Where does all the time go? It doesn’t feel like we should be nearing the end of January already – and yet here we are. And here I am with my latest book review.
Today I am sharing with you my thoughts on Journey to the Rainbow’s End: A Drag Queen’s Odyssey by Forrest Stepnowski
Blurb: Forrest Robert Stepnowski captures the essence of “coming out” and coming of age as a gay male today, and over the past three decades. “Journey to the Rainbow’s End” captures the joys of love, the pain of heartbreak, surviving the darkness of suicide, and the self-discovery of finding one’s voice and place in society. Forrest Robert Stepnowski is a community advocate, a writer, a social worker, and a female impersonator, known as Victoria Eyesli, in the Pacific Northwest. He has been writing poetic works and prose for many years, and focuses on empowering others who have dealt with similar pathways of self-hate, self-deprecation, and self-loathing, in the hopes they can find they are not alone, that they are not deviants, nor are they against “human nature.” We all have voices, and the world should hear them all.
Rating: 5/5
My thoughts: This book feels, from the outset, incredibly personal. We are given a glimpse into so many, often devastating, painful moments in the life of a young gay man. Split between a collection of poems and a short story you really share in the anguish of finding yourself in a world that seems to be telling you that you’re somehow wrong. The thing I especially loved about this book is the lasting feeling of hope. Yes, the journey was long and painful but ultimately, as the saying goes, “it gets better”.
This is one of those books that lingers with you long after you turn the final page and I found myself thinking over what I had read for some time. I can imagine any young gay men (or women) finding comfort and hope in this writing. Well done 🙂
Dawn Delivers 