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An Evening with Birdy O'Day

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

A funny, boisterous, and deeply moving novel about aging hairstylist Roland's childhood friendship with Birdy O'Day, whose fevered quest for pop music glory drives them apart

Roland Keener is an aging hairstylist who's lived and worked in the same town all his life. He's more or less content with the quiet and predictable days he shares with his partner of twenty-five years, Tony. That is, until he hears that Birdy O'Day—washed-up music icon and Roland's childhood best friend and first love—is playing his first hometown concert since fleeing decades earlier.

Holing up with a scrapbook of news clippings about Birdy, Roland recalls his childhood in the '60s: Growing up poor with a single mother, he meets a boy at school who calls himself Birdy and is unlike anyone he's ever known. The two become inseparable, with Roland an eager sidekick to Birdy and his dreams of stardom. But when Birdy gets his big break, Roland is left behind, bereft. They become estranged over the years; one tours the world as a pop music sensation while the other struggles to chart a new path forward. But now, Birdy's imminent return to town is a chance for both of them to finally come to terms with their glorious yet troubled past.

A funny and poignant novel about hero worship, heartbreak, and queer survival, An Evening with Birdy O'Day will remind you that you can never go home again—even if you never left it in the first place.

This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. This book is defined with accessible structural markup. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order and semantic structure.

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    • Kirkus

      March 15, 2024
      An aging man remembers the ups and downs of his childhood alongside a rock-star-to-be. Roland Keener has lived in Winnipeg his whole life. Raised by his caring but direct single mother, Margaret, he was a lonely boy until he met Birdy O'Day, a magnetic classmate at a new school. Roland's home became a safe haven for Birdy, who lived with his alcoholic mother and abusive father. When his own family failed to support his interest in pursuing a music career, it's Roland and Margaret who had faith in Birdy's talent. Soon opportunity came knocking, but when Birdy got his break, he left Roland behind. The former best friends' lives took differing paths--Birdy became a megastar while Roland became a hairstylist who, at age 69 and living with his ailing boyfriend, struggles to make ends meet. And now, years after swearing he'd never return, Birdy is going to perform in Winnipeg, and perhaps heal the wounds between him and his former friend. Charting the lives of two queer boys in the 1960s, the novel is an interesting examination of the struggles and joys they faced, but the tone is sometimes bleak and the humor often doesn't land. Readers with an interest in queer history may find this novel engaging, though the wooden dialogue is hard to get past. An exploration of queer history through a less-common geographic lens.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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  • OverDrive Read
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  • English

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