Jamie Goldberg suspects his homosexuality at an early age. He manages to hide it from his homophobic Seventies Detroit community, his Jewish political activist parents, and even from himself until his rape, at the hands of a male prostitute, at the age of 16. Profoundly ashamed, he hides in two worlds. One world is an intellectual cocoon spun from music, art, theater, and literature. The other is a darker world where sadomasochistic desires attempt to obliterate his sexuality. His elaborate fantasies are no match for real life or his true affections, which blossom in spite of his constant attempts to thwart them. When his carefully constructed imaginary world begins to crumble, Jamie must face his demons, both real and invented, then the emotional sparks fly.

Rites of Passage is a variation on the coming of age novel. It shows that sometimes the fantasy world can be just as important as the ‘real world’ in developing a sense of self and a good life.

Hopeless romantic Jamie Goldberg suspects his homosexuality at an early age and manages to hide it from his homophobic ’70’s Detroit Community; his Jewish political activist parents; and even from himself until his rape, at the hands of a male prostitute, at the age of 16.  Ashamed, he burrows deeper into a fantasy world  fueled by music, art, and literature. His elaborate fantasy world is no match for real life or his true affections, which blossom in-spite of his constant attempts to thwart them. When his carefully constructed imaginary world begins to crumble, James must face his demons, both real and invented, discovering in the end that even personal discovery comes at a high price.

Jamie Goldberg starts out his young life behind the eight-ball: he has parents that care more for their political struggles than the safety of their own child. Jamie’s parent’s controversial politics on school bussing, makes Jamie quite the outsider at school. He feels even more the outsider as he suspects his homosexuality at an early age.

With the best of intentions, his parents leave him a sex education book that is, incidentally, rabidly homophobic. He feels he is living life on a desert island: completely abandoned to his own fate. Learning to hate himself, he starts on a downward spiral early in life. In his early teens, he attempts to cure himself of homosexuality through sado-masochism: beating himself whenever he fantasizes about a man. Early on, this self-made aversion therapy works, but not for long. The downward spiral increases and culminates in his rape at the hands of a male prostitute.

Unable to handle the harsh realities he is dealt with, he tries to seek refuge from life. First he tries suicide. When that fails, he decides to ruthlessly suppress his homosexuality and erase all memory he was ever raped. Instead of trying to kill himself, he discovers the fantastical and wondrous world of music and literature. Here he can live a fantasy world that makes the real one bearable. This works, too, for a while, until he is shaken rudely back to real life. In college, he unexpectedly falls in love with an older student. This love from afar, ennobles him and encourages him to want to live. This new lease on life sends him on a journey back through life to discovery not just what is homosexuality, but also what is Jamie’s real sense of self. What it means to love and be loved. He explores sex, with a girlfriend and even the love of his life. But this calls up more questions than it answers.

Finally, reading positive books on homosexuality, Jamie has the courage to come out of the closet, thinking this would solve all of his problems. Which it does, for about a day. Then, far from solving problems, he is suddenly faced with problems he never dreamed of before: the rest of 70’s Detroit does not share in Jamie’s joy of being gay. The high cost of coming out truly sinks in when he is rejected by his parents and cut off from family and financial support.

He turns to a gay community that only sees a vulnerable easy target. He seems to have no one. He seems to be no one. The only person left in his life, is a sweet kind college roommate, Tim. Together, they enjoy submerging themselves in their only refuge from a hostile world: music. Their fate uncertain, but Jamie is a sadder but wiser person who learns honesty and integrity often have a high price tag; and sometimes living in a musical fantasy world is just fine.