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Ambidextrous (novel)

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Ambidextrous: The Secret Lives of Children
AuthorFelice Picano
LanguageEnglish
GenreAutobiographical novel
PublisherGay Presses of New York
Publication date
1985
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages195 pp.
ISBN0-914017-06-3

Ambidextrous: The Secret Lives of Children is a 1985 novel by American author Felice Picano. The book is a semi-autobiographical account of the author's life growing up in the 1950s. Major themes include adolescent sexuality and coming out.[1][2]

A "bold, funny and excruciatingly honest" biographic tale of the author's own childhood and coming out experience, that inevitably affects the reader's retrospective view of his own childhood memories.

When it was first published, the novel was perceived as so scandalous in Great Britain that it was burned on arrival directly at the Liverpool docks.[3] Still, or perhaps because of its reception upon release, the book has received classical status[citation needed] and has been re-released on more than one occasion, the latest release being in 2003.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Bergman, David (2004). The Violet Hour: The Violet Quill and the Making of Gay Culture. Columbia University Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN 9780231503839.
  2. ^ "Ambidextrous: The Secret Lives of Children". Publishers Weekly.
  3. ^ Andrews-Katz, Eric (August 25, 2017). "Gay authors Felice Picano and Eric Andrews-Katz to appear at University Book Store September 8". Seattle Gay News. Vol. 45, no. 34. p. 22.
  4. ^ Picano, Felice (2003). Ambidextrous The Secret Lives of Children. Southern Tier Editions. ISBN 978-1-56023-438-8.