Customer Reviews

Johnny in the Spot

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4 star:		(4)
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The author teaches us a lot about disability that many of us probably don't think about. He also reminds us that we must have the confidence to be who we want to be.

The story of the main character's (Johnny spokain) adolescence, is almost haunting. It reminds me of a stephen king story in its portrayal of the nasty things that children and adults do. I don't want to mislead anyone, though. The story rings very true.

If you want to read a great story and with lots of substance and you don't mind reflecting on adolescence, I would recomend this book for you.

Author, Ed Gallagher, has not only broken the "glass ceiling" in literature for gays, but also slayed the demons that haunt them.

In a world where gay men are strictly defined as effeminate, weak, un-athletic sissy's who smile submissively with limp wrists, Ed Gallagher violates our cultural, societal, and global hallucinations. Gay men in general, and gay jocks in particular, will revel in the main character's revolution from within as he wrestles with such socially proscribed apparitions, and, surprisingly, survives as himself.

This book is for everyone - women and men, young and old, black and white, straight and gay, those with disabilities and those without. It is for anyone whose power has been limited by a lack of self-esteem and is inspired by gay men, whose self-esteem is making the deepest revolution.

One great strength of Johnny In the Spot is how Ed Gallagher makes the everyday details of disabled life such well-integrated story elements. By talking about the "real stuff," Gallagher satisfies the reader's curiosity about spinal injury while making Johnny neither heroic nor pitiful, but simply a man with life challenges different from the average guy's.

On its face, Johnny in the Spot is a brutally honest, thinly disguised autobiographical narrative of author Ed Gallagher's journey through the painful confusion of puberty and the profound effect it had on his life. There's acne, fumbling love, greasy fries, and a head strong father. Typical teenage stuff to which all of us can relate. But how about if you're gay? Whether gay or straight, Gallagher wants us to know that there's really no discerable difference in our struggle to evolve into productive adulthood-societal standards notwithstanding. For Johnny, standards are arbitrary, fashionable, and pernicious. They only parlay additional burdens on a gay teen who 's struggling mightly with the typical and socially acceptable teenage pressures. The result is far less devastating in the book than it is for the author, who attempted suicide and cheated death with a severe spinal cord injury. Perhaps Gallagher's predominant message is that we take far too much for granted and that we would be far better served to mind our own shortcomings instead of worrying about someone's sexual orientation.

Johnny in the Spot is one impressive read! Not only does it delve into one persons fascinating "alternative" lifetyle, also offering a peek into the life of a disabled person, but it made me take a closer look at my own values, standards and life. You find yourself relating to the interesting characters and detailed situations they find themselves in in a way that is surprising and at times disturbing. Ed Gallagher not only entertains you, but, most importantly, he makes you think.

I wish I had this book years ago. As a kid, I beat myself up and remained silent about all the gay feelings I had. I still have them, and life has been better since coming out of my shell. JOHNNY is a good friend. He speaks to me. A blanket of warmth. And knowledge. I was never so different. We are all together here. We are all just HUMAN.

I think Ed accomplished delivering an experience of learning how precious our gifts are. The work entertains and educates, it drew me in and had me anxious for the next page. I wish you peace where you are Ed. Your contribution enriched me and you certainly left your mark here.

We are conditioned for the three-strike rule. When you are gay and disabled, this feat can seemingly be accomplished in two. In a culture bombarded with images of perfection, young gay males have a difficult time forming an image of acceptance. They are expected to meet specific physical criterion for entrance into the gay realm while struggling for simple justification from society at large. When a physical disability enters the equation the odds seem insurmountable.

In Johnny In the Spot, Ed Gallagher, a disabled gay man himself, tackles the demons head on. We are drawn into Johnnys struggle as he defines his role. Gays see themselves and draw comfort from a shared past. Straight society gains insight into the pressures placed on impressionable youth to conform. When Johnny becomes disabled, both cultures are slapped with the realism of truth. We have been conditioned to look away from differences. The author graphically and intelligently walks us through Johnnys world. A world we are only a split second away from.

As an educator and a gay man, I am keenly aware of the conflicts that young men face. Forced into a role they find unnatural in order to gain approval or in many instances for sheer survival. Ed Gallaghers novel provides a basis for hope.

I read Ed Gallagher's novel, "Johnny in the Spot," with some degree of trepidation. It takes place over the course of one day--all 200+ pages--and is written in the point of view of a paraplegic. Neither scenario excited me, but what Gallagher brings to the page transends all preconceived notions about both his conceit and the protagonist's physical abilities. Not only does "Johnny" offer an interesting look inside the world of what must be that of many young men, with its relationship and societal issues, it does so in a way that for the first time in my life, helped me view "differently-abled" folks as not at all different as anybody else. By the end of the book, you'll be cheering for Johnny and feel attraction toward him regardless of the limitations put on him by society. Gallagher manages the impossible...he spins a good story and broadens horizons with every turn of the page.

"johnny in the spot" is a facsinating story, that outlines clearly, the choices, complications, implications, and predicaments associated with the simple, but not so simple issues of sexuality.A must for every young adult living in the twenty first century era.