You're Not from Around Here, Are You

by Blum, Louise A.

• ISBN13: 9780299170943
• ISBN10: 0299170942
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Pr

Summary

This is a funny, moving story about life in a small town, from the point of view of a pregnant lesbian. Louise A. Blum, author of the critically acclaimed novel Amnesty, now tells the story of her own life and her decision to be out, loud, and pregnant. Mixing humor with memorable prose, Blum recounts how a quiet, conservative town in an impoverished stretch of Appalachia reacts as she and a local woman, Connie, fall in love, move in together, and determine to live their life together openly and truthfully. The town responds in radically different ways to the couple's presence, from prayer vigils on the village green to a feature article in the family section of the local newspaper. This is a cautionary, wise, and celebratory tale about what it's like to be different in America-both the good and the bad. A depiction of small town life with all its comforts and its terrors, this memoir speaks to anyone who has ever felt like an outsider in America. Blum tells her story with a razor wit and deft precision, a story about two "girls with grit," and the child they decide to raise, right where they are, in small town America.

Author Biography

Louise A. Blum is associate professor of English at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Will That Be MasterCard or Visa?	1	(14)
Just Don't Do Anything Stupid	15	(10)
Maybe It's Morning Sickness	25	(18)
I'm Gay!!!	43	(8)
Getting a Double Dose of It	51	(12)
She Should Keep It in the Bedroom	63	(14)
Welcome to Satan's Playground	77	(18)
The Guys at the Sporting Goods Store Think You're the Greatest	95	(22)
If There's a Blue Line in the Large Window ...	117	(12)
Well, Just Be Careful ...	129	(10)
The Precocious Child of an Eccentric Writer	139	(10)
Why Don't I Run Down to the Liquor Store?	149	(12)
Zoe = Life	161	(8)
There Is Something Out There Known as Mother Nature	169	(10)
This Is Your Conscience Speaking	179	(12)
Hell---We're All Sinners!	191	(10)
Your Silence Will Not Protect You	201	(14)
It's Just So Hard to Get to Brooklyn	215	(10)
Making Room for My Baby	225	(10)
Give Me the Stamps	235	(14)
Just Make Sure Your Water Isn't Leaking	249	(8)
We Thought Maybe You'd Changed Your Mind	257