Publishers Weekly
11/04/2019
Broadway producer Jackson chronicles his life as a gay man in America over the past 50 years in this heartfelt debut written as a letter to his college-bound gay son. Highlighting the differences between older and younger generations of the gay community, Jackson notes that he came out to his mother in 1984, at the height of the AIDS epidemic. He chronicles early sexual experiences; describes his relationships with his husband, theater owner Jordan Roth, and his son’s other father, actor B.D. Wong; thanks such mentors as actor Harvey Fierstein, who “modeled being a good gay citizen”; and celebrates the LGBTQ artists and writers who “showed me that my own thread of otherness is part of a great expanse of a bright human fabric.” He stresses the importance of knowing gay cultural and political history, and warns that the gay community’s “brief liberation has emboldened our adversaries,” including Donald Trump (who was a guest at his wedding to Roth). Jackson’s sincerity shines through, even when he takes a back seat in his own story to focus on the representative experiences of his generation. LGBTQ readers on both ends of the age spectrum will value this earnest attempt to build a bridge between generations. Agent: Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, William Morris Endeavor. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
"Richie Jackson beautifully captures the magic of love, life and what it means to be a parent in this beautiful must-read memoir. His powerful story reminds us all that being open to love and making it the central focus of our lives allows us to tap into our deepest inner wisdom." — Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global
"Gay Like Me is an invaluable chapbook for our times. Read it if you want to be reminded of what a long and valiant journey it's been for us queers and what hard-earned wisdom we now have to offer the young." — Armistead Maupin, bestselling author of Tales of the City and Logical Family
"A beautiful and important guide to understanding the queer journey. I wish I had this book to guide me when I was young, and to help my straight parents understand the complexity I was struggling with as a gay kid." — Jesse Tyler Ferguson, actor best known for portraying Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom Modern Family
"This much needed history lesson and often poetic love letter is a call to arms that should be required reading for all LGBTQ youth and their families. Each page is filled with love, rage and a dose of reality that reinforces the resiliency of LGBTQ people and reminds us all that the fight for LGBTQ equality and acceptance is far from over." — Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO & President of GLAAD
"If all fathers were as open, vulnerable, and wise as Richie Jackson, it would be a better world. The deep truth of his writing makes this a beautiful book." — Salman Rushdie, bestselling author of The Satanic Verses and The Golden House
“An invaluable book for all young LGBTQ people. Jackson wishes he had had a mentor when he was young, but now he has assumed that role for every reader of this heartfelt, wise, and compassionate book.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Jackson’s sincerity shines through, even when he takes a back seat in his own story to focus on the representative experiences of his generation. LGBTQ readers on both ends of the age spectrum will value this earnest attempt to build a bridge between generations.” — Publishers Weekly
“Richie uses his experiences growing up gay to talk to his son about family and friendship, sex and relationships, anger and citizenship. And by doing this, Richie has penned a love letter to our generation of gay men who fought for respect, helped secure rights and are now fearful of what lies ahead for the LGBTQ generation rising behind us.” — Jonathan Capehart, journalist at The Washington Post
"Jackson's first book, a letter to his gay son, is full of personal experience and sage advice...[It] is a love letter from one generation of gay men to another. Beautifully written with crystalline prose, most anyone could profit from reading this love letter from a parent to a child, whether they are gay or not." — Library Journal
“An endearing and practical guide to navigating the beauty and dangers of queer life in Trump's America.” — O, the Oprah Magazine
“In this moving, thoughtful letter to his gay son, Jackson spells out big, often unanswerable questions about life and love that go beyond any political achievement or pop-culture representation and get to the heart of what it means to be a person.” — Town & Country
Arianna Huffington
"Richie Jackson beautifully captures the magic of love, life and what it means to be a parent in this beautiful must-read memoir. His powerful story reminds us all that being open to love and making it the central focus of our lives allows us to tap into our deepest inner wisdom."
Booklist (starred review)
An invaluable book for all young LGBTQ people. Jackson wishes he had had a mentor when he was young, but now he has assumed that role for every reader of this heartfelt, wise, and compassionate book.
Armistead Maupin
"Gay Like Me is an invaluable chapbook for our times. Read it if you want to be reminded of what a long and valiant journey it's been for us queers and what hard-earned wisdom we now have to offer the young."
Sarah Kate Ellis
"This much needed history lesson and often poetic love letter is a call to arms that should be required reading for all LGBTQ youth and their families. Each page is filled with love, rage and a dose of reality that reinforces the resiliency of LGBTQ people and reminds us all that the fight for LGBTQ equality and acceptance is far from over."
Salman Rushdie
"If all fathers were as open, vulnerable, and wise as Richie Jackson, it would be a better world. The deep truth of his writing makes this a beautiful book."
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
"A beautiful and important guide to understanding the queer journey. I wish I had this book to guide me when I was young, and to help my straight parents understand the complexity I was struggling with as a gay kid."
the Oprah Magazine O
An endearing and practical guide to navigating the beauty and dangers of queer life in Trump's America.”
Jonathan Capehart
“Richie uses his experiences growing up gay to talk to his son about family and friendship, sex and relationships, anger and citizenship. And by doing this, Richie has penned a love letter to our generation of gay men who fought for respect, helped secure rights and are now fearful of what lies ahead for the LGBTQ generation rising behind us.
Town & Country
In this moving, thoughtful letter to his gay son, Jackson spells out big, often unanswerable questions about life and love that go beyond any political achievement or pop-culture representation and get to the heart of what it means to be a person.”
the Oprah Magazine O
An endearing and practical guide to navigating the beauty and dangers of queer life in Trump's America.”
Town & Country
In this moving, thoughtful letter to his gay son, Jackson spells out big, often unanswerable questions about life and love that go beyond any political achievement or pop-culture representation and get to the heart of what it means to be a person.”
Booklist (starred review)
An invaluable book for all young LGBTQ people. Jackson wishes he had had a mentor when he was young, but now he has assumed that role for every reader of this heartfelt, wise, and compassionate book.
O: the Oprah Magazine
An endearing and practical guide to navigating the beauty and dangers of queer life in Trump's America.”
CEO & President of GLAAD Sarah Kate Ellis
"This much needed history lesson and often poetic love letter is a call to arms that should be required reading for all LGBTQ youth and their families. Each page is filled with love, rage and a dose of reality that reinforces the resiliency of LGBTQ people and reminds us all that the fight for LGBTQ equality and acceptance is far from over."
Salman Rushdie bestselling author of The Satanic Verses and The Golden House
"If all fathers were as open, vulnerable, and wise as Richie Jackson, it would be a better world. The deep truth of his writing makes this a beautiful book."
Library Journal
12/01/2019
Like the famous letter of James Baldwin to his nephew in The Fire Next Time, Jackson's first book, a letter to his gay son, is full of personal experience and sage advice. This beautifully written book is a love letter from one generation of gay men to another. Jackson, a Broadway, television and film producer (Shortbus, Nurse Jackie), reflects on his life while imparting to his son the lessons he's learned throughout his life about topics such as falling in love and being knowledgeable about LGBTQ history. He writes eloquently about surviving the AIDS epidemic, and argues convincingly about the conflict between the joys of being gay and the struggles it sometimes entails. Many will be able to relate to his descriptions of coming out, along with his first sexual experience, or observe these same occasions with heartfelt recognition. Jackson's observations on the AIDS quilt are especially touching. VERDICT Beautifully written with crystalline prose, most anyone could profit from reading this love letter from a parent to a child, whether they are gay or not.—David Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia
Kirkus Reviews
2019-10-07
A father advises his son on their mutual homosexuality—the reasons to celebrate and the challenges they face—in a book that shows what has changed in recent decades and what hasn't.
As his older son prepared to leave for college, TV producer Jackson wrote to him, "I am enthused for the flight ahead of you; I am apprehensive of the fight ahead of you." The author was enthused because he attributes so much of what has enriched his life to his sexual orientation. He says that he would choose to be gay. He also knew early on that he would choose to be a father, and he clearly loves that his son can experience the same joy in his sexual identity as he has. However, he also fears that he and his husband have minimized the ongoing threat of homophobia in giving their son a safe and sheltered childhood. "You are leaving home and entering a riptide of hate," writes Jackson, "and we taught you as a child never to swim directly into a riptide, always swim with it, parallel to where you want to be. Not so with this fierce current. Here you have to join the battle to fight just as I did. The only way to safe shore is forward." Though the narrative only presents one side of the conversation, the author acknowledges that his son thinks being gay isn't that big a deal and that the emphasis his father places on it is anachronistic in a time of pride marches, gay marriage, and legal advances. Jackson, however, sees abundant evidence of backsliding in the age of Trump, who, ironically, was an enthusiastic guest at the author's wedding. "The grief, the dread, the fear, the carefulness, is my ball and chain," writes Jackson. "It goes where I go. You are not weighted down by any of this. It's a history lesson for you." He wants his son to internalize that history.
An easily digestible collection of lessons recommended for readers struggling with their sexual identities.
