> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# BOOK REVIEW: Manatomy by James McDermott
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/book-review-manatomy-by-james-mcdermott/
- Published: 2020-09-17T13:55:02.000Z
- Updated: 2020-09-17T12:11:16.000Z
- Description: Brian Butler laughs and cries in equal measure at a debut book of queer poetry
- Author: Brian Butler
- Tags: Arts, Books, Poetry, Reviews, James McDermott

[![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/james-uncropped600400.jpg)](https://www.gscene.com/arts/books/preview-manatomy-poems-by-james-mcdermott/attachment/james-uncropped600400/?ref=scenemag.co.uk)

James McDermott is a young playwright and creative writing teacher who uses his debut book of poetry to take a wry look at the first inklings of boyhood sexuality and the often pained culture that the LGBTQ+ world sometimes wraps itself in.

In a tribute to the collection the mighty Stephen Fry commented that you don’t need to have grown up gay to appreciate this poetry, but it has a certain beauty and meaning for those of us who did – bang-on right, Stephen.

James is often sharply observant about closeted gay angst and as he says himself, he didn’t like himself as a teenager because he’d been shamed.

The collection is divided into 3 sections: Boy; Youth and Man. In the Boy section – a mixture of dramatisation, truth and fiction, he deals lightly with his birth – his parents were so confident their baby would be a girl, they bought lots of dresses. “ Even when I turn out to be a boy, Mum still wants me to wear the dresses; she hasn’t kept her receipts ..” he tells us in Boys’ Dresses.

His first physical encounter with another boy – Adam – is at age 7 , and All Willies Great And Small is a cute, funny introduction to the world of touching penises. When they play unseen with each other omn the classroom , the teacher ironically announces they will all sing ‘ He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands “ .

[![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/41vm51jmjbl600400.jpg)](https://www.gscene.com/41vm51jmjbl600400/?ref=scenemag.co.uk)

I guess you’re getting the drift of McDermott’s wry, dry humour. Skipping to the Youth section , he uses ambiguity to point out the gayness of most male contact sports in Football Is So Gay , and on a more profound level, Thanks To All My Straight Mates celebrates not being treated differently, being defended against bigotry at school, and the straight friends “ who let me see what I needed to see” .

In the final Man section, James deals with the new polari, where a top is actually a bottom, and in The Wrong Type Of Gay, he points up the prejudice that exists sometimes ironically at the heart of our LGBTQ+ culture and lifestyle. “ Cause you dont’ work out all day, cause your pecs aren’t hard as clay, cause your clothes are pink not grey, cause you’re wearing a beret, you are the wrong type of gay.”

In his final offering, McDermott sets out Fourteen Things I Wish I Could Tell My Fourteen-Year-Old Self. It’s a great list – “ You will be funny, chatty clever, kind, creative, trusted and respected. You will have a great beard and you will have a great quiff”.

At times the writing is painfully sexually explicit, especially in its dealings with the ever-confused, yearning youth, but humour is always just over the page.

It’s a great debut, and I look forward to more from this highly talented queer writer.

[Manatomy is available now from Burning Eye Books, at £9.99](https://burningeyebooks.wordpress.com/2020/08/26/new-title-manatomy-by-james-mcdermott/?ref=scenemag.co.uk)

[![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/41vm51jmjbl_grande600.jpg)](https://www.gscene.com/arts/books/preview-manatomy-poems-by-james-mcdermott/attachment/41vm51jmjbl%5Fgrande600/?ref=scenemag.co.uk)