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Gypsy boy : my life in the secret world of the Romany Gypsies / Mikey Walsh.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2012.Edition: 1st U.S. edDescription: 278 p. ; 22 cmISBN:
  • 0312622082 (hardcover)
  • 9780312622084 (hardcover)
Subject(s):
Contents:
The birth of a pig boy -- Wonder years -- Sisters grim -- Taking a punch -- A bungalow with Barbie graveyard -- A school and a big city -- Welcome to Warren Woods -- The club -- Boot camp -- That evil Bowers girl -- Kevin -- The monster in the woods -- Fate of the Munchkin Queen -- Moving on -- Twelve-year-old man -- Take me with you -- Regret -- A new start -- The wrath of Frankie -- Sex education -- Caleb's plan -- Today.
Summary: Mikey was born into a Romany Gypsy family. They lived in a closeted community, and little is known of their way of life. After centuries of persecution Gypsies are wary of outsiders and if you choose to leave you can never come back. This is something Mikey knows all too well. Growing up, he didn't go to school, he seldom mixed with non-Gypsies and the caravan became his world. Eventually Mikey was forced to make an agonizing decision, to stay and keep secrets, or escape to find somewhere to belong. His father and grandfather were champion bareknuckle boxers in England's Gypsy community. But Mikey had no interest in fighting. He was proud of his heritage and loved his mother and sister, but as he grew older he came to realize he had a secret that would never be accepted: he was gay. This memoir reveals, for the first time, what life is really like among the Romany Gypsies. It is a culture apart, one that is equally more criminal and more puritanical than our own.
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Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Biography Walsh, M. W226 Available 33111006697615
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

An Eye-Opening Memoir of Growing Up Gypsy

Mikey Walsh was born into a Romany Gypsy family. They live in a secluded community, and little is known about their way of life. After centuries of persecution, Gypsies are wary of outsiders, and if you choose to leave you can never come back.

This is something Mikey knows only too well.

Growing up, he didn't go to school, he seldom mixed with non-Gypsies, and the caravan became his world. It was a rich and unusual upbringing, but although Mikey inherited a vibrant and loyal culture his family's legacy was bittersweet, with a hidden history of violence and grief. Eventually Mikey was forced to make an agonizing decision--to stay and keep secrets, or escape and find somewhere to belong.

Gypsy Boy shows, for the first time, what life is really like among the Romany Gypsies. A surprise #1 bestseller in Great Britain, this is a one-of-a-kind memoir of a little-seen world, one both fascinating and heartbreaking.

"First published in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton"--T.p. verso.

The birth of a pig boy -- Wonder years -- Sisters grim -- Taking a punch -- A bungalow with Barbie graveyard -- A school and a big city -- Welcome to Warren Woods -- The club -- Boot camp -- That evil Bowers girl -- Kevin -- The monster in the woods -- Fate of the Munchkin Queen -- Moving on -- Twelve-year-old man -- Take me with you -- Regret -- A new start -- The wrath of Frankie -- Sex education -- Caleb's plan -- Today.

Mikey was born into a Romany Gypsy family. They lived in a closeted community, and little is known of their way of life. After centuries of persecution Gypsies are wary of outsiders and if you choose to leave you can never come back. This is something Mikey knows all too well. Growing up, he didn't go to school, he seldom mixed with non-Gypsies and the caravan became his world. Eventually Mikey was forced to make an agonizing decision, to stay and keep secrets, or escape to find somewhere to belong. His father and grandfather were champion bareknuckle boxers in England's Gypsy community. But Mikey had no interest in fighting. He was proud of his heritage and loved his mother and sister, but as he grew older he came to realize he had a secret that would never be accepted: he was gay. This memoir reveals, for the first time, what life is really like among the Romany Gypsies. It is a culture apart, one that is equally more criminal and more puritanical than our own.

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