It's Pride Month and every day, N. N. Light's Book Heaven will feature a book and an author from the LGBTQ+ community. Today we're pleased to present one of the best memoirs we've had the pleasure to read. Ecstasy Made Me Gay: A Party-Hopper's Tale of Going Out, Coming Out & Drying Out in NYC's Y2K Megaclub Era by Ryan Heath is a no-holds bar memoir about one man's journey from the club scene to sobriety and coming out.
Title: Ecstasy Made Me Gay: A Party-Hopper's Tale of Going Out, Coming Out & Drying Out in NYC's Y2K Megaclub Era
Author: Ryan Heath
Genre: LGBTQIA, memoir, coming out, addiction and recovery
Book Blurb:
Before sobriety. Before stability. Before Madonna went brunette again.
As a closeted, suburbs-bred grad student by day, hummus-slinging, hard-partying twentysomething by night in turn-of-the-millennium New York, Ryan Heath is in a state of arrested development. Grappling with his sense of self after a series of soul-searing events - discovering a live-in boyfriend's sordid double life, a decadent weekend binge, the OD of a loved one - Ryan turns to these pages to confess his extreme clubbing, blackout drinking, reckless substance abuse, hooking up with guys and girls ... and how this cocktail of crazy leads to both embracing his sexuality and achieving sobriety.
This humorous, poignant memoir touches upon the universal mission for self-respect and joy and stars a cast of colorful personalities as they bounce around legendary NYC nightlife venues like Limelight, Twilo, and Roxy in a post-AIDS, pre-9/11 sliver of time littered with designer drugs and soundtracked by classic house club anthems.
My Review:
If you’re like me, you were a party-animal in your youth. It was a swirling montage of drinking, dance music and multiple partners. Madonna was my spirit animal and no matter how much I drank, the hole in my heart continued to grow. It wasn’t until I accepted who I was, deep in the gutter of my life, and the person I needed to love was me.
These memories and emotions came rushing back to me more than 25 years later as I was reading this book. I didn’t know Ryan personally (although he makes he laugh just like my gay best friend, Frank) but what he experienced, living the nightlife et. al was very similar. Ryan pens a touching memoir about addiction, the club scene, dating, sex and the path he took to coming clean and coming out. Parts made me laugh so hard I almost dropped my tablet while other parts made me cry.
I’m not lying when I say this is one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. Ryan is an open-book with wit, humor and grace. I’d love to meet him and just chat. I felt such a connection with him after finishing the book.
Go and read it right now! You won’t regret it.
Warning: This is geared for adult reading due to explicit language, drinking and drug abuse, sex and adult situations. 18+.
My Rating: 5 stars
Buy it now:
Author Biography:
Ryan Heath is an attorney living happily in NYC with his husband and children. He loves to run long distances, travel, and sleep, all things probably to some degree related to said brood. Ryan has mercifully not had a drink since going cold turkey on August 11, 2002 and hasn't taken Ecstasy in well over a decade. He's still gay, though, as evidenced by the fact he has been in the same room as Madonna on 29 different occasions .. and keeps track of facts like these.
Social Media Links:
Reviewed by: Mrs. N