Robert Goolrick is the only contemporary out-of-the-closet gay Appalachian author with a national reputation at this time. His first book was an autobiography - The End of the World As We know It (2007) - a compelling story of growing up under the domineering hand of a father who internalized the patriarchy of Virginia Military Institute in beautiful Lexington, Virginia, where he taught. Goolrick fled to a life in New York's gay community. His second book, A Reliable Wife, set in Wisconsin was a national best-seller and critical success as well. Heading Out to Wonderful is Goolrick's next book. For it, he returns to a fictional town in the Shenandoah Valley in the summer of 1948.
Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 2012. Hardback in dust jacket.