Ragan Fox offers poetry that demands and provokes readers, as well as
entertains them. Fox bares not only his sexuality but his
childhood fears and foes, his desires met and never satisfied, in these
imaginative poems. These pieces deserve being read by anyone moved by
the plight of today’s gay culture wars.
“Ragan Fox’s searing chronicle of growing up gay is
an anguished autobiography composed of poems unerring in their ferocity
and their truths. These stanzas, which seem to be scraped directly from
the surface of the poet’s skin, are both gut-twisting and impossible to
turn away from. No edges are blurred, nothing is held back. Sharpening
a creative signature that already sported a razor edge, Fox grants us
witness to the crafting of an unapologetic life.”
—Patricia Smith, four-time individual National
Poetry Slam
champion &
National Book Award finalist for Blood Dazzler
Love
Sucks:
New York Stories of Love, Hate and Anonymous Sex By Ken Shakin
A collection of unforgettable vignettes from Sleaze City, New York.
Ken Shakin's reportage walks the thin line between journalism and
fiction. In a free tradition of modern gay writing, Shakin follows John
Rechy, Renaud Camus, John Preston and Boyd McDonald in using the
perspective of anonymous sex to probe the uncomfortable facts of social
relations, and not just gay ones, in the anonymous world of the big
city. From "The Anonymous Dog" to "Confessions of a Smoocher", "Man and
His Toys" to "The Smelliest Man Alive", Shakin's stories offer a guided
tour to Sleaze City, calculated to send a shiver down even the most
desensitised spines. Read this book at your own risk!
Ready
to Serve:
Arresting Gay Erotica By James Buchanan
Author James Buchanan offers readers six tales of sultry encounters
between police officers, firemen, border patrol, along with a few
irresistible ne'er-do-wells.
What better life for a randy gay man than as a sailor? Sandy knows that
a ship crammed full of sexy service men offers plenty of
opportunities—and that nights at shore are even more exciting and
risque. The lads can’t wait for you to come below decks. There’s plenty
of adventure so welcome aboard.
Ken Smith is the author of a series of erotic novels with nautical
themes.
How do you react when your lover is kidnapped by terrorists and held
hostage for over a year? How do you react when you are the man chained
to the wall? In Martin Foreman’s moving novel, first published in 1996,
Andy McIllray in the Peruvian Andes and Tom Dayton in rural England
face that reality every day—each reliving his past and each fearful of
the future.
Young Charlie Heggensford is fresh off a farm in Idaho when he stumbles
(literally) into the office of Fluffers, Inc., where his natural
talents are quickly put to use getting male porn stars in the “mood” to
perform. A little too good at his job, Charlie over-stimulates the
actors he is assigned to arouse and finds himself in trouble not only
with his boss but several porn directors as well. Now if only Charlie
can spare a breath for some seriously hilarious and sexy
misadventures...
Real
Men Ride Horses:
Lost Stories of an American Desert By Ken Shakin
Wander the pink desert, where the heat is thick, cowboys come clean,
Indians tell all, and the author as voyeur writes down their stories.
In Ken Shakin’s erotic collection, Western America is revealed,
stripped to the waist, where men and boys get lost in the desert,
looking for a wet dream.
Cold
Serial Murder
Book 2 in the Beach Reading series By Mark Abramson
Tim Snow expected to show his visiting Aunt Ruth the wonders of San
Francisco, but never expected one of the sights of the city would be
the body of his ex-lover. A killer is on the loose in the Castro
district. Meanwhile, Tim’s cadre of quirky friends and neighbors makes
life all the more interesting with their drama of weddings and lost
(and found) loves. Cold Serial Murder continues the story of one of the
Castro’s most adorable characters. Can Tim and his Aunt uncover who the
killer is before it’s too late? (Read
about Book 1: Beach Reading)
Bob Lind in ECHO Magazine
writes:
In this second of his "Beach Reading" series of light thrillers,
Abramson further develops the likeable and relatable characters he
introduced in that enjoyable first book (same name as the series), and
again provides a story that perfectly captures the cohesive spirit of
the Castro community. While mystery purists may prefer a few more "red
herrings" to complicate the solving of the crime, the author obviously
intends for the series to entertain rather than challenge, and it
succeeds wonderfully on that level. A clang from a streetcar, and five
golden stars out of five!
The Ice fell upon the world nearly a hundred years ago, and if
civilization didn’t rightly collapse, it surely staggered and fell ill
a while. In the small town of Moline, Virginia, folks struggle to
survive, relying on hybrid seed sent by the faraway Dept. of
Reintroduction and Agriculture and their own faith in God and hard
work. But when a mated pair of dragons starts hunting the countryside,
stealing sheep, and attacking children, the townsfolk quickly learn
that they don’t have the weapons or the skills to fight off such
predators.
David Anderson is a farmer’s son who has explored the world through
books. When he meets the new healer in town, Callan Landers, he doesn’t
quite know what to make of the strange warmth stealing over him. It’s
not until he surprises Callan with another man—and both men are
promptly arrested for sodomy—that David finally realizes the truth
about his own feelings.
When David and Callan stumble over a secret in a nearby abandoned town,
their personal problems fade before government politics and corruption
that threaten lives. It seems the dragons aren’t the worst dangers
facing Moline.
At fourteen, Kit St. Denys brought down his abusive father with a
knife. At twenty-one his theatrical genius brought down the house. At
thirty, his past—and his forbidden love—nearly brought down the curtain
for good.
A compelling Victorian saga of two men whose love for each other
transcends time and distance—and the society that considers it an
abomination. Set in the last twenty years of the 19th century, The
Phoenix is a multi-layered historical novel that illuminates poverty
and child abuse, theatre history in America and England, betrayal, a
crisis of conscience, violence and vengeance, and the treatment of
insanity at a time when such treatment was in its infant stage. Most of
all it is a tale of love on many levels, from carnal to devoted
friendship to sacrifice.
Best Gay Poetry is a new annual series collecting the best gay poems of
the year before. It offers both poetry aficionados and casual gay
readers an easy way to keep abreast of the field and find poems that
speak to their experience.
Editor Lawrence Schimel has brought together a diverse array of poems
and voices, not merely in their poetic style and form, but also in how
gay subjects and themes are addressed.
Drawing on poems published in journals,
anthologies,
and single-author
collections, Best Gay Poetry 2008 offers up the cream of the crop of
what was published in 2007, gathered together in one handy volume.
Featuring work from 50 gay poets, readers will find herein a mix of
established poets and exciting new voices, including Carl Phillips,
Rane Arroyo, David Bergman, Timothy Liu, Brad Gooch, Reginald Shepard,
Jeff Mann, Steve Fellner, Jee Leong Koh, Steven Cordova, Jericho Brown,
and many others,
Best Gay Poetry 2008 also includes an annotated bibliographic round-up
of relevant gay-interest poetry books published the year before, making
it an invaluable research tool for both institutions and individuals.
In Still Dancing author Jameson Currier brings together twenty short
stories spanning three decades of the impact of the AIDS epidemic on
the gay community. Along with stories from Currier’s debut collection,
Dancing on the Moon, praised by The Village Voice as “defiant and
elegiac,” are ten newly selected stories written by one of our
preeminent masters of the short narrative form.
Once more Catherine Lundoff offers readers a collection of the sensual
and the supernatural. The stories in Night’s Kiss are perfect bedtime
reading, as long as you keep the night-light on! Here are stories with
alluring vampires and aliens, strange Elvis impersonators and pirates,
as well as a few vengeful goddesses and curious tourists. So get under
the covers, and remember to lick your finger before daring to turn the
page.
His career as a concert pianist ended by a war injury, Sutton Albright
returns to college, only to be expelled after an affair with a teacher.
Unable to face his family, he heads to New York with no plans and
little money—only a desire to call his life his own.
Jack Bailey lost his parents to influenza and now hopes to save the
family novelty shop by advertising on the radio, a medium barely more
than a novelty, itself. His nights are spent in a careless and
debauched romp through the gayer sections of Manhattan.
When these two men cross paths, despite a world of differences
separating them, their attraction cannot be denied. Sutton finds
himself drawn to the piano, playing for Jack. But can his music heal
them both, or will sudden prosperity jeopardize their chance at
love?
At
the Sign of the Barber's Pole:
Studies in Hirsute History
By William Andrews
Hirsute history may not be the most sought-after
field
at institutes of higher learning, but the long-storied saga of the
barber and the beard deserve study. In At the Sign of the Barber's
Pole, the late academic William Andrews has poured over countless
historical records and works of literature to offer readers the
definitive story of society's fondness for bygone beards, mustaches,
and wigs.
Lethe
Press
Paperback
108 pages
ISBN 978-1-59021-081-9
2008
Sea, Swallow Me
and other stories
By Craig Laurence Gidney
Magic and myth mingle in dark and dazzling ways in Craig Laurance
Gidney's debut collection. A tourist meets an African sea god... A 12th
century Japanese monk attracts the attention of a mischievous
shapeshifter... The Earl King lives in a briar patch on an antebellum
plantation... Spirits of the past haunt a young boy on a Southern
coastal island.... Gidney turns the familiar strange and the strange
familiar in this landmark debut.
Sex
as God
Intended
A Reflection on Human Sexuality as Play
By John J. McNeill
with Festschrift essays celebrating the life and work of John J. McNeill
For more than thirty-five years, John J.
McNeill, an ordained priest and psychotherapist, has been devoting his
life to spreading the good news of God's love for lesbian and gay
Christians. McNeill presents a simple and straightforward answer to the
question: What did God invent sex for? The answer, derived from an
incisive investigation of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures, is that God
intended sex as a source of pleasure, joy and love.
This book represents a concise summary of the wisdom culled over a
lifetime. McNeill's ideas have enriched the faith of thousands,
including fellow teachers, religious scholars, ministers and lay folk.
This volume includes a Festschrift to John McNeill, celebrating his
life and work in a series of essays by students, friends, and
activists, honoring him for his lasting contribution and spelling out
how he touched their lives and work.
Toby Johnson • Mark Jordan • Robert E. Goss
• Jim Mitulski • Mary Elizabeth Hunt • Sr.
Jeannine Gramick • Vincent Virom Coppola • Virginia Ramey Mollenkott •
Mel White • Daniel Helminiak • John Stasio •
Brendan Fay and Rev. Troy Perry
You can’t keep a good boy from going down. And Brad,
one of the
best-selling gay erotica titles of all time, returns in a new edition.
The summer after high school, Brad meets a young man in the woods one
day and embarks on a life filled with sexual antics and adventures.
Join young Brad on a journey of sexual discovery from his early
fumblings in the British countryside until his more experienced days as
a rent boy sailor.
Ken Smith is the author of a series of erotic novels with nautical
themes.
Lethe Press
260 pages
5x8 trade paperback
1-59021-106-5
978-1-59021-106-9 Buy
from Giovanni's Room
the gay & lesbian community
bookstore in Philadelphia
Best Gay Stories 2008 edited by Steve Berman
Well-written stories that showcase the talent and
imagination of today's most skilled writers.
San Francisco has never been moire romantic or
adventuresome as portrayed by this debut novelist. A bit of magic and a
lot of local lore makes for an exciting and fun read.
Gay
Perspective:
Things our [homo]sexuality tells us about the nature of God and the
Universe
By Toby Johnson
Back in print, expanded and updated, with a new
Preface by the author,
Johnson's Lammy-nominated bold statement of the spiritual side of gay
consciousness.
In author Steve Berman's second collection of stories
and essays, he
once more leads readers through the dark paths of his imagination:
stories of the scent of loneliness entices children to start eating
away at a caretaker's historic house; a young lover is tempted by a
nursery rhyme; and Victorian-era burglars need to be wiley as well as
quick to survive together. Berman follows each tale with an author note
that dares to question what is fact and what might be fiction, while
laying bare his own life and dreams.
Steve Berman has been a finalist for many awards, including the Andre
Norton (his yougn adult novel Vintage), the Gaylactic Spectrum, the
Golden Crown Literary, and the Lambda Literary Awards. He resides in
southern New Jersey .
Wilde Stories is
a new
annual anthology that offers readers the best of the prior year's
speculative fiction with gay characters and themes. Editor Steve
Berman, who has been a finalist for both the Lambda Literary and Andre
Norton Award, has collected an engaging selection of the fantastical,
the strange, the scary from such notable authors as Victor J. Banis,
Jameson Currier, Hal Duncan and Lee Thomas.
GREAT
review with interesting comments by Amos Lassen at eurekapride.com
Green
Man Review gave a great review with descriptions of several of the
stories.
Crave: Tales of
Lust,
Love &
Longing By Catherine Lundoff
Catherine Lundoff is one of the most imaginative
writers
working
today. Her daydreams have been published in many anthologies. Her
stories combine passion with the weirdness of speculative fiction.
In Crave,
Catherine
has collected fifteen of her most recent
tales.
From the howls of lycanthropic desire offered by the "Leader of the
Pack" to lust and larceny in "Heart's Thief," these stories will
bewitch and entice women.
