by Matt Caprioli
A love letter to a young man’s flawed, but caring family
In my experience, there is no greater or more abiding love for a gay man than the one he shares with his mother. She is, at turns, confidant and best friend, tyrant and tormentor, someone to turn to for deep comfort and to flee at all costs.
It is this deep vein of humanity that Matt Caprioli mines in his memoir, “One Headlight.” It is a paean to his rough and tumble Alaska childhood, his early struggles with poverty, with his sexuality, and his ultimate blossoming into a sexy, confident, young gay man. But it is more than another coming-of-age story. It is a love letter to his mother, Abby, a lively woman, who navigates the world with humor and humility, doing her best with the hand she was dealt, both for herself and for the son she so clearly adores.