Synopses & Reviews
The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy is The Houston Press's Best Houston Book of the Year for 2008.
In the Dear John letter Daddy left for Mother and me, on a Saturday afternoon in early June 1996, on the inlaid Florentine table in the front entry of our house, which we found that night upon returning from a day spent in the crème-colored light of Neimans, Daddy wrote that he was leaving us because Mother was crazy, and because shed driven me crazy in a way that perfectly suited her own insanity.
In a memoir studded with delicious lines and unforgettable set pieces, Robert Leleux describes his East Texas boyhood and coming of age under the tutelage of his eccentric, bewigged, flamboyant, and knowing mother.
Left high and dry by Daddy and living on their in-laws horse ranch in a white-pillared house they cant afford, Robert and Mother find themselves chronically low on cash. Soon they are forced into more modest quarters, and as a teenaged Robert watches with hilarity and horror, Mother begins a desperate regimen of makeovers, extreme plastic surgeries, and finally hairpiece epoxies---all calculated to secure a new, wealthy husband.
Mothers strategy takes her, with Robert in tow, from the glamorous environs of the Neiman Marcus beauty salon to questionable surgery offices and finally to a storefront clinic on the wrong side of Houston. Meanwhile, Robert begins his own journey away from Mother and through the local theaters world of miscast hopefuls and thwarted ambitions---and into a romance that surprises absolutely no one but himself.
Written with a warmth and a wicked sense of fun that lighten even the most awful circumstances, The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy is a sparkling debut.
Review
"Like most young memoirists, Leleux finds himself and his family always more fascinating than the reader may, but he displays a nice self-effacing wit, a talent for constructing funny scenes, and a genuinely sweet spirit that engages the readers sympathy." Booklist
Review
"I never really thought much about having a gay son until I read The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy and laughed out loud so often I thought I'd better keep this book on hand in case I ever need to cure myself of a terminal disease. When I finished the book, I missed Robert Leleux's company so much, I wished he were my own son so I could call and hear his answer to, 'So, sweetie, how was your day?'" Beverly Donofrio, author of Riding in Cars with Boys
Review
"Reader, stand back! Here's Robert Leleux, the funniest young writer to appear in who knows when, with a maelstrom of a mother straight out of hell and Neiman Marcus, talking his way into the affections of readers everywhere with a wicked tongue tempered barely by a big generous heart." Mark Doty, author of Dog Years, Firebird, and Heaven's Coast
Synopsis
In a memoir studded with delicious lines and unforgettable set pieces, Leleux describes his east Texas boyhood and coming of age, under the tutelage of his eccentric, bewigged, flamboyant, and knowing mother.
Synopsis
In the Dear John letter Daddy left for Mother and me, on a Saturday afternoon in early June 1996, on the inlaid Florentine table in the front entry of our house, which we found that night upon returning from a day spent in the crème-colored light of Neiman's, Daddy wrote that he was leaving us because Mother was crazy, and because she'd driven me crazy in a way that perfectly suited her own insanity.
In a memoir studded with delicious lines and unforgettable set pieces, Robert Leleux describes his East Texas boyhood and coming of age under the tutelage of his eccentric, bewigged, flamboyant, and knowing mother.
Left high and dry by Daddy and living on their in-laws' horse ranch in a white-pillared house they can't afford, Robert and Mother find themselves chronically low on cash. Soon they are forced into more modest quarters, and as a teenaged Robert watches with hilarity and horror, Mother begins a desperate regimen of makeovers, extreme plastic surgeries, and finally hairpiece epoxies all calculated to secure a new, wealthy husband.
Mother's strategy takes her, with Robert in tow, from the glamorous environs of the Neiman Marcus beauty salon to questionable surgery offices and finally to a storefront clinic on the wrong side of Houston. Meanwhile, Robert begins his own journey away from Mother and through the local theater's world of miscast hopefuls and thwarted ambitions and into a romance that surprises absolutely no one but himself.
Written with a warmth and a wicked sense of fun that lighten even the most awful circumstances, The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy is a sparkling debut.
Synopsis
In the Dear John letter Daddy left for Mother and me, on a Saturday afternoon in early June 1996, on the inlaid Florentine table in the front entry of our house, which we found that night upon returning from a day spent in the crème-colored light of Neimans, Daddy wrote that he was leaving us because Mother was crazy, and because shed driven me crazy in a way that perfectly suited her own insanity.
In a memoir studded with delicious lines and unforgettable set pieces, Robert Leleux describes his East Texas boyhood and coming of age under the tutelage of his eccentric, bewigged, flamboyant, and knowing mother.
Left high and dry by Daddy and living on their in-laws horse ranch in a white-pillared house they cant afford, Robert and Mother find themselves chronically low on cash. Soon they are forced into more modest quarters, and as a teenaged Robert watches with hilarity and horror, Mother begins a desperate regimen of makeovers, extreme plastic surgeries, and finally hairpiece epoxies---all calculated to secure a new, wealthy husband.
Mothers strategy takes her, with Robert in tow, from the glamorous environs of the Neiman Marcus beauty salon to questionable surgery offices and finally to a storefront clinic on the wrong side of Houston. Meanwhile, Robert begins his own journey away from Mother and through the local theaters world of miscast hopefuls and thwarted ambitions---and into a romance that surprises absolutely no one but himself.
Written with a warmth and a wicked sense of fun that lighten even the most awful circumstances, The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy is a sparkling debut.
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About the Author
Robert Leleux teaches creative writing in the New York city schools. His nonfiction pieces have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Texas Observer, and elsewhere. He lives with his husband, Michael Leleux, in Manhattan.
Reading Group Guide
1. What are some of your favorite of Mothers “quotable phrases” in Memoirs? Which of her words-to-be-embroidered did you find particularly funny, offensive, profound—or all of the above? 2. Robert spent most Saturday mornings at Neiman Marcus with Mother. What does he learn there about style and sophistication, art and artifice, and—most important—his identity? Discuss the department store as microcosm in Roberts world, and our own. 3. Take a moment to talk about Mothers desire for— and her attempts to be found desirable by—a wealthy new man. Do you believe she was desperate, or just deluded? Do you judge her for embodying the cliché of a Texas gold-digger? Or do you have sympathy for her as a so-called starter wife? 4. How do you feel about Daddy in Memoirs? Is he worthy of contempt? Or does he deserve forgiveness? What is your lasting impression of him, after the conversation he has with Robert on the phone? 5. What would have been different for Daddy and Mother has they given birth to a beautiful girl instead of Robert? Discuss your theories about what this family might have been like. 6. What does it mean to be “beautiful” in the context of this memoir? Is beauty skin-deep? Is it masculine or feminine? Coveted or feared? 7. How did Robert escape his small-town circumstances by joining the theater? In what ways— metaphorically and literally—does role-playing parallel ones coming-of-age? How did Robert eventually assume the role of his own true self? 8. Discuss the significance of Roberts dream in which he appears as a guest on the Barbara Walters Special, and Barbara tells him: “Youre under the impression that the story of your life is your mothers story. But in time youll realize that the story of your life is your own.” 9. “My time in public school taught me the lesson every gay boy learns fast,” writes Robert. “That language is the weapon of the powerless.” Talk about Roberts path toward leading a literary life. 10. Now that you have read the material in this guide, do you feel differently about the author, or his mother? Were any of their insights surprising to you? How?