Ayomide Beckley

The Halfway House Ayomide Beckley

The halfway house is a book that describes the stages of development of a young boy in a unique way; a real depiction of life in a third world setting, sudden change in environment, encounters with savage bullies, rejection by a crush, unpleasant sanitary conditions, first encounter with alternative sexual lifestyles and eventual signs of a mental breakdown. The book seeks to educate on the subject of 'objective understanding' of who we really are as 'human beings' (flawed as we are) in the simplest ways. A summary of life that teaches both the psychology intern and the average Joe on the streets: who we are and what we are capable of doing. It requires a detachment from ones preconceived notion of self and others, you must act like a ghost staring at its lifeless body, critically analyzing and internalizing the issues raised in an objective manner. Caveats though, do not engage in denial, rationalization and counter-arguments while reading this book because in the end you will lose the essence of the book; dark humor that seeks to reduce stigma associated with abnormality.