Filthy Beasts

The filthy beasts in the title refer to the three boys raised in an affluent but alcoholic home. Filthy Beasts is the sobriquet conferred on them by their mother who went from cocktail party happiness among the wealthy to single-parent status in Bermuda. To the casual reader, Bermuda doesn’t sound like such a bad exile, but we learn that the house was shabby, the food was scarce or non-existent and the parental care was sporadic. In many such homes, the care of the younger children falls to the eldest who is often unprepared for such responsibility. Life with a beautiful, glamorous parent can have a downside when that parent becomes a narcissistic drunk. The author of this book, seemingly embarrassed by his social register status nonetheless uses it as a trump card to try to fit in and gain friends. To compound matters, the question of his sexual identity is confused, unresolved, and isolating. A true story that money and privilege is not a paved road to happiness, but can be a lonely and sterile existence.