Steven Gaines' powerful memoir One of These Things First has been chosen by the Boston Globe as one of the best books of 2016! Click here to see the full list!
An incredible recounting of Gaines' boyhood in pre-gentrified Brooklyn, his perilous process of self-discovery as he came to realize he was gay, and his subsequent time spent in the infamous Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic attempting to be "cured" of his homosexuality, One of These Things First is ripe with lush detail and stunning prose. It's simply a must-read.
To celebrate its inclusion in the Boston Globe's "best of" list, who called it a “deeply affecting memoir of growing up gay in the 1950s that somehow turns poignantly humorous when a teenage Gaines talks his way into a fabulous private mental hospital after a suicide attempt," we will send a copy of the book to the first 5 people to email us at librarylovefest@harpercollins.com.
-Chris