From Publishers Weekly
At age 12, sitting on the bathroom floor of his family's home, Lisicky (Lawnboy) writes in his head a song he plans to send to The Partridge Family's producers, and dreams of becoming a famous builder like Bill Levitt: "I want those who drive through my communities to be socked in the head with the sheer beauty of all they see." While the specters of building, dwelling in and defining one's self through houses populate this memoir, Lisicky never does become a builder. An accomplished composer and singer, Lisicky begins recording contemporary liturgical music for Folk Mass Today and slowly discovers his talent for writing. His prose-as vivid as it is ethereal-gracefully transports readers to the artist's interior world as he attempts to find the appropriate outlet for his self-expression. Recalling the winding journey towards adulthood, Lisicky meditates on his family's struggles ("You're just a Slovak. You're no better then the rest of us," says his brother of their father's determination to earn a degree in electrical engineering late in life); the family's journey from a working-class Pennsylvania town to the middle-class New Jersey suburbs; as well as his coming to terms with his sexuality. By the book's end, Lisicky moves into maturity while in his 30s in Provincetown, where he finally meets his partner, poet Mark Doty. There are moments of clear, perfect memory (his mother's swinging bell bottoms, boxes of Christmas tree ornaments, and Joni Mitchell's songs' harmonic structures are rendered in stark detail) structural elements of this memoir's "sheer beauty."
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Lisicky grew up in the suburbs, but he is anything but a typical suburban kid, and what sets this memoir apart is the lyricism, humor, and refreshing candor with which he describes his life. At age nine, he was inspired by the example of Bill Levitt of Levittown fame to design his own suburban communities, with varied homes and imaginative street names. At age 14, no longer interested in being a famous builder, his creativity found expression in composing liturgical music, an outgrowth of his participation in a church choir. Though many of his compositions were published, he abandoned this path in college, as it did not gel with the person he was becoming. As an adult, he has pursued his literary aspirations while adjusting to his homosexual orientation. He has since published the celebrated novel Lawnboy and currently teaches fiction and creative nonfiction at Sarah Lawrence College. He believes in the "poetry of building" and describes his sexual awakening and experiences with openness and honesty in a way that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, can relate to. Recommended for public and academic libraries. Gina Kaiser, Univ. of the Sciences in Philadelphia Lib.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
