"And it was becoming increasingly clear to him that the more he opened up to people, the more they liked and warmed to him." (p 216)

As an older gay man who's been a loner most of his life (mostly not by conscious choice), I find the experience and character of Albert to be both simplistic and unconvincing. In particular the thought (expressed in the quote above) that he would simply have to make overtures to people to accrue a group of friends borders on the offensive. If only it were that simple!

However traumatised as a teen someone may have been (and Albert's experience by no means as awful as Cain wants us to believe), I seriously doubt that they would wait 50 years to give some sort of expression (not necessarily in action) to their desires.

That Albert may want to remain in the closet, or even celibate, I can understand, but the private sphere and inner life of such an individual, particularly in a mediatic society now presenting many representations of gay lives, are unlikely to be as thwarted and atrophied as Albert's are. He often feels childish as a result, or as if those 50 years have been a void (which technically, due to the constraints of the narrative choices made by Cain, they are).

The book is an easy read, but, while it makes some valid general points about the way queer people have been (and often still are) treated by the wider society, it also flirts a little too much with easy sentimentality. A disappointment.

NB: The most interesting part, for me, were the real life testimonies of older gay men gathered at the end of my edition of the book.