Review: 'How I Learned to Hate in Ohio,' by David Stuart MacLean FICTION: A teenager confronts bullying, racism and a broken home in this sharp debut. By Mark Athitakis Special to the Star Tribune January 15, 2021 — 9:29am Text size Copy shortlink: David Stuart MacLean's debut novel, "How I Learned to Hate in Ohio," opens with its narrator, Baruch, having a rough first day of high school. His mom is absent, constantly traveling for work. Dad is a philosophy professor lamenting life in adjunct limbo. Baruch has tried to get his peers to call him Barry, but nobody's biting. Instead, he's stuck with his old nickname, a homophobic slur. A squabble with a counselor gets him suspended.