I read two books this week, both page-turners I could barely put down.

Kevin Jennings and Kevin Sessums have each written of their experiences growing up gay in our country's Deep South, though the two books, Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son (Beacon Press, 2006) and Mississippi Sissy (St. Martin's Press, 2007), could not be mistaken for twins.

Having been born and raised in the Deep South myself, some of the authors' observations of my own time and place were poignant and prickly with accuracy, so much so I had to close the books for moments to absorb them.

Kevin Jennings' Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son is an uncomplicated account of a journey that starts with what he describes as "white trash" upbringing in a time and place clearly unwelcoming (hostile is more accurate) toward homosexual persons, or anyone who does not fit narrowly defined roles, for that matter.

His is the story of a boy with the odds stacked against him who managed to, nevertheless, maintain his sanity, his dignity and become an educated "Harvard man" who discovered within himself furious determination to improve the way gay men and women are treated.

Kevin Jennings planted and nurtured the seeds of many equal rights organizations. A great deal of today's gay unity and support rests on the efforts of Kevin Jennings, both past and present.

Kevin Sessums' Mississippi Sissy might appear, at first glance, to tell a near identical tale. In some ways, yes, the two Kevins, born and raised in the same era and culture, share a story. But, the Sessums book is deep, flowery, complex and at times more shocking.

The reader of Mississippi Sissy must hang in there. Effort is required in the reading of this book to navigate flashbacks, flash-forwards, flash-sideways and jumps back again. I fancied myself sometimes following freight trains of adjectives and descriptors. But, patience pays off. Many passages left me breathless.

Both Sessums and Jennings suffered the deaths of parents at early ages. Both knew from earliest childhood recollections they were different from most boys. Both were subjected to ridicule within families, schools and in their communities.

Both internalized their pain as children because no sane alternative existed. They became expert pretenders. And both men turned anguish into something beautiful and meaningful. They have helped change our culture, as real heroes often do.

Readers will find in these books characters to love, characters to hate, characters that disappoint and characters that simply bewilder, just as Kevin Jennings and Kevin Sessums found characters in their young lives. Readers are certain to share the authors' triumph by books' ends.

I recommend both books, Mississippi Sissy and Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son, to those wishing to garner even a glimpse into the perhaps universal struggles of gay youth. Readers become privy to far more than glimpses.

Sessums and Jennings have invited the world to understand. They have thrown open the doors and windows of their lives. They have pried the lid off bigotry, offering readers a chance to see it for what it is--society's desperate embrace of homogeny, terror of diversity, and the profound lack of reasons for both.