Parents' Day (novel)

Parents' Day
AuthorPaul Goodman
LanguageEnglish
Genre
  • Autobiographical
  • LGBT
PublisherThe 5x8 Press
Publication date
1951
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint
Pages223
OCLC2916607
813.52
LC ClassPS3513 .O527 P3

Parents' Day is a 1951 novel by Paul Goodman. Written as autobiographical fiction based on the author's experiences teaching at the upstate New York progressive boarding school Manumit during the 1943–1944 year, the book's narrator grapples with his homosexuality and explores a series of sexual attractions and relationships that culminates in his being fired by the school. Goodman wrote the novel as part of a Reichian self-analysis begun in 1946 to better understand his own life. He struggled to find a publisher and ultimately self-published through a friend's small press. Reviewers remarked on unease in Goodman's sexual revelations, lack of self-awareness, and lack of coherence in the text. Parents' Day sold poorly and has been largely forgotten, save for some recognition as an early gay American novel.