Widescreen Dreams: Growing Up Gay at the Movies (Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiographies) - Hardcover

""Widescreen Dreams" is a terrific book and an impressive debut." William J. Mann, author of "The Biograph Girl" and "Wisecracker" " Horrigan transforms a series of his critical writings on film into a touching and insightful look at a gay youth coming of age This fascinating autobiographical tribute to American film-making is highly recommended. "Library Journal" " [Horrigan s] personal anecdotes illuminate the complex relationship between film and the imagination. "Publishers Weekly" " "Horrigan transforms a series of his critical writings on film into a touching and insightful look at a gay youth coming of age... This fascinating autobiographical tribute to American film-making is highly recommended."--"Library Journal" "[Horrigan's] personal anecdotes illuminate the complex relationship between film and the imagination."--"Publishers Weekly"

In 1973, a ten-year-old boy named Patrick Horrigan saw the television premiere of the film version of ""Hello, Dolly!"" starring Barbra Streisand. His life would never be the same. ""Widescreen Dreams"" is the coming-out story of a ""generation Xer"" who came of age in the 1970s. Horrigan's dreams revolved around the movies and this chronicle of his coming out focuses on five Hollywood films that were touchstones of his personal evolution. Ranging from ""The Sound of Music"" and ""The Wiz"" to ""The Poseidon Adventure"" and ""Dog Day Afternoon"", the films reflect Horrigan's sense of isolation and sexuality, as well as his complex relationship with his large Irish Catholic family. The book is an autobiography as well as a work of cultural criticism, offering an exploration of what it has meant to be young, gay and alive within the movie palace of American culture.