Helpful Score: 1
John Irving celebrates sexual difference in this compelling novel. William Abbott relates his life story, starting with developing crushes on the wrong people as a teenager in his small Vermont town. A good half of the novel is devoted to his high school years at the town's boarding school where his stepfather teaches, including two formative first loves. Living as a bisexual man (although somewhat offstage), others always doubt where he can find all he needs or wants in one person, making him not completely accepted among gays and straights alike. Spanning a half century, Abbott lives through the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and the more current improvements in the rights of sexual minorities. Although there is a ensemble cast feeling to this story, I think In One Person does wonders for humanizing individuals who are sexually different in this tale full of humor, compassion, and even a little bit of mystery.
