Product Description

The classic account of growing up gay in America.
"The best little boy in the world never had wet dreams or masturbated; he always topped his class, honored mom and dad, deferred to elders and excelled in sports . . . . The best little boy in the world was . . . the model IBM exec . . . The best little boy in the world was a closet case who 'never read anything about homosexuality.' . . . John Reid comes out slowly, hilariously, brilliantly. One reads this utterly honest account with the shock of recognition." The New York Times
"The quality of this book is fantastic because it comes of equal parts honesty and logic and humor. It is far from being the story of a Gay crusader, nor is it the story of a closet queen. It is the story of a normal boy growing into maturity without managing to get raped into, or taunted because of, his homosexuality. . . . He is bright enough to be aware of his hangups and the reasons for them. And he writes well enough that he doesn't resort to sensationalism . . . ." San Francisco Bay Area Reporter

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123146 in Books
• Published on: 1993-05-11
• Released on: 1993-05-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.com
When The Best Little Boy in the World was first published in 1973, Andrew Tobias could write about what it had felt like to begin to accept his homosexuality, but he couldn't bring himself to sign his own name to the book, for fear of embarrassing his parents. And so it was "John Reid" who became a hero to the thousands of gay males who found in this memoir a mirror for their own experiences.

Although the book appears rambling at times, Tobias always has a clear sense of where he wants to take readers with the story. He treats his closeted adolescence and college years, and his stumbling first attempts at "doing a thing" with other gay men, with a self-effacing humor that exposes his pain without descending into self-pity. And if his life seems fairly ordinary, apart from the sexual awakening ... well, that was the whole point. "You like and respect us when you don't realize we're gay," he writes in a new introduction, "so now please just continue to like and respect us once you do realize. It's not that big a deal."

Inside Flap Copy
The classic account of growing up gay in America.
"The best little boy in the world never had wet dreams or masturbated; he always topped his class, honored mom and dad, deferred to elders and excelled in sports . . . . The best little boy in the world was . . . the model IBM exec . . . The best little boy in the world was a closet case who 'never read anything about homosexuality.' . . . John Reid comes out slowly, hilariously, brilliantly. One reads this utterly honest account with the shock of recognition." The New York Times
"The quality of this book is fantastic because it comes of equal parts honesty and logic and humor. It is far from being the story of a Gay crusader, nor is it the story of a closet queen. It is the story of a normal boy growing into maturity without managing to get raped into, or taunted because of, his homosexuality. . . . He is bright enough to be aware of his hangups and the reasons for them. And he writes well enough that he doesn't resort to sensationalism . . . ." San Francisco Bay Area Reporter

From the Back Cover
"A story told well . . . Uniquely frank . . . Splendid."
--The New York Times

"AN ENLIGHTENING PORTRAIT OF GROWING UP GAY IN A STRAIGHT WORLD."
--Chicago Tribune

"The best little boy in the world never had wet dreams or masturbated; he always topped his class, honored mom and dad, deferred to elders and excelled in sports. . . . The best little boy in the world was . . . the model IBM exec. . . . The best little boy in the world was a closet case who 'never read anything about homosexuality.' . . . One reads this utterly honest account with the shock of recognition."
--The New York Times

"The quality of this book is fantastic because it comes of equal parts honesty and logic and humor. It is far from being the story of a gay crusader, nor is it the story of a closet queen. It is the story of a normal boy growing into maturity without managing to get raped into, or taunted because of, his homosexuality. . . . He is bright enough to be aware of his hang-ups and the reasons for them. And he writes well enough that he doesn't resort to sensationalism."
--San Francisco Bay Area Reporter

"Sensitively told, full of humor, and free of guilt."
--Library Journal

Customer Reviews

TBLBITW: Life in the Closet
The Best Little Boy in the World (TBLBITW) was the first memoir of a LGBT individual I read and it was well worth the read. Andrew Tobias tells his story in a witty, sarcastic and humorous tone that makes the book one you can't put down. LGBT individuals are sure to relate to at least some aspects of Tobias's life. Non-LGBT individuals will be able to learn a bit about the struggles and costs of living a closeted life and the experience of coming out to friends and family. The best part is this book rarely takes on a serious tone which would be disruptive to its flow and make it less accessible to some readers. I highly recommend readers read TBLBITW and then the sequel, TBLBITW Grows Up, where Tobias discusses his life since publishing the TBLBITW and discusses some areas in the original that were altered to conceal his identity (he originally published TBLBITW under a pen name).

How many of us have the same story?
I could have written this book but I didn't. It's taken me nearly 60 years to do what Andrew Tobias did in his 20s. How many "best little boys" are out there somewhere? The personal telling of his story - with delving soul-searching analysis and a great geal of humor - makes this a necessity for anyone who has lived a secret life and learned the accepted norms of society in the days when there were no real choices.

Outdated and Overhyped
I bought this book because I thought I'd relate with the author's choice of the title "The Best Little Boy in the World". It took me less than fifty pages to realize that this was one of the worst books I've ever read. I can imagine that this book probably made a lot of difference when it was written, but today, I like to think we've progressed beyond the self-loathing, hatred of our own nature, and belittling of anyone that isn't like us to make this book less relevant for today. If I was recommending a book to a teenager to help them with their coming out process, I definitely would not recommend this book. I mean, come on, coming out is traumatic enough as it is, why would I want to make it worse by suggesting they read a book that will only put them down and make them feel worse about themselves?