The Wedding: A Family's Coming Out Story.The Wedding: A Family's Coming Out Story * Douglas Wythe and Andrew Merling, Roslyn Merling and Sheldon Merling * Avon Books * $23 Like show tunes and Streisand fixations, the coming-out stow has become a staple of gay culture. Publishers weary of peddling the saga have taken to grafting it onto more timely tales. Thus we have The Wedding: A Family's Coming Out Story, in which a pair of gay guys and one groom's parents inspect every angle of gay marriage, from its candied can·died adj. Permeated, covered, encrusted, or cooked with sugar: candied sweet potatoes. candied Adjective coated with or cooked in sugar: almonds to its political implications. The story starts simply enough: After a long courtship, Andrew and Doug decide to wed, and they begin--with Andrew's mother Roslyn's blessing and his father Sheldon's grudging grudg·ing adj. Reluctant; unwilling. grudg  ing·ly adv. OK--to plan a large, traditional wedding ceremony. Faster than you can say "Adam and Steve," all parties implode To link component pieces to a major assembly. It may also refer to compressing data using a particular technique. Contrast with explode. under stresses peculiar to homos who get hitched. And the stakes rise when ABC News
ABC News is a division of American television and radio network ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Company. Its current president is David Westin. asks to film the wedding for an episode of Turning Point, a program on which Doug has worked as a special segment producer. An entertaining if not especially lively read, the stow switches voices as quickly as its players shift positions: Andrew's mom goes from cheerleading The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. compatriot com·pa·tri·ot n. 1. A person from one's own country. 2. A colleague. [French compatriote, from Late Latin compatri to squeamish squea·mish adj. 1. a. Easily nauseated or sickened. b. Nauseated. 2. Easily shocked or disgusted. 3. Excessively fastidious or scrupulous. neutral party once she realizes that the couple plan to kiss at the end of the ceremony, and his dad evolves from self-righteous grump to self-congratulating flag-waver by story's end. The family does say "I do" to ABC--but not without the parents' endless whining about what their friends and "the community" (of which Sheldon often reminds us he's a pillar) will think. While the sections written by Doug and Andrew are charming (they lose our sympathy only when they opt for two wedding invitations, with one for conservative guests that excises the word wedding), the elder Merlings' bellyaching becomes quickly tedious. The Wedding might have been subtitled Whose Nuptials Are These, Anyway? The story works best when Wythe is speaking. As the newest member of the Merling family, he brings a perspective that's less about social status than it is about the causes and rights of gay people everywhere. While his soon-to-be father-in-law worries that the wedding will be seen as an endorsement of gay marriage or refers to "the kooks they show on television in gay pride parades A gay pride parade or LGBT pride parade is part of a festival or ceremony held by the LGBT community of a city to commemorate the struggle for LGBT rights and pride. ," Wythe remains focused on honoring his love for his partner. And probably biting his tongue until it bleeds. Pela is the Arizona arts correspondent for National Public Radio. |
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