Teaching the Cat to Sit: A Memoir
Theall’s unusually moving memoir of alienation and discrimination alternates between the past and present as she recounts her experiences growing up gay in a strict, Catholic Texas family and her adult life. Throughout her adolescent turmoil and atrocious coming out to her parents, who banished her from their house and their lives, Theall’s driving need for church-certified acceptance persisted, affecting her relationships with her partner and their adopted, biracial son as well as her sense of self. The Catholic Church, despite years of ignoring the pedophilia of a priest she knew in her youth and then expelling her son and other same-sex parented children from its school, remains a huge force in her life as she longs to be a part of a community that loves God, but would love me, too. Standing up to an ultrareligious mother and equally unyielding God is more than doubly challenging. Theall’s heartbreaking and ­heart-affirming coming-of-age, respect-seeking, and truth-telling tale ultimately demonstrates that openness is all. --Whitney Scott