In Dwayne Ratleff’snovel, Dancing to the Lyrics, a kid growing up in East Baltimore in the 1960s knows he’s different from the other children before he quite knows what it means to be gay. He’s processing that, as well as a lot of cruelty and depraved conduct by adults in his life, balanced with nurturing support from an assortment of characters. It’s a memoir cloaked in fiction. One piece of advice that sticks is not to care what other people think of him.

In <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Author/Author-Dwayne-A-Ratleff-105085528287285/">Dwayne Ratleff&rsquo;s</a> novel, Dancing to the Lyrics, a kid growing up in East Baltimore in the 1960s knows he&rsquo;s different from the other children before he quite knows what it means to be gay. He&rsquo;s processing that, as well as a lot of cruelty and depraved conduct by adults in his life, balanced with nurturing support from an assortment of characters. It&rsquo;s a memoir cloaked in fiction. One piece of advice that sticks is not to care what other people think of him.

Catch On the Record, hosted by Sheilah Kast, weekdays from 9:30 to 10:00 am, following NPR's Morning Edition. We'll discuss the issues that affect your life and bring you thoughtful and lively conversations with the people who shape those issues -- business people, public officials, scholars, artists, authors, WYPR reporters and other journalists who can take us inside the story. If you want to share a comment, question, or an idea for an interview you?d like to hear, email us at ontherecord@wypr.org

Catch On the Record, hosted by Sheilah Kast, weekdays from 9:30 to 10:00 am, following NPR's Morning Edition. We'll discuss the issues that affect your life and bring you thoughtful and lively conversations with the people who shape those issues -- business people, public officials, scholars, artists, authors, WYPR reporters and other journalists who can take us inside the story. If you want to share a comment, question, or an idea for an interview you?d like to hear, email us at <a href="mailto:ontherecord@wypr.org" target="_blank">ontherecord@wypr.org</a>

On The Record

Catch On the Record, hosted by Sheilah Kast, weekdays from 9:30 to 10:00 am, following NPR's Morning Edition. We'll discuss the issues that affect your life and bring you thoughtful and lively conversations with the people who shape those issues -- business people, public officials, scholars, artists, authors, WYPR reporters and other journalists who can take us inside the story. If you want to share a comment, question, or an idea for an interview you'd like to hear, email us at ontherecord@wypr.org

Catch On the Record, hosted by Sheilah Kast, weekdays from 9:30 to 10:00 am, following NPR's Morning Edition. We'll discuss the issues that affect your life and bring you thoughtful and lively conversations with the people who shape those issues -- business people, public officials, scholars, artists, authors, WYPR reporters and other journalists who can take us inside the story. If you want to share a comment, question, or an idea for an interview you'd like to hear, email us at <a href="mailto:ontherecord@wypr.org">ontherecord@wypr.org</a>

Advertisement