Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Family Outing: Due Out June 16



I mentioned that last week, Troy Johnson stopped by to drop off a copy of his memoir, Family Outing: What Happened When I Found Out My Mother Was Gay that is coming out on June 16th by Arcade Publishing. I've been meaning to write about it because I could not put it down and finished it in just a couple nights.

As most San Diegans are familiar with Troy from his days at CityBeat & FoxRox, as well as his Padres pre-game show and now the gameshow on Channel 4, I imagine most people who know Troy might read the book a little different than someone who doesn't know him. As a friend, it was hard not to feel like I was secretly reading a friend's diary. And as we're used to the way he speaks, it was hard not to feel like Troy was reading me his own diary, as it is very much written in his immistakable voice.

The book takes you on a time travel through Troy's life growing up- all of his insecurity and arrogance, sensitivity and brashness, chauvanism and adoration of women. It follows a general time line starting back when he got the news (quite awfully and awkwardly, I might add) but some of the chapters move quickly through time when related to a specific theme, like being sent away then references to how that time affected him in his later years. It's perhaps heartbreaking at times but easy to know that Troy is all good now (er, relatively :) makes some of those awkward and cringeworthy moments outright hilarious. As for his relationship with his mom, I'll let you read the book for all of that, but it's all very relatable; I mean especially when you're a tween, you're not really supposed to like your parents all that much anyway, then you grow up and realize you wouldn't have had it any other way.

Congrats, Troy, you wrote yourself a great first book.

Check out the MySpace page and catch one of the readings if you get the chance:

Jun 12 2008 7:00P "FAMILY OUTING" reading @ Barnes & Noble Mira Mesa
Jun 18 2008 10:30A "FAMILY OUTING" on "THESE DAYS" (KPBS 89.5FM radio)
Jun 19 2008 7:00P "FAMILY OUTING" reading @ Borders Mission Valley
Jun 20 2008 9:00P Book Release Party @ The Whistlestop (w/ Joanie Mendenhall and Angela Correa)

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