Desmond Tynan recounts both the joys and the struggles of his childhood in impoverished rural Ireland, starting with the moon landing in 1969 and taking the reader through his childhood in the 1970s and his young adulthood in the early 1980s. He explores how his life unfolded as he grew up in a rapidly changing Ireland as a young gay man, a middle child in a large family where money was always tight. He always knew he was a bit different, but he only really started to acknowledge his sexuality when he went of to college to become a chef. His time in Dublin, going to school and working in a couple of good restaurants, sets him up for further adventures when he emigrates to London.

Follow Desmond as he pushes his younger siblings in the pram up and down the street to the shops, borrows his best friend's dresses, then grows up enough to go out to the disco, all while maintaining a close relationship with his beloved Mammy.