I read a lot of books I love. But occasionally I read a book that I not only love, but I wish I’d written. Ziggy, Stardust, & Me fell into that category and even as I wistfully wish I’d authored it I shut down that thought because there’s no way I could’ve captured this moonlit magic in the way James Brandon does. I wish I’d written it in that I wish someday to be as wonderful of writer and to tell stories just like this one.
Set in 1973, this is a story about Jonathan Collins, an imaginative and isolated teen who views Ziggy Stardust as his Jesus, picks up his mess of a father from the bar every night, and tells himself that the electroshock conversion therapy he endures is the only way to be “fixed”. Then Web, a Lakota boy, comes into his life and “sees” Jonathan as he is for the first time.
This is a book about becoming yourself and a stunning exploration of queer identity back when homosexuality was still labeled as a mental illness. The prose was gorgeous — sharp and magical — and the tension thick. Set in the backdrop of David Bowie, Watergate, the Vietnam War, and the occupation of Wounded Knee, it gave me a window into queer history I didn’t know yet I felt in my bones. I loved this book.
So should you. Go read it please.
Also, look at this gorgeous cover:
With Love,
Natalie