"Norman Mathews was born in the wrong town, the wrong era, and with the wrong name. Dreams of a life in the theater and of passionate romance were stymied by lack of self-assurance, in which he allowed adults to dissuade him at every turn. Psychological abuse by a priest led to absurdly comic psychotherapy over his inability to accept his sexuality. At age 20, a failed suicide nearly shattered a promising future. Byzantine twists paved the way to...