Two days after the death of Heath Ledger I had been sitting at the computer, looking at some old footage, and having a cry when a friend rang to discuss his death. Over the course of the phone call we moved on to general things and ended up having a conversation about the struggles he still faces being a gay man in the teaching profession.
An hour later I was in the Village and decided to have a look in the bookshop to cheer myself up as so far the day had been fairly bleak. I came accross this book which seemed to leap out at me.
I've been reading quite a few books lately set in rural Australia so the cover immediately appealed to me. On turning it over I read this ---
'When Hollywood actor Heath Ledger finished reading the script for Brokeback Mountain - a film about a love affair between two American cowboys - he thought of his friend Adam Sutton, whose life was reflected in many of the film's themes, and told him, 'I've just read this script and it sounds a lot like you.'
I don't know if I've been living under a rock but somehow I missed hearing about Adam Sutton who was on Australian Story soon after Brokeback Mountain was released. All I knew was not only had I been thinking about Heath Ledger all day but I'd also been ruminating on the issues my friend had brought up about coming out. FREAKY!!! Needless to say I bought it straight away and hugged it to my chest all the way home.
It is a wonderful book and is told with humour, amazing personnal insight and courage. His journey is fascinating and will stay with me for a long time. It is also poignant in the light of recent events which were of course unknown to Adam at the time. ***** 5 stars from me for what it's worth.
