Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land

Written by Taylor Brorby

Narrated by Greg D. Barnett

From a young, gay environmentalist, a searing coming-of-age memoir set against the arid landscape of rural North Dakota, where homosexuality "seems akin to a ticking bomb."



"I am a child of the American West, a landscape so rich and wide that my culture trembles with terror before its power." So begins Taylor Brorby's Boys and Oil, a haunting, bracingly honest memoir about growing up gay amidst the harshness of rural North Dakota, "a place where there is no safety in a ravaged landscape of mining and fracking."



In visceral prose, Brorby recounts his upbringing in the coalfields; his adolescent infatuation with books; and how he felt intrinsically different from other boys. Now an environmentalist, Brorby uses the destruction of large swathes of the West as a metaphor for the terror he experienced as a youth. From an assault outside a bar in an oil boom town to a furtive romance, and from his awakening as an activist to his arrest at the Dakota Access Pipeline, Boys and Oil provides a startling portrait of an America that persists despite well-intentioned legal protections.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Nov 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9798765017883

Reviews for Boys and Oil

[davischristopherjohn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Poignant, beautifully written story by a highly promising young author. I devoured this book very quickly, and loved every minute of it.

[e5zreader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

if you've never read a LGTBQ+ memoir this one is as good as any to start with. It covers the typical trials and tribulations of growing up gay in small town, rural America: being bullied in school, fear of being discovered, repeated attempts to conform, rejection by family, moving away to find acceptance, coming to terms with being gay and all that that means.

Taylor Brorby comes into his own as he becomes an environmental activist in the midst of the North Dakota oil boom. His love of and descriptions of the prairie landscape are not just beautiful but enlightening. The growth and survival of the prairie is an effective metaphor for coming of age on the great plains. The violent destruction of the prairie by strip mining and fracking plays well against the threat of physical violence and the need to conform to heteronormative stereotypes. Brorby has to stay low and hidden to avoid the violence that surrounds him.

[peggyk49 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read Boys and Oil on recommendation by a local South Carolina author, George Singleton. He warned there would be fly fishing referenced in the book, in case that would put someone off, but he truly thought this book was worthwhile. After reading, I agree.
There was fly fishing, as well as descriptive text about North Dakota, but that did not put me off at all because it was well written. There was more about the life of the author, Taylor Brorby,. From his realization that he was gay and the fear of being "found out" prior to his coming out was revealing and, at times, heartbreaking, as was the lack of acceptance by his parents.
Boys and Oil enlightened me in so many ways. I thank Taylor Brorby for being so open in sharing his life with the world.

[suesbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Even though this contained more nature and sports refereences than I was interested in, Brorby also presented his life experiences and pain very well. I was so sorry to read of his parents' and others' reactions to him, and wish the world looked more hopeful and understanding at this time. Brorby was brave to share this much of himself.