First published 2010
Gary Gray stands nineteen years old at Central Florida Christian College, one week before marrying his devout girlfriend who shares his passion for Disney World. Both want children. Both fear God. Then Gary enters a highway rest stop bathroom and allows something to happen that changes everything. His testimony unfolds as a young Black Christian man torn between his wife's love and his hunger for men. Religious visions and desperation drive Gary from revival tents to Atlanta's gay scene to a Memphis ministry promising to pray away homosexuality. His journey reveals the brutal reality of living split between desire and doctrine, between the man he loves and the men he craves. Gary's singular voice carries readers through each impossible choice as he searches for a way to reconcile his faith with his truth.
Genres: fiction, contemporary, religion
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, faith-crisis
Setting: Central Florida, Atlanta, Memphis
Period: 21st-century
304 pages · Paperback · Grove Press
Content warnings: homophobia