''The Tricky Part: One Boy's Fall from Trespass into Grace'' is a 2005 non-fiction book by

Martin Moran Martin Moran (born December 29, 1959) is an American actor and writer who grew up in Denver, Colorado. He attended Stanford University and is best known for his autobiographical solo show about his childhood molestation called '' The Tricky Pa ...

. Between the age of 12 and 15, Martin Moran had a sexual relationship with Bob Doyle, a Vietnam

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

who was a counselor at a Catholic boys' camp. Thirty years later, he meets his abuser again. The book won the

Randy Shilts Award The Randy Shilts Award is an annual literary award, presented by Publishing Triangle to honour works of non-fiction of relevance to the gay community. First presented in 1997, the award was named in memory of American journalist Randy Shilts. Winn ...

for Gay Non-Fiction from

Publishing Triangle The Publishing Triangle, founded in 1988 by Robin Hardy, is an American association of gay men and lesbians in the publishing industry. They sponsor an annual National Lesbian and Gay Book Month, and have sponsored the annual Triangle Awards prog ...

in 2006.

Plot summary

''The Tricky Part'' tells the story of the relationship and its effect on Moran, who grew up as a homosexual. It describes Moran's sexual awakening, and how he and a chubby friend of his called George, go with Bob to get the camp ready. Bob pulls Moran into his sleeping bag the first night they are alone (with George asleep beside them) and abuses him. A year later, Moran discovers that a friend of his, Kip, another 13-year-old, is also being abused by Bob. The abuse continues through puberty and adolescence and Moran tries to tell Bob that he wants it all to stop. Bob's response is to invite the boy into bed with him and his cowgirl-friend Karen. Bob is finally arrested and jailed for his sex crimes. Moran's desperate

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

is described with candor and humor and sets out the paradox that what is, in nearly everyone's eyes, a seriously damaging experience, can be the very thing that gives "rise to transformation, even grace". The book condemns adult–child sex. Moran is ambivalent about the touching and other sexual acts. He tries to commit suicide twice, but eventually finds his feet in

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

and Broadway theater. Moran has also developed and performed ''The Tricky Part'' as a one-man play. 2005 non-fiction books American non-fiction books Gay non-fiction books Literature about child sexual abuse LGBT autobiographies {{LGBT-book-stub