The Tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers [Paperback]

Joe Babcock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 2005

Like many gay sixteen-year-olds, Erick Taylor dreams of being a star. The problem is that he’s unpopular and stuck in Catholic school, and his parents, in their own desperate search for sainthood, fail to see that their son is on a path toward self-destruction. Unable to face his tormentors at school, unsure of whether he wants to live or die, Erick meets Chloe, “a twenty-six-year-old self-proclaimed ‘grandiloquent’ drag queen.” With a glam-rock makeover and a pair of platform shoes, Erick finally finds the courage to out himself, erasing his former identity and leaping blindly into Minneapolis’s gay nightlife. What begins as an innocent journey of self-discovery soon turns tragic when Erick’s life as an aspiring drag queen is halted by the unthinkable, and he finds himself alone, lost in the insanity of a world exploding. With exhilarating style and dark wit, Joe Babcock—winner of the Best Self-Published Novel awards from both Writer’s Digest and the Lambda Literary Foundation—paints a provocative, devastating portrait of what it’s like to grow up gay.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Winner of the Lambda Literary Foundation's Best Self-Published Novel award, Babcock's energized debut tells the coming-of-age story of teenager Erick Taylor, who, like his heterosexual classmates, struggles with issues of adolescence, peer pressure and sex. Exasperated by constant harassment in his rural Minnesota Catholic high school, Erick cuts class, dons six-inch platform shoes, paints his fingernails and flees to his only haven: the home of 26-year-old "grandiloquist" drag queen Chloe. Working together at the mall only invigorates Erick's infatuation with Chloe as the summer months finds him going blonde, smoking pot and becoming a regular at Screwdriver, Golden Valley's only gay bar—anything to escape the clutches of his "decent Christian" parents, who remain devastated by the death of their other son, Tommy, and dismayed by Erick's behavior. After a hot affair with a local boy sours, a whirlwind of drugs births Miss Geneva Flowers, Erick's drag persona. But even Chloe's AIDS diagnosis fails to prevent Erick from dissolving into a narcotic-fueled stupor, until a loving boyfriend and the harsh light of reality finally force him to grow up. Overindulgent drug use and the rambling first-person narration are thankfully offset by poignant revelations and heartfelt emotion in the closing pages of this mixed but promising debut. (May)
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From Booklist

In classic Cinderella fashion, Babcock's self-published, gay coming-of-age novel won a clutch of literary awards, gained a mainstream publisher, and is now generating lots of prepublication attention. Set in Minneapolis in the 1990s, the story charts the turbulent quest of 16-year-old Erick Taylor, who, in short order, comes out of the closet, drops out of school, leaves home, and moves in with his best friend, David, a drag queen whose performance name is "Miss Chloe." Immediately star-struck, the self-indulgent, rather dim Erick vows he, too, will become a fabulous performer (under the name Miss Geneva Flowers), but his dreams are derailed by the reality of his growing addiction to crystal meth. The dramatically detailed and quite horrific drug scenes are easily the most successful part of an otherwise meandering, sometimes melodramatic, sometimes sentimental plot that evokes the spirit of both the movie Stage Door and the early, pulpy gay novels of Gordon Merrick. Nevertheless, Babcock does manage to paint a vivid, insider's picture of a very narrow segment of gay culture, and the attendant buzz will surely attract reader demand. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (March 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786715200
• ISBN-13: 978-0786715206
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,218,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent!, September 20, 2005

By 

damien "damien" (somewhere over the rainbow) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers (Paperback)

Well, it's interesting how I came across this book. I was at my grandparents over the summer and there wasn't a whole lot to do, so I read. A lot. Anyhow, I was looking for a book of this genre, for a change of pace, and came across Dance, Recover, Repeat (which I cannot personally recommend, seeing that I haven't read it yet, but I've heard it's good). This book was included in a "related books" list, so I checked it out. After reading an excerpt online, I decided it would be worth the money... hopefully. I purchased it on a Friday night, and finished it the next morning before breakfast. I couldn't put it down! Though the plot appears painfully bland, it captures teenage life perfectly. Babcock also has a wonderful way of writing which makes you feel as if you know the characters personally, and in a way, you do. I don't usually get emotional while reading, but this book goes through the happiest and saddest of times, and even I was reaching for a Kleenex every now and then. Anyhow, I personally thought it was an extraordinarily good book and feel slightly disheartened that it was over so fast.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A surprising breath of fresh air, a must read, June 9, 2005

By 

Daniel C. Freeman "DCF" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers (Paperback)

A dazzling display of prose. Joe Babcock captures a teenaged perspective with surprising detail. In a genre fraught with glamorized sexing, drugging, and debauchery The Tragedy Of Miss Geneva Flowers sheds some much needed light on an important part of gay culture that is so often taken for granted. A surprisingly well written fast paced read that takes us on a wide array of fabulous misadventures, as we follow Erick, who is a realistic breath of fresh air, compared with many gay books with protagonists that seem unnaturally wise for their age or just a little too uninhibited for real life. Erick is a well thought out fully realized depiction of what its like to try to find a place in a world that is often more confused with what to do with young gay people than even they themselves are. This book is worth your time.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the most unusual coming of age novel I've ever read, April 25, 2005

By 

Andrew "andrew" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers (Paperback)

I can see why it won a lambda literary award, because this novel defies catagorization and is so wonderfully unpredictable and disturbing and unique. As someone who is from Minneapolis I thought it accurately reflected life in that city in the halcyon days of 1990. I thouroughly enjoyed it.