Charmed Lives
Gay Spirit in Storytelling
ed. by Toby Johnson and Steve Berman
Storytelling can be a way of spinning straw into gold, of showing ourselves we have drawn a long straw in this life. Charmed Lives offers readers a collection of over thirty short works of fiction and personal essays as an alternative to the stories that society often tells about gay men. Some are whimsical with a touch of enchantment, some profoundly spiritual, others romantic--all offer insight into modern gay life that will inspire and shed light on the grace of being gay with tales of hope against adversity and love over loneliness.
A finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Best Anthology!
Table of Contents:
"Ella, Kelly and Me…" by Mark Abramson
"The Story Behind the Story" by Perry Brass
"An Angel on the Threshold" by Eric Andrews-Katz
"Shades" by Bill Goodman
"The Canals of Mars" by Victor J. Banis
"What Queer Spirit Sees" by Jeffery Beam
"After Edward" by Michael Gouda
"What Two Men Do In Bed" by Bryn Marlow
"Great Uncle Ned" by Joseph R.G. De Marco
"Beyond the Blue Bardo" by Sterling Houston
"The Verse" by Jay Michaelson
"My Last Visits With Harry" by Bill Blackburn
"Reversing Vandalism" by Jim Van Buskirk
"Grandfather’s Photograph" by Neil Ellis Orts
"Gay Spirituality?" by Will Gray
“Charmed, I’m Sure” Mark Thompson and Malcolm Boyd
"Viewing the Statue of David" by Jim Toevs
"The True and Unknown Story of Albert Gale" by Andrew Ramer
"Tom or An Improbable Tail" by Ruth Sims
"Free Speech" by Martin K. Smith
"This I Know" by Dan Stone
"Musuko Dojoji" by Mark Horn
"A Path of Mirrors" by Don Clark
"Lines" by John McFarland
"Left with Love" by Lewis DeSimone
"Get Thee Behind Me" by Christos Tsirbas
"His Paper Doll" by Steve Berman
"Desiring St. Sebastian" by Donald L. Boisvert
"Avalokiteshvara at The 21st Street Baths" by Toby Johnson
"Manifest Love" by David Nimmons
"Neighborhood Walk" by Steven A. Hoffman
"My Pride and Joy" by Tyler Tone
"The Bell of St. Michael’s" by Gary Craig
"So What is the Charm?" by Bert Herrman
"And, finally" by Michael Sigmannes