• One of These Things First

  • By: Steven Gaines
  • Narrated by: Steven Gaines
  • Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (518 ratings)

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One of These Things First  By  cover art

One of These Things First

By: Steven Gaines
Narrated by: Steven Gaines
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Publisher's summary

From New York Times best-selling author Steven Gaines comes a wry and touching memoir of his trials as a gay teen at the famed Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic.

One of These Things First is a poignant reminiscence of a 15-year-old gay Jewish boy's unexpected trajectory from a life behind a rack of dresses in his grandmother's Brooklyn bra-and-girdle store to Manhattan's infamous Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic, whose alumni includes writers, poets, and madmen as well as Marilyn Monroe and best-selling author Steven Gaines.

With a gimlet eye and a true gift for storytelling, Gaines captures his childhood shtetl in Brooklyn, and all its drama and secrets, like an Edward Hopper tableau: his philandering grandfather with his fleet of Cadillacs and Corvettes; a giant, empty movie theater, his portal to the outside world; a shirtless teenage boy pushing a lawnmower; and a pair of tormenting bullies whose taunts drive Gaines to a suicide attempt.

Gaines also takes the listener behind the walls of Payne Whitney - the "Harvard of psychiatric clinics", as Time magazine called it - populated by a captivating group of neurasthenics who affect his life in unexpected ways. The cast of characters includes a famous Broadway producer who becomes his unlikely mentor; an elegant woman who claims to be the ex-mistress of newly elected president John F. Kennedy; a snooty, suicidal architect; and a seductive young contessa. At the center of the story is a brilliant young psychiatrist who promises to cure a young boy of his homosexuality and give him the normalcy he so longs for.

For listeners who love stories of self-transformation, One of These Things First is a fascinating memoir in the vein of Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted and Augusten Burroughs' Running with Scissors. With its novelistic texture and unflagging narrative, this book is destined to become one of the great indelible works of the memoir genre.

©2016 Steven Gaines (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
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What listeners say about One of These Things First

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An Unlikely Subject for Me

I'm a straight female, not Jewish, not from New York and forgot how this book got in my wish list. However, I found Steven Gaines's story about growing up in Brooklyn and trying to deal with his homosexuality fascinating. I can't imagine anyone else other then him as narrator. The evolution of psychiatry, as it pertains to homosexuals, in the last 50 years is also interesting to observe.

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96 people found this helpful

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It's an interesting look into this man's youth

This book was a nice reminder that there are people who are actually more neurotic than I am. This poor kid. I guess I never really thought about what it must have been like to be gay in an era where it was considered a mental disorder. What a relief that this seems to have changed a great deal in public perception.
I like listening to the stories about his crazy family and the odd balls in his neighborhood. I also found it strange that while his father seemed to be a jerk in some ways he was actually very supportive in others. I don't know many fathers who would take their child daily, for 2 weeks, to where a show was being taped, in the off chance of glimpsing a star. Or who would remain in poverty to send their child to psychoanalysis.
Anyway, it's worth the listen.

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good story

I liked learning about the psychology used in earlier times. I had not understood how being gay was a disease rather than just the way one is. This helped me to understand a little more

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Loved it.

Picked this up on the Daily Deal. Had not expected to find it so interesting/enjoyable. One of my two favorite books this year - keep thinking about it. And the author reads it himself . . . always a bonus.

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More humor than memoir

The author looks back on the challenges of growing up gay in Brooklyn the 50's and 60's. Gaines attempted suicide, but sticks to "stand-up comic" stories of that time and place. I was entertained for a while, but 5.5 hours of cute humor can't sustain me, even if a lot is funny. The author went for the funny-bone and not the heart. I also can't figure out how Gaines remembers so many comic conversations in such detail a half century later. I can see why some people love this, just not me.

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Interesting

Coming of age when being gay was considered a mental illness, when psychiatrists thought they could "change" people into being straight, was a terrible, heartbreaking time. It makes this book painful to read in spite of the upbeat take the author seems to have on his life now.

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Entertaining story

I liked this story. It has a lot of interesting characters and also humor. It is based on the author’s life so it is not fictional. I would recommend it.

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Enjoyable!

Not what I expected, but definitely worth the listen. This book was insightful from the child male prospective, enjoyed.

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Wow!

This was an interesting ride into another world! As a straight white woman this was completely different from anything I might experience in my life. I loved the ending. #LGBTQ #ComingOfAge

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A great read

This was an engrossing memoir with some of the best writing I've encountered in a long time. Gaines skillfully weaves the story of his family, his childhood, and the challenges of being a gay teenager in the 1960s.
My only disappointment is that Mr. Gaines has not written any other books about his own life. I will be keeping my eyes out for his work in the future.

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