Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith and Family
Written by Garrard Conley
Narrated by Christopher Ragland
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING LUCAS HEDGES, RUSSELL CROWE AND NICOLE KIDMAN, AND WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY JOEL EDGERTON
‘A necessary, beautiful book’ Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You
‘A brilliant memoir’ Guardian
The son of a Baptist pastor and deeply embedded in church life in small town Arkansas, as a young man Garrard Conley was terrified and conflicted about his sexuality.
When Garrard was a nineteen-year-old college student, he was outed to his parents, and was forced to make a life-changing decision: either agree to attend a church-supported conversion therapy program that promised to “cure” him of homosexuality; or risk losing family, friends, and the God he had prayed to every day of his life. Through an institutionalised Twelve-Step Program heavy on Bible study, he was supposed to emerge heterosexual, ex-gay, cleansed of impure urges and stronger in his faith in God for his brush with sin. Instead, even when faced with a harrowing and brutal journey, Garrard found the strength and understanding to break out in search of his true self and forgiveness.
By confronting his buried past and the burden of a life lived in shadow, Garrard traces the complex relationships among family, faith, and community. At times heartbreaking, at times triumphant, this memoir is a testament to love that survives despite all odds.
More audiobooks from Garrard Conley
Boy Erased: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the World Beside: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Boy Erased
Related audiobooks
Growing Up Queer in Australia Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The ABC's of LGBT+ Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hold My Hand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing Will Be Different: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Work in Progress: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Telltale Heart Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Everyone Versus Racism: A Letter to My Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fourteen: My year of darkness, and the light that followed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Never a Girl, Always a Boy: A Family Memoir of a Transgender Journey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Follow Me Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Scorpio Hates Virgo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Invisible Boys Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stand-Off Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prettiest Star Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twelve Years a Slave Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5After Francesco Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gay the Pray Away Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Queer, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Branded by the Pink Triangle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Between Enzo and the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Park Cruising: What Happens When We Wander Off the Path Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Frankenstein Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Drag Teen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Diversify Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
LGBTQIA+ Biographies For You
Pageboy: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Burst of Light: and Other Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: Built for This: The Quiet Strength of Powerlifting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: My Year of Psychedelics: Lessons on Better Living Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Note to Self Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Another Word for Love: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unprotected: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Everybody (Else) Is Perfect: How I Survived Hypocrisy, Beauty, Clicks, and Likes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How We Fight For Our Lives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heaven Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Creep: Accusations and Confessions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You’re That B*tch: & Other Cute Stories About Being Unapologetically Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lot Six: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks, 1941–1995 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Have Something to Tell You: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fixed Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Queen Unseen Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5README.txt: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Logical Family: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letter to a Bigot: Dead But Not Forgotten Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Light Streamed Beneath It: A Memoir of Grief and Celebration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lucky Jim Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Greedy: Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You're That Bitch: & Other Cute Lessons About Being Unapologetically Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Boy Erased
121 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5tale of a young man who, as a result of his homosexuality, is targeted by fundamentalist Christians. That his parents approved of this treatment is the saddest part.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Garrard Conley is gay and finally comes out to his parents. His father is a Baptist minister. He grew up in a strict, but loving home. His parents send him to a Tennessee program called "Love in Action" a gay conversion program. Garrard is sometimes able to stay with his mother in a motel when she visits. He tells her of the program. In time, his parents come to realize the program isn't working and they must accept him as he is.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The heartbreaking memoir of a boy who is sent to a conversion therapy camp to be taught about the evils of homosexuality. The "pray away the gay" mentality causes unbelievable damage to the people in the program. The memoir itself is slow moving. My book club selected this one and although I hate hearing about the pain the author went through trying to understand his sexuality in relation to his faith, it was good to learn about his experience to better understand the struggles so many others have faced.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It's easy to see why this story would make a good movie, but I have not seen the movie. Although I appreciate Garrard Conley's story, I didn't love the book. This “pray away the gay” movement infuriates me, and this glimpse into what happens in one of these programs is enlightening and disturbing. The movement seems to have lost steam, although I wonder if it is gaining steam again under today's too conservative bent. Mr. Conley was honest and forthright, but the book didn't touch my heart the way I expected it to. Once out of the program, he seemed to minimize what is happening in his life now. Still, an interesting and sad story.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conley's book is jolting, enlightening and inspiring. He adeptly tackles a timely issue and explores it in a riveting way. I do agree with some reviews that suggest the narrative gets a bit disjointed at times. But it's an important work that provides many valuable insights.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I've often struggled with understanding how fundamental faith, and religion an play a part in a gay man's journey. I haven't personally had to deal with these factors, and so haven't ever understood that level of shame.
This memoir, in its beautiful prose, opened a door into the mind of a young man struggling with just that. How do you come to terms and love yourself for who you are without losing your relationship with God. Especially when everyone is telling you that God will not love you if you accept this part of yourself.
This memoir was haunting, and horrible, and devastating, and beautiful. Conley is a wonderful writer, and was able to capture the conflicts of his mind and heart in a pure and raw way that allowed me as a reader to feel every ache, and doubt with him.
I think this is an important memoir, and one that needs telling. While it may no longer be as widely recognized, conversion therapy exists still today, and Conley's epilogue alone is proof of the long lasting, potentially permanent, damage it can do to someone.
This is not an easy memoir to get through and it certainly took a toll on me while reading. Yet, regardless of how hard it was, I felt it necessary. Certainly necessary for different reasons for different readers. For me, it allowed me to understand a part of my own community that I didn't before. For someone struggling with religion and their sexuality, it an help them to see someone else going through the same struggle, feeling the same things. Amid, other important take away's for other readers I'm sure.
It's important to tell as many of our communities stories as possible to show the wide range of human soul's these prejudices impact.
There were so many times that I wanted to scream, to cry, to reach out and take Garrard by the shoulders and promise it will be ok.
This book got to me. I think, if you read it, it will get to you too. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Beautifully written, but meandering and a bit dull. I am not sure why I didn't feel pulled in or broadened by this. I feel saddened by the damage to this man and his family caused by faulty theology and faultier psychology, and I can feel the memoirist's pain, and his sense of catharsis in writing. Still I wasn't drawn in. I think I needed to understand his parents better as people, not in relation to him, to get a handle on what happened but I am not sure. Maybe I was just the wrong reader?
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is one of the most devestating, beautifully-written books I've read in a long time. Boy Erased is an incredibly revealing look at Garrard Conley's experience growing up in fundamentalist Christianity, his rape and subsequent outing to his parents, and his time spent in conversion therapy.
There are some big things that really struck me about the book and have kept me thinking about it long after I finished reading it.
Firstly, the sheer honesty of this book. I commend Conley for how open he is throughout this book and the extent to which he is willing to be vulnerable on the page. It makes the book so powerful.
Secondly, the overall feeling of the book. With the subject matter covered, it would be so easy for book to be angry or resentful. Ultimately, though, Conley writes with a great deal of compassion and love. In a lot of ways, the book mirrors what can be the experience of growing up with fundamentalist Christianity: an uncomfortable and confusing juxtaposition of love and hurt.
Finally, there's the form of conversion therapy depicted in the book. While there are some forms out there that use electroshock, for example, the type shown in Boy Erased is mainly based on talk, acting things out, or drawing family trees. It's not the dramatic type that we often see portrayed in popular culture, but its effects are absolutely devastating.
And I think it's that last factor that is the most powerful, especially in this political climate. There are a lot of harmful things worked into political platforms, and advocated by politicians and religious leaders. It's worked right into our culture, it's insidious, and it's something that we all need to be aware of.
I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the absolutely beautiful writing style. This book is hard to read but also completely beautiful at the same time. Highly recommended. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5At times I wanted to just hold him, to create a safe place for him. Compelling, I listened through the first half of the book on a long day. I had to take a break and process my feeling as well as how I thought the book may end.