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A review by erickibler4
The End of Eddy by Édouard Louis
3.0
This is an autobiographical novel, a coming of age story about growing up gay in a working class community in France. Surprisingly (to me anyway), the same narrow-minded, bigoted status quo that exists in many small towns in the U.S. also exists in France. This book is almost a companion piece to J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy in its description of growing up in a family that is under-employed, with little respect for education, and with substance abuse issues.
Being effeminate in his voice and mannerisms from an early age, Eddy is bullied and stigmatized, especially after being sodomized at the age of by a fifteen year old cousin and another neighborhood friend. The cousin even bragged of the incident around school, but somehow the "gay" label only attached to Eddy, and not his cousin.
His parents love him, but their love is tinged with verbal cruelty, as they don't know what to do with him beyond trying to make him conform to local norms. His father is an alcoholic, and his mother is harried and neglectful.
Compared with Vance's book, Eddy's story seems self-pitying and a bit vindictive against his parents, who seemed to fail at parenting through not knowing any better, rather than through downright malevolence. Still, it's a compelling read, and if it is the first gay coming of age memoir you've ever read, it may stick with you.
Being effeminate in his voice and mannerisms from an early age, Eddy is bullied and stigmatized, especially after being sodomized at the age of by a fifteen year old cousin and another neighborhood friend. The cousin even bragged of the incident around school, but somehow the "gay" label only attached to Eddy, and not his cousin.
His parents love him, but their love is tinged with verbal cruelty, as they don't know what to do with him beyond trying to make him conform to local norms. His father is an alcoholic, and his mother is harried and neglectful.
Compared with Vance's book, Eddy's story seems self-pitying and a bit vindictive against his parents, who seemed to fail at parenting through not knowing any better, rather than through downright malevolence. Still, it's a compelling read, and if it is the first gay coming of age memoir you've ever read, it may stick with you.