Table of Contents
Preface xiii
The Prayer 3
Learning to Hide 13
"House of the Rising Sun" 20
Bullies 22
Underwater 31
Let Me Sing for You 35
Salisbury Steak, Please 39
The Boy on a Tractor 41
The Ozark Jubilee 46
Opryland USA, 1989 51
Brenda 55
Scared Straight 66
My First Recording Contract, 1993 75
Julia 77
A Dream Come True 84
The Thin Line 87
We Found a Way 91
All-American Girl 93
"But Didn't She Date What's-His-Name?" 102
"Single White Female" 105
Fame 108
Knee-Deep in a River and Dying of Thirst 113
Brad 115
The Slow Climb 117
All the Way to Memphis 124
Bites and Stings 126
Love Is Love 134
In My Own Home 136
Rumors 139
"Hard to Be a Husband, Hard to Be a Wife" 141
Casualties 153
Try, Try Again 155
Beautiful People 156
Mice Don't Speak 159
From Sea to Shining Sea 164
Back to the Desert 176
My Sister, Jeny 182
A Great American 185
Steel on Steel: Master Sergeant Wright 194
Don't Ask, Don't Tell 197
Hannity and Wright 201
Love Everybody 207
Moving Out 213
Kristin 215
My Dad 222
The Boy Scouts of America 229
Run, Jeny, Run 232
Down on My Knees 239
Keep Your Friends Close, and Your Enemies Closer 244
One of My Angels 249
A Million to One 251
Choice 257
Stereotypes 260
My Mom, My Brother, and Others 265
Where Do I Fit In? 269
Hate Crimes Are Down? 272
Turning the Page 274
Learning to Say Good-bye 278
State of the Union 281
Afterword 285
Acknowledgments 315