BOOK REVIEW: Manatomy by James McDermott

James McDermott is a young playwright and creative writing teacher who uses his debut book of poetry to take a wry look at the first inklings of boyhood sexuality and the often pained culture that the LGBTQ+ world sometimes wraps itself in.

In a tribute to the collection the mighty Stephen Fry commented that you don’t need to have grown up gay to appreciate this poetry, but it has a certain beauty  and meaning for those of us who did  – bang-on right, Stephen.

James is often sharply observant about closeted gay angst and as he says himself, he didn’t like himself as a teenager because he’d been shamed.

The collection is divided into 3 sections: Boy; Youth and Man. In the Boy  section – a mixture of dramatisation, truth and fiction, he deals lightly with his birth – his parents were so confident their baby would be a girl, they bought lots of dresses. “ Even when I turn out to be a boy, Mum still wants me to wear the dresses; she hasn’t kept her receipts ..” he tells us in Boys’ Dresses.

His first physical encounter with another boy – Adam – is at age 7 , and All Willies Great And Small is a cute, funny introduction to the world  of touching penises. When they play unseen with each other omn the classroom , the teacher ironically announces they will all sing ‘ He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands “ .

I guess you’re getting the drift of McDermott’s wry, dry humour. Skipping to the Youth section , he uses ambiguity to point out the gayness of most male contact sports in Football Is So Gay , and on a more profound level,  Thanks To All My Straight Mates celebrates not being treated differently, being defended against bigotry at school, and the straight friends “ who let me see what I needed to see” .

In the final Man section, James deals with the new polari, where a top is actually a bottom, and in The Wrong Type Of Gay, he points up the prejudice that exists sometimes ironically at the heart of our LGBTQ+ culture and lifestyle. “ Cause you dont’ work out all day, cause your pecs aren’t hard as clay, cause your clothes are pink  not grey, cause you’re wearing a beret, you are the wrong type of gay.”

In his final offering, McDermott sets out Fourteen Things I Wish I Could Tell My Fourteen-Year-Old Self. It’s a great list – “ You will be funny, chatty clever, kind, creative, trusted and respected. You will have a  great beard and you will have a great quiff”.

At times the writing is painfully sexually explicit, especially in its dealings with the ever-confused, yearning youth, but humour is always just over the page.

It’s a great debut, and I look forward to more from this highly talented queer writer.

Manatomy is available now from Burning Eye Books, at £9.99