Ryan O’Connell Books in Order

O’Connell recounts growing up gay with cerebral palsy and stumbling through work, relationships and addiction in his twenties. Personal memories and social observations examine the stories young adults tell themselves while trying to find confidence and independence.

Essays explore growing older, navigating New York and the emotional confusion of early adulthood. O’Connell draws on his experiences as a young gay man to consider relationships, everyday excesses and the difficulties of finding direction in one’s twenties.

A successful gay television writer with cerebral palsy struggles with drinking, infidelity and the pressures of Hollywood. Behind an apparently enviable relationship and career, Elliott must confront destructive habits and find a more honest way to live.

O’Connell reflects on disability, sexuality, addiction and family alongside his move from online writing into Hollywood. Personal essays follow his attempts to shape his own story, navigate intimacy and examine the gap between public identity and private experience.