Official Review: Cowboys Armageddon and The Truth
Posted: 08 Jan 2013, 02:02
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Cowboys Armageddon and The Truth: How a Gay Child was Saved from Religion" by Scott M. Terry.]
This book was one of the more shocking memoirs that I have ever read. Every page is laced with pure, raw emotion that even to the cynical and more apathetic people (like myself) would have their heart go out to the author. It starts with the author's childhood with his father and stepmother, Fluffy. He was told he was traded to his father for a horse, and Fluffy liked to comment about that. He grew up as a Jehovah's Witness; and was under some very strict rules that he had to follow. Anytime he "broke" one, Fluffy wasted no time in punishing him.
His only real joy in his life was his sister, Sissy. Most of the time was himself and Sissy starving because they didn't get dinner (for breaking rules) or getting smacked around and beaten by Fluffy. His father would also beat them whenever Fluffy told him the rules that they had "broken".Sissy finally had enough and stood up to Fluffy, allowing her to escape with her mother. Scott however, was young, and didn't have the courage to do so. All the way up to his teens, this treatment continued from Fluffy. Not only that, the Jehovah's Witness's rules forbade him to make friends that were not with the Truth, join sports, and all the things the usual teenager did back then. Overall, it was an extremely lonely and painful experience for him.
What made it worse is that Scott is gay. Jehovah's Witness's adamantly hate gays (in general). It's almost impossible to imagine the confusion of an adolescent boy, being taught since he was very young that gays are bad and evil and should be killed, but having feelings for men. Pile that on top of the abuse that he was taking, and it's an extremely painful and harrowing time for him. He finally gathered the courage to run away, which allowed him to eventually stay with his Aunts. The aunt he ended up with (luckily) was rich, kind, and extremely supportive of Scott. By the time he escaped, he weighed a mere 112 pounds at the hands of Fluffy and Virgil (his father). This however, was not the end of the road for him. He still struggled to find his identity as a gay man, and often thought he was alone. He faked liking girls and having sex with them to try to fit in. He also struggled with the Truth, because of the years it was taught to him. The effects of the truth and his ordeals, as well as his confusion about his sexuality, caused for even more ordeals for him. Eventually, he is able to overcome them and find himself.
This is one of the more memorable memoirs for me because of the obvious emotion that was put into the work, as well as the things that happened to him. It's horrifying, but horrifyingly believable, which is quite scary. In similar books such as A Child Called It, I sort of have a tough time believing that everything happened the way he said it did, because it seems exaggerated and almost impossible. However, Scott's ordeals aren't going to the extreme point of implausibility, but are still bad enough to where you would wonder why anyone would treat their child this way.
I'd give this book a 4 out of 4 stars. The writing style I found very interesting. The voice seemed to switch depending on what he was describing. Describing his childhood, the writing was more juvenile, the older he got, the more mature the writing became, and I found that extremely interesting and easy to read. There were very few spelling and grammatical errors I saw. But they are extremely few and don't distract from the reading. It's a great memoir of surviving, rebuilding, and then thriving. I recommend everyone to read this.
***
Buy "Cowboys Armageddon and the truth. How a gay child was saved from religion" on Amazon
This book was one of the more shocking memoirs that I have ever read. Every page is laced with pure, raw emotion that even to the cynical and more apathetic people (like myself) would have their heart go out to the author. It starts with the author's childhood with his father and stepmother, Fluffy. He was told he was traded to his father for a horse, and Fluffy liked to comment about that. He grew up as a Jehovah's Witness; and was under some very strict rules that he had to follow. Anytime he "broke" one, Fluffy wasted no time in punishing him.
His only real joy in his life was his sister, Sissy. Most of the time was himself and Sissy starving because they didn't get dinner (for breaking rules) or getting smacked around and beaten by Fluffy. His father would also beat them whenever Fluffy told him the rules that they had "broken".Sissy finally had enough and stood up to Fluffy, allowing her to escape with her mother. Scott however, was young, and didn't have the courage to do so. All the way up to his teens, this treatment continued from Fluffy. Not only that, the Jehovah's Witness's rules forbade him to make friends that were not with the Truth, join sports, and all the things the usual teenager did back then. Overall, it was an extremely lonely and painful experience for him.
What made it worse is that Scott is gay. Jehovah's Witness's adamantly hate gays (in general). It's almost impossible to imagine the confusion of an adolescent boy, being taught since he was very young that gays are bad and evil and should be killed, but having feelings for men. Pile that on top of the abuse that he was taking, and it's an extremely painful and harrowing time for him. He finally gathered the courage to run away, which allowed him to eventually stay with his Aunts. The aunt he ended up with (luckily) was rich, kind, and extremely supportive of Scott. By the time he escaped, he weighed a mere 112 pounds at the hands of Fluffy and Virgil (his father). This however, was not the end of the road for him. He still struggled to find his identity as a gay man, and often thought he was alone. He faked liking girls and having sex with them to try to fit in. He also struggled with the Truth, because of the years it was taught to him. The effects of the truth and his ordeals, as well as his confusion about his sexuality, caused for even more ordeals for him. Eventually, he is able to overcome them and find himself.
This is one of the more memorable memoirs for me because of the obvious emotion that was put into the work, as well as the things that happened to him. It's horrifying, but horrifyingly believable, which is quite scary. In similar books such as A Child Called It, I sort of have a tough time believing that everything happened the way he said it did, because it seems exaggerated and almost impossible. However, Scott's ordeals aren't going to the extreme point of implausibility, but are still bad enough to where you would wonder why anyone would treat their child this way.
I'd give this book a 4 out of 4 stars. The writing style I found very interesting. The voice seemed to switch depending on what he was describing. Describing his childhood, the writing was more juvenile, the older he got, the more mature the writing became, and I found that extremely interesting and easy to read. There were very few spelling and grammatical errors I saw. But they are extremely few and don't distract from the reading. It's a great memoir of surviving, rebuilding, and then thriving. I recommend everyone to read this.
***
Buy "Cowboys Armageddon and the truth. How a gay child was saved from religion" on Amazon