Derek McCormack is growing up in a small town in the early 1950s. Like many teenagers, he's facing a lot of problems. Unlike many teenagers, his biggest one is that he's gay and doesn't know what to do about it. Unable to talk about it with others, unable to even admit it to himself, he glides through life taking notice only of ephemera from fireworks and midway rides to holiday ornaments and country music stars. Dark Rides is a fascinating exploration of desire, identity and fear.

In this dazzling first novel, a gay teenager named Derek McCormack describes life in a small town in 1952. Unable to voice his forbidden desires to himself or anyone else, Derek moves like an automaton through a world that notices him only when he self-destructs. He is an ephemeral being obsessed with ephemera - fireworks, midway rides, holiday ornaments, country music stars. Illustrated with period photographs of midways, Dark Rides is an unprecedented exploration of the production of identity and the machinery of desire.

Derek McCormack, author of the critically acclaimed Haunted Hillbilly, is the author of two short story collections set in his hometown of Peterborough, Ontario: Dark Rides and Wish Book: A Catalogue of Stories. He is co-author of Wild Mouse, which was nominated for the 1999 Toronto Book Award. His short stories have appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers, and anthologies in Canada and the U.S.A. His non-fiction has appeared in the National Post, Saturday Night, Elm Street, and Blood & Aphorisms. In 2001, he received an Honourable Mention at the National Magazine Awards for "Boo! A Halloween ABC," which appeared in Saturday Night. Stargaze, a short movie based on his story of the same name, has appeared at numerous Canadian and international film festivals. Derek McCormack lives in Toronto.