If you wanted the freedom to be and to think and to create, San Francisco in the 1970s and 1980s was the playground of libertarianism in action. It was in this freewheeling environment that Alysia Abbott was brought up by her father. Steve Abbott had been bisexual but was now, in widowhood, essentially gay. A poet, he was energetic in a versifying scene that took itself very seriously. Although this part of Alysia's life is bookended by tragedy, she otherwise describes her upbringing as something the Brady Bunch might have been comfortable with. Of course there were toing and froing boyfriends, a few larcenous scallywags, cross-dressing babysitters and right-on surrogate mommas, but Abbott's lyrical style makes her childhood sound cosy and, well, prosaic. Although it's not a page-turner, Fairyland nevertheless presents a very human and loving story.
