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A Time Before Me |  | Author: Michael Holloway Perronne
Publisher: Chances Press, LLC
Category: eBooks
This item is no longer available
Rating:  reviews
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Edition: Third Edition
ASIN: B003TU2J70
Publication Date: June 23, 2010
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In this poignant coming-of-age novel, a gay teen struggles to find his identity in the contrasting worlds of rural Mississippi and the big city of New Orleans.
Growing up in a small Mississippi town in the early 1990s, shy and inexperienced Mason spends much of his time with his best friend and secret childhood crush, the charming and daring Billy. When a six-pack of beer leads to a passionate encounter between the two teenagers, Mason believes his dreams may have finally come true. Billy’s apparent disregard for the incident, however, leaves Mason feeling confused and betrayed.
When Billy slips off to glamorous New York City immediately after high school graduation, Mason fears he’s doomed to spend another humid Mississippi summer scooping ice cream. But Mason’s life changes dramatically when vivacious Aunt Savannah invites him to live with her in New Orleans and work in the box office of her drag queen cabaret. It’s there—in the decadent and liberating French Quarter—that Mason begins to fall for Joey, a strikingly handsome and sweet nineteen-year-old, who may just be ready to open his heart to someone new.
A surprise visit from Billy hints that he may be ready to return Mason’s feelings, and Mason faces a difficult choice. With the help of his spirited aunt and a sassy drag queen, Miss Althea, Mason learns that sometimes it’s best to roll life’s dice and take a chance.
Reviews
"For anyone who remembers what it was like to fall in love for the first time--both the heartbreak and the joy. A sheer pleasure to read." -- Steve Kluger, author of "Almost Like Being In Love"
"Michael Holloway Perronne touches the heart of relationships and our fear of letting go. -- Greg Lily, author of "Fingering the Family Jewels"
"Michael Holloway Perronne's stunning work, a must own for fans of gay fiction." -- GayWired.com, Jan. 2006
"sweet and imaginative...A Time Before Me laces its sentimentality with enough jagged reality to give it an interesting edge." -- Books to Watch Out For, Edition 15
Debut novelist Perronne presents a believeable and engaging cast of characters in this quiet tale of self-realization. -- Kirkus Discoveries Reviews, Jan. 2007
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| Customer Reviews:
 Up all in the book! December 21, 2007
Chicky DeLongpre (Long Beach, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"A Time Before Me" takes the traditional coming out / coming of age story to a new level. As a Creole I find very few books about New Orleans that speak to me. As I read the novel, I found myself immediately drawn into the world of the main character, Mason, and his struggles to define himself while being a gay teen in a small Mississippi town. When he moves to live with his aunt in New Orleans the contrast between Mason's experiences in New Orleans and those in his hometown provide an interesting social commentary on how New Orleans operates on its own set of mores, quite different from the rest of the immediate geographical area. The descriptions of a pre-Katrina New Orleans brought many memories back (the book is set in the early 90s) and provides a bit of historical and a some sad insight into a city that would soon be changed forever but whose spirit lives on. Definitely a recommend!
 Short and Kinda lackluster, yet cute... December 19, 2007
T. Stewart (Santa Cruz)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
"A Time Before Me" is just another in a long line of gay-youth orientated books from Iuniverse. At the center of the novel is a sweet and naive boy, Mason, whom the novel follows from the end of his high school experience and into the months after his graduation.
The Book is separated in two, almost equal parts: a segment about his lackluster life in a small town, and the other about his adventures going out on his own in New Orleans, living with his 'crazy aunt.' But alas the book is full of cliches, and honestly never allows the characters to truly grow and learn from each other. The author glosses over important aspects of the story, and never really knows how the balance the story. You are left wanting a lot more - and not in a good way.
A Time Before Me March 18, 2007
NoWireHangers (Sweden)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"A Time Before Me" is about a gay teenager who moves from a small town in Mississippi to his aunt in New Orleans.
Some of the characters are on the stereotypical side but others are better developed and likeable, such as Aunt Savannah.
"A Time Before Me" is part coming of age novel and part romance, with the focus on the coming of age part of the story. The romantic plot is a bit underdeveloped. The book is a quick read but the ending is something of an anticlimax of what was an overall good read.
Meet Michael Holloway Perronne January 30, 2007
Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
MEET MICHAEL HOLLOWAY PERRONNE
A Time Before Me and Starstruck: A Hollywood Saga
Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
Michael H. Perronne is a young and emerging author who already has two books to his credit. We are hoping that he will join us for the Arkansas Literary Festival. I first was introduced to Michael's writing when a friend of mine who owns the FAB Bookstore in New Orleans told me that he had been in contact with an author who was writing about being gay in the Crescent City. When the book arrived , I read it with relish, hoping to find the secret as to why New Orleans has become such an inviting place for our community.
A Time Before Me (iUniverse, 2005 and due to be reprinted soon) tells of Mason who having come of age in a small town in Mississippi moves to New Orleans to live with his Aunt Savannah. Mason as a child spent his free time with his best friend, Billy, and during that period, developed a crush on him. When Billy does not respond in kind, Mason knows that he must relocate to a place where he can be himself without restriction. He experiences a huge sense of freedom while working for his aunt as a cashier at her drag cabaret theater in New Orleans right in the center of the French Quarter. It is here that Mason finds "love" with nineteen year old Joey. Yet he is hampered by his feelings for his old flame and must decide which course his life will take. Miss Althea, a robust drag queen who works for Savannah, instills in him that life is a game of chance and one must roll with the times and make choices. Perronne with his first sentence tackles the reader and draws him in. "Ever notice how life gives you answers to the big questions a day late?" He skillfully presents a prologue that makes the reader feel that there is no turning back. This is a book that must not only be read but savored. Great literature it is not--a great story, simply told is what it is.
The simplicity of the style and the straightforwardness of the plot is the beauty of the book. How often do we find ourselves reading something that requires both a dictionary and a road map to figure out what is happening in the plot? What a relief to read a book that has universal truths presented in everyday language which enables us to identify with the story. I am so glad that Michael Perronne is penning a sequel. Don't misunderstand me--the book needs no sequel. I just want some more of the colorful characters he has painted for us.
"A Time Before Me" is a good book and an auspicious start for a new novelist. It is a beautiful tale of first love. The images will stay with you and Perronne comes across as a writer who can captivate the reader. There is plenty of wit as well. He is an author to keep tabs on and is off to a wonderful start.
Quite unlike his first novel is Starstruck: A Hollywood Saga" (Chances Press, 2005) but then Hollywood is quite unlike the South. In his second book the cast is extended and the plot is thickened-- but the style remains the same. Here is a story told by an expatriate from movie town who has run away and is looking back and remembering. With those memories comes a tale that pulls us in. Five major characters provide a story of life in Tinseltown. First there is Carrington who ran away from home to become the new "It" girl. But her past which is so filled with scandal can be her undoing. Of course we have the standard man in the closet. Derek has become a star and does not want the world to know of his sexual proclivities. Yet when he finally has a chance for true love, he must decide whether his career or his man deserve first place in his life. Enter Jake, an actor who also has skeletons in his past and love in his heart for Carrington. Then there is Loreen, a thinly disguised Heidi Fleiss type madam who knows many of the secrets of the Hollywood crowd. As her hold on her place in Hollywood becomes risky, she must find a way to save it, or does she? Finally there is the agent who is a real insider; he knows all and can ruin all. When the lives of these five intersect, there is fire and plenty of it. This is not the kind of story you will see on E! Entertainment television. This a camp version of the classic Hollywood legend and is a great study of the double standards that exist there. It is a page turner--one of those books where you check out in advance what is about to happen. It's a fun book, full of "our kinds" of people. We have some for every palate-gay men, lesbians, hookers and sluts. And it is all put together in a fun novel that you may not remember but you will be glad you read.
Just an interesting side note. I have recently discovered that Michael Perronne was a student at the University of New Orleans at the same time I was teaching there. We were in the same department; he was getting his MA in creative writing and I was researching queer theory in literature. We had many of the same friends and worked with the same faculty members. He went to Los Angeles and I came to Little Rock. Maybe the Arkansas Literary Festival will finally give us the chance to meet.
The Crazyness of Being Gay January 20, 2007
Steve Rollins (orlando, FL)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book followed a teen whos life spirals out of control as he deals with sex (those were good parts) relationships, rejection, and alot more. This book is fast pased and keeps you wanting more. I couldnt put this book down and when i finished it i cried. It was awesome
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