One of These Things First - Tapa dura

A poignant and funny book that proves it does get better.--Joy Behar, "The View"

"By turns comic, honest, and riveting, Gaines tells a story of a well-meaning shrink and his troubled charge locked in a war of wills to ease the 'trauma of homosexuality' and restore his humanity in a conservative world."--Publishers Weekly

"One of These Things First is not only a departure but an absolute treasure. [Gaines is] a skilled humorist as well as a tender yet trenchant observer of human behavior and the social forces that so often control it."--New York Times Book Review

"A lyrical, dispassionate, humane story with a rich cast of characters . . . an absorbing, self-deprecating, deadpan humorous and painfully insightful memoir."--Sag Harbor Express

"Funny and poignant."--New York Post

"Growing up gay in pre-trendy Brooklyn wasn't always a joyride, as I personally realized ages ago. But Steven Gaines knows it even better. His harrowing account of being a suicidal 15-year-old who checked into Payne Whitney is eye opening, touching and ultimately triumphant because of how well he turned out."--Michael Musto, columnist and author of Manhattan on the Rocks

"Years ago Dominick Dunne called Steven Gaines 'a born storyteller.' If anything, we now know Gaines was meant to write his own powerful, heart-wrenching, and funny life story. I could not put it down."--Steven Petrow, columnist, Washington Post

"Steven Gaines is a born storyteller..."--Dominick Dunne

"Breezy, irreverent, amusing...replete with scandal, scurrilous characters, assorted bacchanalia, and all manner of wretched excess."--Laura Landro, Wall Street Journal

PRAISE FOR The Sky's the Limit: "Juicy and highly detailed, the book has movie stars, fashion designers, illicit sex, and lots of connving and cavorting socialites--and it's all about real estate."--Lisa B. Anderson, Chicago Tribune