Nebraska

Author: George Whitmore

Publisher: The Song Cave (2025)

First published in 1987 by Grove Press and long out of print, Nebraska is a classic underground novel by the gay writer and activist George Whitmore. Craig McMullen, a young boy in Nebraska, gets hit by a car on the way to get groceries on his bike. After having his leg amputated, he is bed-ridden, lonely, bored, and addicted to painkillers. His rare interactions with kids his own age, specifically with a neighbor boy who often spends the night, awaken within Craig feelings to further explore. When Craig’s uncle moves into the family home after serving time in the Navy, a world of hope, pain, mystery, and despair descends upon Craig and the McMullen family, giving the reader glimpses into how gay lives were secretly lived and horrifically extinguished in 1950s rural America. After a life of trauma and yearning, the adult Craig’s search for redemption and clarity ultimately lead him on a circular path. With an unforeseen ending that can only be described with the delicately complicated touch of Whitmore’s enigmatic prose, Nebraska will stay in your mind long after finishing it.