Dark Rides

Ian C. Nelson is assistant director of libraries at the University of
Saskatchewan, and président de la Troupe du Jour, Regina Summer Stage.

Illustrated with period photos, this novel, comprising 15 interrelated
stories, deals with growing up gay in and around Peterborough, Ontario,
in the 1950s. The autobiographical nature of the book is clearly
signaled by the fact that the central character is named after the
author.

An unsentimental glimpse into a boy’s insecure soul is provided in
stories that explore the tensions between the protagonist and those
around him, particularly family and buddies. His feelings of confusion
and devastation are exacerbated by his occasional encounters with
hostility and violence, and by the barbaric experience of
electro-aversion therapy.

McCormack uses humor, rather then gay political rhetoric, to expose the
harsh ways of the world. For instance, a make-out field is set ablaze
one night by the hero as he tries to impress another unattached youth by
building a bonfire.

Dark Rides is a novel that touches the soul with its most unusual and
disarming style.