Synopses & Reviews
Between the ages of twelve and fifteen, Martin Moran had a sexual relationship with an older man, a counselor he' d met at a Catholic boys' camp. Almost thirty years later, at the age of forty-two, he set out to find and face his abuser.
The Tricky Part tells the story of this relationship and its complex effect on the man Moran became. He grew up in an exemplary Irish Catholic family— his great aunt was a cloistered nun; his father, a newspaper reporter. They might have lived in the Denver neighborhood of Virginia Vale, but they belonged to Christ the King, the church and school up the hill. And the lessons Martin absorbed, as a good Catholic boy, were filled with the fraught mysteries of the spirit and the flesh.
Into that world came Bob— a Vietnam vet carving a ranch-camp out of the mountain wilderness, showing the boys under his care how to milk cows, mend barbed wire fence, and raft rivers. He drove a six-wheeled International Harvester truck; he could read the stars like a map. He also noticed a young boy who seemed a little unsure of himself, and he introduced that boy to the secret at the center of bodies.
Told with startling candor and disarming humor, The Tricky Part carries us to the heart of a paradox— that what we think of as damage may be the very thing that gives rise to transformation, even grace.
" Martin Moran has written a story about difficult, painful and deeply personal events in his life with uncommon generosity and decency. The story is shocking, even brutal, but I felt cleansed at its end. He has found compassion where I would have thought there was none. When art does that, it enriches us, and his book isart."
— Terrence McNally, Tony Award– winning author of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
" A beautiful book. Martin Moran is a graceful, witty, perceptive writer, remarkably brave, free of self-pity— his spirit, manifest on every page, is discerning and generous to the point of radiance. He' s a scrupulous and precise rememberer and explorer, and because he refuses simplification for the sake of judgment and yet insists on the necessity of rendering judgment, The Tricky Part is fully human, unsettling and wise."
— Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America
" Those of us— and we are legion— whose innocence has not been lost so much as taken, have a choice. We can remain children and insist on a black and white vision of perpetrators and victims, or, like Martin Moran, we can grow up. We can arrive at the understanding that love is only as pure, or as whole, or as beautiful, as the always imperfect beings who offer and demand it."
— Kathryn Harrison, author of The Kiss
" Martin Moran not only writes unflinchingly about the sexual abuse of a child, he expands it into a meditation on suffering, despair, forgiveness, redemption, and the mysterious workings of grace. He elevates the confessional to the level of art."
— Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours
" Martin Moran has written an account of a childhood at once conventional and nearly unfathomable. A deep, tempered spirit shines through every page, by turns understated and dazzling, wildly comic and gut wrenching."
— Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
" A tender, searingly honest, and heartbreaking account of the legacy of sexual violation. Moran bravely unveils the tricky part: the paradoxical worlds of longing and shame, the erotic and the reviled, the profane and the sacred all living in one act, one man, one life. Gorgeously written, the book is a divine literary and spiritual exorcism."
— Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues
" In an age where reality television exploits intimacy, and tell-all autobiographies have become endemic, Martin Moran' s book restores faith in the literary memoir. In documenting his troubling childhood relationship with a much older man, he eschews ready sensationalism and— instead— bravely articulates the complexities that color even the most taboo relationships. And he accomplishes it all with a prose style that is rich, immediate and constantly surprising. His is a book both haunting and profound."
— Doug Wright, author of Quills and winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for I Am My Own Wife
" The Tricky Part is that rare, triumphant thing— a book so bravely remembered and so fully imagined as to be capable of rendering a life in all of its moral complexity."
— Richard McCann, author of Mother of Sorrows
Synopsis
A story of a Roman Catholic boy's sexual abuse and its complex effect upon the man he became.
Synopsis
Martin Moran"s family lived in a Denver neighborhood called Virginia Vale. But what seemed most central, most important, was that they belonged to Christ the King—the church and school up the hill. And what Martin learned, as a good Catholic boy, was that the Hereafter was what counted; the here—fickle and unreliable—was the problem.
Martin"s world changed abruptly when, at the age of twelve, a church-camp counselor seduced him. New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley—praising Moran"s one-act play, The Tricky Part, for the quiet victory of "rendering chaos with this kind of clarity"—called his telling of this event "a crystalline accumulation of moments."
In his memoir Moran takes us deeper into the ongoing sexual relationship that followed the seduction, and for the first time he explores its effects upon his adult life. And finally—in a scene of stunning power and restraint—Moran confronts the perpetrator, now an old man in a veteran"s hospital.
In examining the paradoxes of human relationships, Moran manages to uncover divine grace in the most unlikely forms.
Synopsis
Between the ages of twelve and fifteen, Martin Moran had a sexual relationship with an older man, a counselor hed met at a Catholic boys camp. Almost thirty years later, at the age of forty-two, he set out to find and face his abuser.
The Tricky Part tells the story of this relationship and its complex effect on the man Moran became. He grew up in an exemplary Irish Catholic familyhis great aunt was a cloistered nun; his father, a newspaper reporter. They might have lived in the Denver neighborhood of Virginia Vale, but they belonged toChrist the King, the church and school up the hill. And the lessons Martin absorbed, as a good Catholic boy, were filled with the fraught mysteries of the spirit and the flesh.
Into that world came Boba Vietnam vet carving a ranch-camp out of the mountain wilderness, showing the boys under his care how to milk cows, mend barbed wire fence, and raft rivers. He drove a six-wheeled International Harvester truck; he could read the stars like a map. He also noticed a young boy who seemed a little unsure of himself, and he introduced that boy to the secret at the center of bodies.
Told with startling candor and disarming humor, The Tricky Part carries us to the heart of a paradoxthat what we think of as damage may be the very thing that gives rise to transformation, even grace.
Martin Moran has written a story about difficult, painful and deeply personal events in his life with uncommon generosity and decency. The story is shocking, even brutal, but I felt cleansed at its end. He has found compassion where I would have thought there was none. When art does that, it enriches us, and his book is art.” Terrence McNally, Tony Awardwinning author of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
A beautiful book. Martin Moran is a graceful, witty, perceptive writer, remarkably brave, free of self-pityhis spirit, manifest on every page, is discerning and generous to the point of radiance. Hes a scrupulous and precise rememberer and explorer, and because he refuses simplification for the sake of judgment and yet insists on the necessity of rendering judgment, The Tricky Part is fully human, unsettling and wise.” Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America
Those of usand we are legionwhose innocence has not been lost so much as taken, have a choice. We can remain children and insist on a black and white vision of perpetrators and victims, or, like Martin Moran, we can grow up. We can arrive at the understanding that love is only as pure, or as whole, or as beautiful, as the always imperfect beings who offer and demand it.” Kathryn Harrison, author of The Kiss
Martin Moran not only writes unflinchingly about the sexual abuse of a child, he expands it into a meditation on suffering, despair, forgiveness, redemption, and the mysterious workings of grace. He elevates the confessional to the level of art.” Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours
Martin Moran has written an account of a childhood at once conventional and nearly unfathomable. A deep, tempered spirit shines through every page, by turns understated and dazzling, wildly comic and gut wrenching.” Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
A tender, searingly honest, and heartbreaking account of the legacy of sexual violation. Moran bravely unveils the tricky part: the paradoxical worlds of longing and shame, the erotic and the reviled, the profane and the sacred all living in one act, one man, one life. Gorgeously written, the book is a divine literary and spiritual exorcism.” Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues
In an age where reality television exploits intimacy, and tell-all autobiographies have become endemic, Martin Morans book restores faith in the literary memoir. In documenting his troubling childhood relationship with a much older man, he eschews ready sensationalism andinsteadbravely articulates the complexities that color even the most taboo relationships. And he accomplishes it all with a prose style that is rich, immediate and constantly surprising. His is a book both haunting and profound.” Doug Wright, author of Quills and winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for I Am My Own Wife
The Tricky Part is that rare, triumphant thinga book so bravely remembered and so fully imagined as to be capable of rendering a life in all of its moral complexity.” Richard McCann, author of Mother of Sorrows
Synopsis
A tender, searingly honest, and heartbreaking account of the legacy of sexual violation, Moran bravely unveils the tricky part: The paradoxical worlds of longing and shame, the erotic and the reviled, the profane and the sacred all living in one act, one man, one life.
Synopsis
Between the ages of twelve and fifteen, Martin Moran had a sexual relationship with an older man, a counselor he'd met at a Catholic boys' camp. Almost thirty years later, at the age of forty-two, he set out to find and face his abuser.
The Tricky Part tells the story of this relationship and its complex effect on the man Moran became. He grew up in an exemplary Irish Catholic family-his great aunt was a cloistered nun; his father, a newspaper reporter. They might have lived in the Denver neighborhood of Virginia Vale, but they belonged to Christ the King, the church and school up the hill. And the lessons Martin absorbed, as a good Catholic boy, were filled with the fraught mysteries of the spirit and the flesh.
Into that world came Bob-a Vietnam vet carving a ranch-camp out of the mountain wilderness, showing the boys under his care how to milk cows, mend barbed wire fence, and raft rivers. He drove a six-wheeled International Harvester truck; he could read the stars like a map. He also noticed a young boy who seemed a little unsure of himself, and he introduced that boy to the secret at the center of bodies.
Told with startling candor and disarming humor, The Tricky Part carries us to the heart of a paradox-that what we think of as damage may be the very thing that gives rise to transformation, even grace.
About the Author
Martin Moran makes his living as an actor and writer in New York City. He has appeared in many Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, including Titanic, Cabaret, Bells Are Ringing, and Floyd Collins. He won a 2004 Obie Award for his one-man play, The Tricky Part, which New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley praised for the quiet victory of "rendering chaos with this kind of clarity." Moran continues to perform The Tricky Part all over the country.