What I Know Now [Hardcover]

Roger Larson (Author), Rodger Larson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997

In 1957 in California, having fallen in love with a young man who has come to his house to build a garden, a fourteen-year-old gay boy finds his life and his world view changing.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It is 1957 and Dave Ryan, a lonely 14-year-old boy living with his newly divorced mother, is wishing he had more friends and a closer relationship with his dad. When his mother hires Gene Tole to refurbish a garden in their new house, Dave discovers emotions he never imagined. Rodger Larson's What I Know Now recounts the exhilaration of first love as Dave becomes more and more attached to Gene. This is no simple coming-out story--Dave has little idea that homosexuality even exists, and Gene is completely closeted--it is, after all, 1957. The real strength of What I Know Now is the depiction of a time and place that is often labeled "innocent," allowing us to see the pain and misunderstanding that this misperception caused.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up. It's the summer of 1957 in Stockton, CA, and 14-year-old Dave is taken along as his mother leaves her adulterous and violent husband and moves into her family home. This isn't really a story about divorce though. It is a multilayered look at a young man's journey toward maturity molded not only by his relationships with his unaffectionate father and unavailable older brother, but also by his new friendship with Gene Tole, a man whom his mother hires to do some landscaping. For most of the story, Dave doesn't realize that Gene is gay and, though the narrative includes images from Dave's erotic daydreaming and his scouring of Madame Bovary for the sex scenes, readers become aware of the boy's sexual preference as slowly as the character himself. This is masterful on the part of the author as it allows Dave to work through many variations of how men interact with one another. At one point, Dave wishes Gene were his father. He knows he loves Gene and in the end this love is both confusing and accepted by Dave, who is able to assimilate the surprise of Gene's sexual orientation without having to reject his relationship with him. This is a well-told story that depicts a gay protagonist as a real person who is able to provide a positive male role model for a young man during a transitional period in his life.?Melissa Gross, Beverly Hills Public Library,
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 262 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company; 1st edition (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805048693
• ISBN-13: 978-0805048698
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,495,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful novel for adults...both young and old, September 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: What I Know Now (Hardcover)

A heartwarming and well written account of one boy's struggle to understand others and himself. We need more books for adults (both young and old) that explore the questions of human sexuality, love and family in such an eloquent, careful manner.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully written, lyrical coming of age story., April 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: What I Know Now (Hardcover)

Rodger Larson has written a beautiful book about a sensitive young man's struggle to figure love out. The setting and characters are richly described, and the story is simple but moving. The protagonist, Dave, turns 14 in the summer of 1957. His parents' separation and a subsequent move has turned his life upside down, but in the midst of the turmoil of these new developments, Dave meets Gene Tole, a gardener, who offers him a different vision of being a man. The book deals with complex issues such as masculinity and homosexuality, but it never loses the sweetness and gentleness that makes it a delight to read.

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful story, September 5, 2009

By 

Benjamin (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: What I Know Now (Paperback)

Fourteen year old Dave Ryan is living with his mother after she split with his father. They are making a home for themselves in the place his mother grew up, his late grandmothers house. Along with that they are establishing a new garden, his mother has employed Gene Tole, a young and handsome horticulturalist to design and plant the garden. Gene in turn enlists the help of young Dave, encouraging a budding interest in plants. But it encourages a lot more too, for Dave sees in Gene everything is father is not, a thoughtful, gentle and caring man, and a real friend.

Ryan relates events that cover less than a year as the garden is established, we observe him try to understand his growing love for Gene, and come to terms with his feelings for his cold and distant father, and his older brother. It is a gentle story that could easily end in tragedy were it not for the tolerant attitude of the young Dave as he makes a startling discovery about Gene on the eve of Gene's departure for a new job, a discovery which will surely be the making of the young man.

What I Know Now is a beautifully told story that convincingly manages to see life from the perspective of a growing boy. It is a occasionally funny, often witty, always warm and involving, it is above all a most delightful story.