Kevin Allison

Two Henrys is one of four stories in the Audible/Amazon Originals This Can't Be Happening Collection. Each story is about someone's worst case scenario and how they used it to their advantage rather than letting bad events own them.

I loved this story! Kevin Allison tells the tale of meeting....and losing....his best friend in school. They were inseparable friends until Kevin divulged he was gay. That revelation of his greatest secret caused a rift between the two former best buddies, culminating in a run for junior high student council president.

I remember the days when the most terrifying thing that could happen to a kid was to be "different'' or even the dreaded term "unpopular.'' I was always in the "unpopular'' group for a large list of ridiculous reasons. I was told I was too smart, never wore the right clothes, my hair was wrong, didn't apply the correct shades of cool eyeshadow and lip gloss, and I wasn't thin enough. As soon as I had that magic birthday where I was old enough to work, I got a job waitressing at a truck stop so I could fix the clothes, my hair, and buy the required make-up. It didn't help....I was still in the reject group. Too smart. Too nerdy. Too plain. Wore glasses. Wore a size 12. I just was that too round peg that didn't even remotely fit the square hole of popularity.

There was one topic that was the ultimate taboo back in 80's public school in the rural midwest where I grew up -- being gay. I'm sure there were gay kids at my school, but they stayed safely in the closet back in those days. The worst thing to call someone back then was a "fag'' or a "fruit.'' It was the penultimate insult. The destroyer of worlds. Worse than being weird. Looking back, I wonder if any of my classmates lived in that hell of never getting to be who they really were. Never getting to just be themselves out of fear of being outted. There would have been no escape from being labeled as The Fag. I grew up in that era.....and I felt total sympathy for Kevin Allison as he told his story with honesty, humor and truth.

I listened to the audio version of this novella. It's an easy listen at just under 1.5 hours. Kevin Allison narrates his own story. His performance is top-notch. It was enjoyable to hear his tale of learning to be comfortable in his own skin. I have hearing loss but was easily able to hear and understand the entire audio book. Kevin Allison has a popular podcast called Risk!, showcasing true stories that people never thought they would work up the guts to tell in public. It sounds intriguingly interesting. I added it to my podcast lineup. Definitely worth a listen!… (mehr)

Two Henrys

I Picked Up This Book Because: Exploring Kindle Unlimited audio library

The Story:

A story of best friends, unrequited love and coming out… kinda. As much as I wanted to be as connected to this story as I was to the others in this short series but I just wasn’t. I’m not sure if it was Kevin’s narrating or the story itself but I just wasn’t into it. I honestly couldn’t even tell you how it ended.I checked out after he invited Ben to work on a song after not speaking to him for two years.

The Random Thoughts:

2.5 Stars… (mehr)

I started listening to the Risk! podcast years and years ago. I was already listening to The Moth and other storytelling podcasts, and at first I thought this was just a tawdry attempt to have people tell the most prurient details of their sexual escapades. But for some reason I kept listening and soon grew to realize that this was storytelling at its most raw. People told stories of their abuse and trauma, the transitional moments of their life, as well as hilarious tales of everyday escapades gone wrong. Risk! was a podcast that brought out the humanity in every person brave enough to speak into the mic and the many people who could relate to their stories.

The Risk! book gathers together some of the stories from the podcast as well as stories written specifically for the book. In some cases, the stories lose something when you don't hear the author's voice, whether it's someone who is a master of the live storytelling art who brings things out with their voice and mannerisms, or if it's someone's who uncertainty and nervous laughter of someone daring to speak words they never thought they'd utter before an audience. On the other hand, some stories gain an extra something on the printed page. I liked being able to skip back and review some details that I overlooked earlier in the story that become significant later on (granted one can rewind a podcast but it's not as easy as flipping back the page) or catch the words lost in the audience laughter or mumbled by the storyteller.

My favorite stories include:

"The Gift" by Michelle Carlo -remembering a perfect moment with a boy while growing up in the Bronx shortly before he was murdered.
"Dressing the Wound" by Jim Padar - a Chicago cop remembers staunching the bleeding of a murder victim, keeping him alive along enough for his family to say goodbye.
"Always a Woman" by Morgan - a construction worker falls two stories in a building and realizes that she needs to recognize her identity.
"High Fidelity" by Jonah Ray - a story set in in a Venice Beach, California record store with shoplifters, on September 11, 2001.
"The Downward Spiral" by JC Cassis - the storyteller recounts the feelings of loss and regret during the final days of life of his depressed and isolated Uncle Fred.
"Doing Good" by Chad Duncan - a special education teacher with a gift for reading people deals with suddenly going blind.
It's a terrific book and highly recommend that anyone who cares about their fellow humans read it (and listen to the podcast regularly, even if some of the stories feature the prurient details of sexual escapades)… (mehr)