Books: Clinging Oak

WHOSE LITTLE BOY ARE YOU?

by Heywood Hale Broun

St. Martin's; 215 pages; $14.95

The doctor looks down and pronounces judgment: "This child is dying." The mother's reply: "Don't you think he speaks English, you dumb son of a bitch? Pack your bag and get out!" The boy recovers and grows into an excruciating adolescence. He tentatively displays a picture of his new girlfriend. The father's response: "What are you doing in drag?"

Surviving in such an emotional climate was a challenge that Heywood Hale Broun was barely able to meet. It has taken the television commentator 50 years to recover, and even now...

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