Farm Boys: Lives of Gay Men from the Rural Midwest Paperback – March 1, 2001

This book is less provocative than it might seem at first glance and not as clinical as it might suggest after looking at its purpose.With stories told in chronological order based on the ages of the story tellers, the reader can see how strictures and changes in societal thinking about homosexuality have affected each “generation” of gay men.Stories range from heart-breaking to heart-warming, some detailed and frank, some self-deprecating and full of shame, others proud and happy. You can sense the story tellers various voices, from a guilty whisper to a self-assured ease.Details include family life from a young age, social and school activities, the influence of church, self evaluation or judgment, and - perhaps most importantly - how they have adjusted or not to accepting who they are.While there is some explicit discussion of initial homosexual experiences - whether those happened early or later in their lives - this book is really more about how these men viewed themselves, how their families and society viewed them, and how the men changed or didn’t to either appease family and society or to be true to themselves - and sometimes how their families changed.A sobering and interesting read about men who could be your co-worker, your neighbor, or your cousin or son or brother or father or best friend.

The stories told in "Farm Boys" are sometimes touching, sometimes funny, sometimes sexy and virtually always compelling. The loneliness which an emerging gay personality must feel in the solitude that characterizes most American farms must be overbearing at times. A key element in many of the stories told in this book is families which do not and cannot understand homosexuality until it comes to roost at home. Another is the strong religious background which many of the men have faced and dealt with. Not all of the stories end happily -- one of the men, for example, committed suicide shortly after the interview with him was completed. But most of the tales are affirmations of personal confidence and development, and they are bracing even to those of us who feel that the best thing about the countryside is that it is possible to return to the city from it, preferably immediately. Will Fellows has added an important contribution to gay male history, and he is to be highly praised for it. Even greater praise, however, must go to the men who have forthrightly told their tales, many of them reporting along the way that their communities are still not aware of their sexuality. That takes bravery, as does the ability to look deeply into one's own life and background. What a wonderful book.

The life of the urban gay man is the one we see on screen, the one marching at Pride festivals, and the one given the most exposure.Here Will Fellows collects the life stories of the men who grew up in the farm lands of America's rural midwest, and this catalogue of lives from men who more often than not grew up in strict German homes where sexuality (and certainly not homosexuality) were not discussed is a fascinating mixture. The stories range from brutal accounts to some that sound almost idyllic, and shows how these men feel their very different upbringing shaped them.The accounts are chronological, and show not only the changing acceptance of gay men (slow, and hidden) but also the loss of the old-style farms with their variety of livestock and crops to great business farms with only one product.

I really enjoyed reading this collection of stories very much and learned quite a bit about lives of gay men who grew up on farms. Some of them went into more detail about farm life than others--some of them told more about their lives AFTER leaving the farm, but all in all they were real interesting. I've got to hand it to every one of them, I don't know if I could have 'cut it' on a farm. Suppose I wouldn't of had a choice if I had been born to a farm family--but I certainly do see where these fellas have a 'hard row to hoe' (yes, a pun but still serious) because if they DO like farm life, they wouldn't have such a good life being gay. So I can see where most of them would end up leaving. How could you live an open life?? I think someone growing up on a farm would have a much stronger viewpoint on life. It would be kind of like growing up during the Depression at any age or time period. So physical and demanding--nothing happening or getting done unless YOU do it!! Not like the urban city life I was born into. I really hand it to farm people and gained a new respect for them. They can proclaim like the Marines...."the few, the proud".

As an older gay man attracted to young hunks, the cover spoke to me. When I read that it's about gay men raised on farms in the Midwest, ok, yes! I was raised in the Midwest and totally closeted. The author's grouping the biographies of men by decade, '60's, '70's, '80's, it covered my coming-of-age years in the '60's and forward. The author's sensitive and detailed reporting left me laughing, crying, grateful for his work.

A serious examination of an overlooked segment of the gay community, and told in their own words. Organized chronologically, it traces societal changes that showed up even in the hinterlands. A good read.

Depends on what your perspective is and what you are looking to get out of this book. Its kind of depressing that some men live their lives scared but then again those are the times they grew up in. Today its much easier and more widely accepted. Some of the guys you can tell were just writting to be heard and they added things to make it sound "better." However some are very authentic.

enjoyed this book. Its a good read with a lot of insight