorance and bigotry.

"A profound tale, wrenching as it is life-affirming, poetic as it is uncompromisingly real." - VILLAGE VOICE

"A daring and heartbreaking memoir." - BOSTON GLOBE

"Affirmative and ultimately celebratory." - NEW YORK TIMES

"Everyone can learn about courage and self-discovery from BECOMING A MAN." - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

"Searingly honest and lyrically beautiful...an unforgettable account of growing up gay in America." - Esquire