Farm Boys: Lives of Gay Men from the Rural Midwest Hardcover – August 15, 1996

Farm Boys includes the first person narratives of gay men who grew up on farms in the Midwest. Begun as a sociological study, the book is an excellent glimpse into the lives of rural gay men and their perceptions of their urban brothers.Divided into three parts (men born early in the century, those born after WWII but before Stonewall, and those born after Stonewall), these narratives of varying length show how each succeeding group came to grips with being gay without the assistance of role models, help groups, or even knowledge that other men and boys like them lived in the same area as they.Although there are some differences that separate the three groups, some common themes were shared by most. One, most of these rural men gave up their religious beliefs, but not their spirituality. They saw organized faiths as being hypocritical and having a facade, but this was not enough to cause them to doubt the exsistance of a god. Two, many of these men grew up in families that could be classified as "don't talk, don't feel," especially when the subject was sex. Left on their own, many felt obligated to get married because they knew of no other way. And three, once they realized they were gay, this epiphany type revelation about themselves was often very self liberating.Also of interest to me was the references to how media, such as Time Magazine, Life Magazine, and other outlets, addressed the topic of homosexuality 30 and 40 years ago, and how that portrayal continues to change. More of us being out, obviously, has had a cummulative effect to everyone's benefit, and will continue to do so.A marvelous book, and highly recommended for anyone interested in the lives and history of gay men.

Very in-depth, honest growing up stories.

The book has interviews with Gay men who grew up in farming communities. They're arranged by date of birth, and the biographical information ranges from funny to sad, and from stories you'd like to hear more of to stories you wish they had left out. I enjoyed the chapters with the individuals who had been fully interviewed. Unfortunately, some of the chapters were short and a little off-topic.All in all, I'm glad I read the book, but it could have been done much better. If the subjects had been interviewed instead of just sent questionnaires, they could have been kept on-topic, and not allowed to ramble on about minutia. It really could have been a good book.

I happened upon this book by chance in my university library at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI. I am working on a report for a Sociology class on the group ACT UP, and this title caught my eye while searching for that particular book. I am from the MidWest, SouthWest, MI, and though I was not raised on a farm, I grew up in a small town with very rigid conservative Christian values, and can relate heavily to it. Cetainly the book is enthralling and captivating and I have enjoyed every minute of it. I must add though I found some of it disturbing. Several of the men featured in here engaged in bestality and incest with their brothers, uncles, cousins, etc. It seems they took a rather blithe attitude toward it, as if it was part of the culture. Even though I don't prescribe to the belief molestation makes a person gay, I can't help but wonder if it influenced them towards it.

A friend gave me this book when it first came out. I was very impressed with each man's story.Anyone who reads this will gain an understanding of how life was for young gay men growing up in the semi-isolation of farm life. The stories are told with feeling and show the amazing coping skills of each person. They paint an amazing picture of the life of gay people in the early/middle part of the 1900's.

Farm Boys is a fascinating collection of materials from 37 gay male oral histories of growing up on farms in the Midwest). Fellows provides succinct analysis of the changing economics of agriculture in the region (increasing industrialization of larger and more capital-intensive farms)--changes which few of his interviewees seem to be aware, though some of their natal families have been squeezed out of business and off the land. Fellows arranges the accounts by the year of birth (from 1909 to 1967), and, over the book's span of time, there seems to be a decrease of the amount of dependence on the unpaid labor of children (i.e., the hours of "chores" seem to have lessened). In addition to eliciting revealing accounts from reticent natives of the rural Midwest, Fellows gathered and reproduces photos of many of his subjects, including some who chose to use pseudonyms. Fellows's analyses of the effects of ethnicity (Germanic in contrast to Yankee), industrialization, and other social changes are astute; as are his conclusions about the costs of heterosexism. The accounts he elicited are often moving and are invariably informative about the life experiences and life worlds of heretofore invisible gay men.

This is an incredible book. I casually picked it up since it was prominently displayed in a bookstore. I ended up not wanting to put it down. To describe it defies the impact that the book could have if you read it. Fellows captures humanity beautifully without any proselytizing of his own. The men's lives portrayed in this book were so different from my own in suburban Connecticut. However, it made no difference. I loved this book.