First Time for Everything by Henry Fry

Sunday, Nov. 20, 2020--San Antonio

First Time for Everything by Henry Fry is often hilarious.  It takes place in London with the main character being a gay man in his late 20s who has always been rather meek and unsure of himself.  His best friend is a flamboyant friend from early childhood who dresses in drag and uses the pronouns they/them.  He is trying to work out who he is, how he should be, what would make him happy, why things in life are not working out as he had planned.  At the beginning of the novel, he is facing relationship problems and being kicked out of the home of a straight female friend from childhood where he has been renting a room from her and her boyfriend for 7 years.  He faces panic attacks and begins seeing a therapist while experimenting in trying to change himself to be more open and authentic yet really just becoming quite mean and inconsiderate.  Accidentally, he becomes quite famous (even becoming a meme) and gets recognition for having created a gay story (through video) that was meant to be just him being himself but is understood by others to be one of the most creative and authentic gay series in broadcasting of the year.  I enjoyed the misadventures of this young man and his road of discovery.  I gave the book 4 1/2 stars out of 5.