Michael Carson Knihy

A touching and comic tale of the last week before Stanley Dowd turns thirteen.

A humorous sequel to "Sucking Sherbet Lemons". Martin Benson has left St Finbar's seminary in disgrace and is struggling to correct social injustices in his role as vice-president of the Overseas Students' Society at Aberystwyth University.

A classic, hilarious coming out novel about growing up in the 1960s—can Benson be both gay and Catholic? Gay and happy? What do you do when you're fat, 14, and your obsessions include the Catholic Church, doing the right thing, scones and sweets, and other boys and their private parts? Well, if you're Benson, you panic and flee, hiding from the flesh as a novice in a monastery. Alas, St. Finbar's monastery is as full of temptation as the grammar school he'd left behind. The devils of desire find Benson once again and throw him back into the world from which he’d tried to escape. Returned to school, Benson is still trying to square the circle of his conflicting enthusiasms and desires. This comic epic is a warm, funny, and bold reminder of just how new, and superficial, sexual tolerance in contemporary society really is.

The book explores the critical lesson of prioritizing one's own well-being before helping others, using the familiar airplane safety protocol as a metaphor. It emphasizes the importance of self-care and personal responsibility, particularly in challenging situations. Through this lens, it encourages readers to reflect on their own lives and the necessity of ensuring their own stability before extending support to those around them.

Bensons Mutter denkt, dass der Wunsch ihres Sohnes, ins Kloster zu gehen, pubertäres Verhalten ist. Benson liebt Süßigkeiten und kämpft mit gehässigen Mitschülern, sadistischen Lehrern und ratlosen Eltern, während er sich mit seiner sexuellen Unsicherheit auseinandersetzt.