HIRAETH

A debut memoirist chronicles his quest for belonging and acceptance.

The Welsh word Hiraeth, per Morgan, has no English language equivalent. Like homesickness or nostalgia, the term refers to “an elusive ache for home,” but it also encompasses the very “idea of a home,” including “a time or place that never existed in the first place.” Born to a third-generation Welsh family as a United States citizen, the author experienced a childhood not characterized by feelings of warmth or safety. Both of his parents were in their 40s when he was born (nearly 10 years after his youngest sibling); his father grappled with addiction and mental illness while is mother was struggling with depression. A self-described “fat, sissy kid who grew up in the welfare system of Pittsburgh,” Morgan was further alienated due to his sexual orientation. Both in church and in the general cultural climate of the 1960s and 1970s, he was consistently told that not only were gay boys destined “to hell,” but that they were also “a danger to other children.” By the time he was a young man, he was living on the streets battling his own addictions, and he would eventually have “sex with more than a thousand men, often in exchange for gifts or a place to stay.” While the details of the book are often harrowing, what stands out is Morgan’s emotional honesty regarding his psychological trauma and journey toward self-acceptance. He discusses, for instance, his spiritual exploration of the Kama Sutra (which he describes as “spiritual porn”) and how his attraction to Buddhism was due, in part, to its popularity among hip, young white people. The narrative also includes anecdotes from his eclectic career path from stand-up comedy to a part-time acting (he appeared on a local Washington, D.C., television show alongside a young Dave Chapelle) to work as an academic with a doctorate degree in education. The book’s personal, engaging narrative is accompanied by a host of original poetry, photographs, reproductions of letters, and newspaper clippings.

A powerful story of the ubiquitous human longing for home.