The Inheritance of Shame

Raw and unflinching: a powerful argument against conversion therapy as well as the healing power of memoir. -- KIRKUS REVIEWS, May 2017 In Peter Gajdics' memoir, we're taken into a real-life horror film of malpractice and corrupt psychotherapy, hoping at every turn of the page that our narrator escapes... A necessary and devastating memoir about the trauma of conversion therapy and the homophobia that persists to this day. -- DANIEL ZOMPARELLI, author of Everything is Awful and You're a Terrible Person Peter Gajdics traces his transformation from 'a man whose food seemed poisonous to his hunger' to a writer who makes real what seemed unreal. Through unrelenting prose, his words provide a home for his orphaned father, tortured mother, and most importantly, his own identity that others wanted to drug, demonize, and destroy. -- KATE GRAY, author of Carry the Sky Reflective but passionate, Gajdics takes the reader on an exploration beyond the what of his experience as a young, conflicted gay man and deeply into the chasm of his search to discover who he was.... This exploration is a hero's journey in which any reader, gay or straight, can find inspiration. -- LAMBDA LITERARY, April 2017 Peter Gajdics' multi-faceted memoir offers help for abuse survivors and those who care about them... His healing speaks to the power and fortitude of the human spirit. The Inheritance of Shame is both about damage and healing. This is a work of love. -- MIKE LEW, author of Victims No Longer: The Classic Guide for Men Recovering from Sexual Child Abuse Cults come in many forms and unfortunately those who want to be normal sometimes become victims of these cults. The book focuses on the triumph of the human spirit and shows how everyone may be different in some ways but no one is born to be what others think they should be. At the end, be yourself and be happier is the theme of the book. -- BEV SELLARS, Bestselling author of They Called Me Number One The Inheritance of Shame provides an in-depth account of the triumph of one man's sanity over a psychotherapy system designed to eradicate personhood. Particularly moving were passages of Gajdics's fondness for the very therapist who abused him, a kind of Stockholm syndrome most survivors of conversion therapy have experienced. A necessary, incredibly nuanced portrait of a survivor, The Inheritance of Shame will change lives. -- GARRARD CONLEY, author of Boy Erased: A Memoir Unforgettable... This book is appallingly appropriate in these times. -- FOREWORD REVIEWS Peter Gajdics carries us along effortlessly on his incredible struggle with family rejection, loss of self and ultimate recovery from the deep wounds inflicted by anti-gay therapy. At this time of immense suffering for LGBTQ+ youth around the world, his emergence from shame should give hope for healing to all victims of this destructive practice. -- JASON MARSDEN, Executive Director, Matthew Shepard Foundation