Execution, Texas: 1987

Our coming of age stories are changing. From the darkness of The City and the Pillar, to the confused and somewhat sordid initial sexual experiences of A Boy's Own Story, the stories of boys having sex with boys have been utterly different from the stories of boys having sex with girls. What was sweet or stumbling or even high tragedy in the latter was inevitably sinister or surreptitious or just pathetically tragic in the former. But in the hands of Seattle writer D. Scott Travers and other artists of his generation (like Gregg Araki), the story changes, more of a coming-of-age-story with a twist than a twisted coming of age story. Seeger King, Travers' protagonist, is seventeen, in his final year of high school in a town an hour outside Dallas called Execution. The year's 1987. He's had a boyfriend (Jésus), and now has a girlfriend (Cordelia), and is eyeing another boy, a wrestling puppy one year his junior (Kent). Cordelia, and the rest of Seeger's circle, knows about Jésus and Kent, and Seeger is not merely fooling himself with Cordelia. There are problems, sure, but he is genuinely sexually and emotionally interested in her. That's new. Neither his mystic and increasingly insane mother, nor his father and his stepmother, know much about his sex life, but the degree to which sexuality is normalized in this novel, and how closely associated that normalization is with pop culture (in this case, mostly Marc Almond and his various musical incarnations, including Soft Cell), is an excellent portrait of how sexual development and sexual identity are slowly coming to be seen. Marc Almond and Prince and Morrissey and Madonna have all been telling kids for about a decade now just how fine sex of all sorts is, and kids are tuning in, becoming less straight - and less prescriptively gay - in the process. Execution, Texas: 1987 is a sexy and powerful portrait of the foundations of the next generation in our continuing sexual evolution.

Scott's novel is an engagingly disconcerting joyride through Seeger King's last months in Execution, Texas. Somehow our hero's apocalyptic visions are completely believable and heighten the sense of terrified wonder that so often accompanies late adolescence. Seeger's family relationships are wrenching and compelling, especially concerning his "real mom", Joan. A marvelous read.

What really blew me away about this book was that it wasn't just another coming out novel, or teen angst story. The characters are funny and unusual, yet I could still identify with them. The flashbacks weren't confusing to me at all, and I like that the author questions faith and spirituality and issues beyond sexuality. A great surprise!

Execution, Texas was truly a fun read. I enjoyed the flashbacks personally, and the fact the main character, Seeger, was just beginning to understand himself...and he takes you along for the ride. Enjoy the book for yourself...throw in some early 80s synth music, sit back, and give it a read...you won't want to put it down.

This book had a profound effect on me. I would strongly recommend it to anyone.