Gypsy Boy On the Run by Mikey Walsh

Is Gypsy Boy On the Run by Mikey Walsh just a con? Just read the Acknowledgements section and you are left with a few questions after he acknowledges his gypsy culture, thanks all his relatives and friends and most of all claims to cherish his gypsy culture and that he is a Gypsy Man, in a book titled Gypsy Boy. Is this another Education of Little Tree or A Million Little Pieces? Okay, let’s read on.

At fifteen, Mikey escapes from his life as a Romany Gypsy with his friend Caleb.  Mikey’s young life is bizarre to say the least. As a male gypsy he is expected to be a fighter, a womanizer, and a drinker. He is none of this. His older sister dresses him in dresses, until his dad discovers this. He does karaoke with his mum and sister. Even his older sister calls him a poof. He is always losing fistfights. He blames his inability to drive and do other manly things on his gayness. Oh and he is abused by his dad’s younger brother for years. He was a failure as a Gypsy Man and was constantly reminded this by his family and his clan. Then he meets Caleb.

He runs away from home with Caleb to Liverpool. They are chased. He hides in the boot, in bathrooms in pubs. There are phone calls, crying, and fights. Eventually Caleb and a friend, David, drop him in Leeds to fend for himself, to find a bed sit, a job and to wait for a month till he turns sixteen and he is free. Is this for real?

Mikey gets a place, gets a job and after he finally gets paid he goes to his first gay bar with Laura, a gay work mate.  Caleb is angry that Mikey went to a gay bar. Caleb set down rules. Mikey is in the place he was running away from. He keeps going from the frying pan to the fire.

This is a fairy tale. It is make believe. It is entertaining at best, boring at worse, but a fabrication through and through. It lacks soul, passion; that’s how I know. It’s not as good as the above-mentioned hoaxes.