Mama's Boy Summary
Dustin Lance Black

Mama's Boy Overview

Mama's Boy is a memoir by Academy Award-winning screenwriter and LGBTQ+ activist Dustin Lance Black. The narrative covers the scope of Lance's life to date, beginning with his childhood growing up in a Southern Mormon community before moving to his work as a screenwriter, and then concluding with his period of activism in which he advocated for federal marriage equality at the Supreme Court level. Mama's Boy is also about the life of Lance's mother, who survived polio as a child and, like her son, had to learn how to live in a world where difference and disability are often not easily accepted. Mama's Boy explores themes of family, divisiveness, partisanship, and the power of personal stories.