BOOK REVIEW - At Least In the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream by Wade Rouse

At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream: Misadventures in Search of the Simple Life by Wade Rouse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author chronicles the first months after having moved with his partner from St. Louis to a cottage in rural Michigan just outside the gay-friendly resort town of Saugatuck. The pages are filled with witty prose in short segments that extoll how a gay couple uproot their lives and transition from an urbane life to a more rural, and hopefully, improved existence. I sought this book based on a recommendation from a friend. It appealed to me because of the humor in hearing of a gay couple moving to the middle of nowhere. In addition, being from Michigan myself, I wanted to hear another person's perspective on the Great Lake State.The memoir is both touching and humorous. The author recounts many humorous experiences with local neighbors, wildlife and the wide-ranging weather of Michigan. The reader really cheers for the author who is trying to find his “Walden” and improve himself, his relationship and his world around him. He is a sympathetic character who you really want to morph into a new being and yet he is his own enemy. The author spends endless pages explaining his former life of designer labels, non-fat lattés, tanning and teeth-whitening. He appears to be another stereotypical, vapid homosexual who is so self-absorbed it's surprising that he doesn't walk around with a hand mirror all day à la Vanity Smurf. The author describes this vain lifestyle so much, that one believes he may using this hyperbole simply to contrast with the rural, agrarian Michigan to get more laughs. Despite the excessive descriptions of what shoes he is wearing at every possible moment, the author has filled with book with heart and emotional depth which is the real pearl inside this oyster of a memoir. By the end of the book, the reader is closely connected to what the author has experienced and feels the changes he has gone through.My biggest problem with the book is that I have a hard time believing that the author who grew up in the Ozarks and moved from St. Louis would have such a difficult time in rural Michigan. I would expect such culture shock from one who grew up in New York City and had lived their his or her entire life. However, I don't think of St. Louis as the culture capital of mid-America and I have a hard time believing the transition was so great. For that reason, I feel the descriptions the author gives and the reactions to be exaggerated. Perhaps, none is exaggerated and there is a larger cultural gap between urban and rural living than I expected. I laughed openly several times throughout this book. Many of the scenes and incidents are very funny. In my opinion the book really shined at the more serious parts even making my eyes water. The growth of the author and the interaction with his partner are touching and a welcome contrast to the comedic interaction with the outside world. By the end of the book, I found the memoir inspirational and heartwarming and the desire to seek out my own Walden. View all my reviews >>