AJ Romriell
Author | Educator | Fabulist
“Wolf Act thrives in its interactive and ingenious structuring… A powerful memoir that serves as a reminder of the hidden wounds that individuals must reconcile themselves to in order to survive.”
--Foreword Reviews
In a series of linked personal essays, this radical debut navigates a boy's childhood growing up queer and neurodivergent in the Mormon religion.
"Wolf Act moves in the way a body does, an evocative intertwining of memories through the complexities of familial love, the alienating potential of religious orthodoxy, the thrilling and shameful experiences of adolescence, and the search for love (including self-love) in a homophobic culture that narrowly defines lovability."
—Elissa Washuta, author of White Magic
“A book both tender and with teeth—a dark, lyric fairy tale of redemption and rebirth. In achingly honest and playful prose, Romriell invites us to embrace our animal selves, in their hungriest, most complex forms; to find beauty and belonging in both our wildest and softest parts. Wolf Act is a lament, a prayer, a brave and hopeful hymn—a reminder that in order to be seen we must first see ourselves; that in order to be heard we must find our own voice, to bare our throats to the night and howl.”
—Melissa Faliveno, author of Tomboyland
“A searing, poetic account of growing up gay and Mormon. As a memoirist, Romriell chooses his words carefully for accuracy and effect. The honesty is bracing, the result cathartic. The redemptive power of Wolf Act lingers long after the final page."
—Gary James Bergera, coauthor of
Brigham Young University: A House of Faith
As a child, AJ Romriell strove to obey his Mormon leader's every rule. If he was faithful enough, he was taught, God would remove temptations. But at nineteen, returning home early from his mission after admitting his attraction to men, he was forced to make a decision: either stay the course or work to accept himself fully and risk losing family, community, and the church he'd devoted his life to. His decision to pursue radical acceptance would turn out to be just one step toward reclaiming his life.
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Through linked personal essays crafted in lyric, fabulist, and fragmented forms, Wolf Act charts a young man's transformation. Weaving together wolfish fairy tales and mythology, Mormon theology and practice, piercings and tattoos, cave explorations, ghost stories, and more, Romriell explores a childhood of hiding, a familial reckoning, a religious exodus, and an effort to understand one's life as worth saving--even when the meaning of the word "saving" must be reimagined.
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"Wolf Act thrives in its interactive and ingenious structuring. More than a simple coming-out memoir, the story volleys between lupine interludes, flashbacks that belie the comfort of chronology, and Romriell asking questions of his readers even as he seems to be rounding corners toward his emotional salvation. The chapter building is an inventive byproduct of his theater upbringing, creating a space for the story to build thoughtfully, even at its most scarring moments.​.."
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[read the full review on Foreword Reviews]​​