 Baker was born in Long Beach , California and raised in what he considered a " <unk> , Republican Southern Californian household " . <unk> against his parents , he became attracted to the fringe elements of society , including <unk> ( anyone living as a <unk> , acting <unk> , or appearing to advocate a revolution in manners ) , artists and gays . In high school during the 1960s he explored his sexuality at underground gay teen nightclubs , while living in fear that his abusive father would find out . At one point , his father hired a private detective to follow him , when he suspected Baker was having an affair with a male neighbor . This family dynamic would be used in many of his novels , most extensively in Boy Wonder . 
