Mama's Boy

February 18, 2019
A gay man and his disabled, homophobic mother bond despite their differences in this sometimes overwrought, sometimes luminous memoir. Black, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Milk, centers his life story on his mother, Anne, a Louisiana share-cropper’s daughter whose legs were paralyzed by polio when she was two; thanks to her dogged work ethic and stoicism, she defied doctors’ predictions by learning to walk on crutches and bearing three children, weathered abusive husbands, and became a laboratory supervisor. Black’s emotional attachment to his mother was deep, but their membership in the Mormon Church made him hide his homosexuality from her; going on to film school, Hollywood, and marriage-equality activism, he worried that the gulf between him and his conservative clan might be unbridgeable. Black devotes much space to tremulous fretting over his blue-on-red coming-out saga, but the results are not very dramatic: his family—even the Texarkana Baptist branch—takes the revelation well, and Anne, despite a few previous homophobic comments, is soon socializing with his gay friends. (Black’s bigger problem is with gay moderates who wanted to slow-walk the marriage movement.) But the book shines in its portrait of the vibrant, indomitable Anne trudging determinedly over every obstacle, and in intimate scenes of everyday family heartaches and triumphs against the odds. Photos.

Starred review from February 15, 2019
Black grew up in the South, surrounded by stories?the telling sometimes fueled by Jack Daniels?that made people stronger. As a result, he fell in love with the magic of storytelling and has himself become a consummate storyteller, as he demonstrates in this beautifully written, vastly entertaining, and moving memoir. The most powerful stories are the most personal, Black believes, and, in that context, the most important figure in his story is his indomitable mother, who, a victim of childhood polio, had no use of her legs but refused to let that stop her. From her tough, stubborn heart, he inherited his own strong will and optimism, traits that were put to the test when, at the age of six, he realized he was gay, growing up in fear and shame in a devout Mormon household in the deep South. Though he considered suicide at age 12, this did not stop him from becoming, as an adult, a gay-rights advocate, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of the movie Milk, and a staunch opponent of California's notorious, anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 and a leader of its eventually successful repeal movement. Black seems incapable of writing a dull word as he evokes his stirring life and times, ultimately inspiring comity by word and example. His book belongs in every library.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

Starred review from February 15, 2019
An award-winning screenwriter's journey from Texas Latter-day Saints roots to prominent LGBTQ activist.At the center of this thought-provoking memoir, Black, who won an Academy Award for the screenplay for Milk, offers a heartfelt tribute to Anne, his courageously inspiring yet deeply religious and politically conservative mother. Anne was raised in an impoverished family of sharecroppers in Louisiana. After contracting polio at age 2, she suffered through years of therapy and painful surgeries, leaving her reliant on leg braces and crutches for the rest of her life. Despite these physical disadvantages, Anne went on to marry and eventually raise three children, primarily as a single mother, while building a successful career. After enduring two abusive marriages, she found sustaining love with her third husband. The author's life story follows a parallel path of meeting obstacles through resiliency. Though he was a shy and awkward child, Anne's examples of her strong willpower motivated Lance to reach his own challenging goals, ultimately inspiring the necessary confidence to come out to his family at age 21. Though mother and son often held firm to their conservative and liberal viewpoints, each recognized positive attributes inherent in either camp. Lance discovered common interests with some of his Texas relations, and Anne gained a more compassionate understanding of the LGBTQ community. "Our house should have been divided--North vs. South, red vs. blue, conservative vs. progressive, coasts vs. mountain or plains, or however you choose to name such tribes," writes the author. "Instead, my mom and I fueled each other. Her oil lit my lamp, and eventually mine lit hers. The tools I learned to wield growing up in her conservative, Christian, Southern, military home were the same ones I'd used to wage battles that had taken me...to the front row of the United States Supreme Court to fight for LGBTQ equality." Black provides a wholly engrossing account of how a mother and son evolved beyond their potentially divisive religious and political beliefs to uncover a source of strength and unity through their enduring bond.A terrifically moving memoir of the myriad complexities of family dynamics.

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