Book picks similar to
The Boy Who Picked The Bullets Up by Charles Nelson
lgbt
fiction
gay
gay-fiction
Now Is the Hour
Tom Spanbauer - 2006
Now Is the Hour is the wondrous story of how Rigby John got to this point. It traces his gradual emancipation from the repressions of a strictly religious farming family and from the small-minded, bigoted community in which he has grown up during a time of explosive cultural change. Transforming this familiar journey from American Graffiti to On the Road into something rich and strange and hilarious is the persona of Rigby John himself. Intimately in touch with his fears, hesitantly awakening to his own sexuality, and palpably open to life's mysteries, Rigby John is a protagonist whom readers will fall in love with, root for, and be moved by.Now Is the Hour is a powerful, vastly entertaining story of self-awakening, of the complex bonds of family, and ultimately of America during a period of tremendous upheaval.
Ready to Catch Him Should He Fall
Neil Bartlett - 1990
In a dark corner of the best bar in the city, two lovers fall into each other's arms. The bar has been called many names, but it is now known simply as The Bar. Its proprietor is the aging, still glamourous Madame. Its clientele is gay. The two who fall in love are Boy, a beautiful nineteen-year-old, and the handsome, forty-something "Older Man" referred to as "O" by the regulars of The Bar. This is the story of Boy's and O's courtship and marriage, of Madame's role in the affair, and of the man called "Father," who threatens to come between them. Searingly honest in its deception of gay culture and ritual, this gripping novel is at once a moving celebratiion of love and a stark picture of life for gay men today.
A Place Called Winter
Patrick Gale - 2015
They settle by the sea and have a daughter and conventional marriage does not seem such a tumultuous change after all. When a chance encounter awakens scandalous desires never acknowledged until now, however, Harry is forced to forsake the land and people he loves for a harsh new life as a homesteader on the newly colonized Canadian prairies. There, in a place called Winter, he will come to find a deep love within an alternative family, a love imperiled by war, madness and an evil man of undeniable magnetism.If you've never read a Patrick Gale, stop now and pick up this book. From the author of the bestselling NOTES FROM AN EXHIBITION comes an irresistible, searching and poignant historical novel of love, relationships, secrets and escape.
Eustace Chisholm and the Works
James Purdy - 1967
A seedy Depression-era boardinghouse in Chicago plays host to a game of emotional chairs (Guardian) in a novel initially condemned for its frank depiction of abortion, homosexuality, and life on the margins of American society."
The British Devil
Greg Hogben - 2012
A secretary in a small-town Southern Baptist church in Texas, she bristles at Greg’s secular beliefs. Through passive-aggressive manipulation, subtle deceit, or outright battle, Vivien resolves to banish Greg and return Danny to the fold, come hell or high water. Greg’s hold on Danny’s heart is pitted against Vivien’s crusade for Danny’s soul.All the while, Greg devotes himself to keeping Danny happy while negotiating the cultural differences of his life in America. Danny’s new career as a lawyer takes them from his native Texas to New York. But with Vivien testing Greg’s stiff upper lip at every turn, something has to give.The British Devil is a semiautobiographical novel exploring culture, religion, and love in a bi-national relationship.
The Shell House
Linda Newbery - 2002
Set against a background of the modern day and the First World War, Greg’s contemporary beliefs become intertwined with those of Edmund, a foot soldier whose confusion about his sexuality and identity mirrors Greg’s own feelings of insecurity.This is a complex and thought-provoking book, written with elegance and subtlety. It will change the way you think.From the Hardcover edition.
Jews Queers Germans
Martin Duberman - 2017
All five men are primarily homosexual, though they handle their erotic orientation in very different ways. Where Rathenau remains utterly closeted, Kessler feels free to bring his youthful working-class lover to the privileged soirées of the aristocracy, and the roustabout Röhm openly cavorts int he gay bathhouses and bars. Though Prince von Eulenburg, in contrast, is discretion itself, his enemies are hell-bent on his downfall; their intrigues culminate in the notorious trial of 1907 - at which Magnus Hirschfeld gives "expert" witness - that produces worldwide shock and titillation.The drama of these astonishing lives plays out against the rich tapestry of a period in human istory in which the remnants and artifices of a moribund society contend with the rise of revolutionary insurgencies, international antagonisms, and a surge of innovation in the arts, sciences - and self-knowledge.
Child of the Sun
Kyle Onstott - 1966
It tells the story of the youth Varius Avitus Bassianus, destined to become Emperor of the Roman empire. Varius spurned women. His erotic longings searched out a very different kind of love. Whatever or whomever he fancied was quickly offered to him. And no man, be he soldier or citizen, dared refuse him. As his perverted passions grew more and more bizarre, even the voluptuaries of Rome recoiled in horror.
Someone Like You
Timothy James Beck - 2006
Marc Jacobs suits. Hugo Boss suits, Food, Drinks, Dry cleaning. A room at the five-star hotel or a lane at the bowling alley. Of course, something things are harder to come by just ask... Vienna. She's one beautiful sister who is not going to be dependent on any man ever again, thanks to her cheating, should-be-dead ex. When she's not selling overpriced mascara to rich snobs, Vienna's checking out the scenery. Not that she wants another man. Much. Good thing she can tell it all to... Davii. The top hairdresser at CosmicTology is fast with a wickedly funny quip and with his shears. Nobody gets one over on Davii. But what he craves is a nice guy to come home to. A guy who makes him want to be a better person. A guy who looks an awful lot like... Derek. He never planned to become a kept man, but it's hard to give up Belgian waffles delivered by room service. But no more. It's time for a New Derek - new life, new friends, new job. And who better to help him take those baby steps toward independence than... Christian. Cool and savvy, he's cornered the market on charm. His sales skills have won him a fawning clientele. There's nothing he can't do, no point he can't score, no woman he can't woo. But there's a first time for everything.Meeting for coffee, dishing over drinks, dealing with heinous bosses, scheming backstabbers, clueless customers, and the occasional object of desire, four new friends are about to discover the joys of shopping for love in a place where what you need most might just be where you least expect to find it.
I Look Divine
Christopher Coe - 1987
The self-absorbed, narcissistic young man feels he has been exceptional from the moment of his birth by Caesarian section; he was thus unmarked and more perfect than other babies. "There is no such thing as more perfect," corrects his mother. "Of course there is," says Nicholas. To avoid unsightly lines, he never smiles when photographed; to avoid even a trace of fat, he eats little: the obi of the kimono in which he often poses winds twice around his waist. The men he fancies bestow upon him rare enamels, ivory carvings, jewels because, he explains with apparent guilelessness to his older brother, who narrates the novel, it pleases them to do so. But ointments and finery are helpless against the years. At 30 Nicholas the odalisque begins to resemble a tart; at 37 he is dead. His brother, summoned by Nicholas's landlady to collect the lapsed body and now-scarred valuables, looks back fondly, objectively and suggestively upon a life no longer valid once physical beauty is flawed. Sensual, mocking and deadly serious, this first novel casts a long shadow.
The City and the Pillar
Gore Vidal - 1948
But when he and his best friend, Bob, partake in "awful kid stuff", the experience forms Jim's ideal of spiritual completion. Defying his parents’ expectations, Jim strikes out on his own, hoping to find Bob and rekindle their amorous friendship. Along the way he struggles with what he feels is his unique bond with Bob and with his persistent attraction to other men. Upon finally encountering Bob years later, the force of his hopes for a life together leads to a devastating climax. The first novel of its kind to appear on the American literary landscape, The City and the Pillar remains a forthright and uncompromising portrayal of sexual relationships between men.
The Celibate
Michael Arditti - 1997
An ordinand, he has had a breakdown while serving at the altar. The Church has sent him to a London therapist, rather than a priest, for confession. During the course of his cure, while living in an unfamiliar world of outcasts, fundamentalists, and AIDS sufferers, he is forced to face the reality of his own physical passion: first for a humble rent boy, then for a sadomasochistic pimp, and, finally, for a priest. The healing begins as he gradually comes to terms with his own history.
City Of Night
John Rechy - 1963
Bold and inventive in his account of the urban underworld of male prostitution, Rechy is equally unflinching in his portrayal of one hustling "Youngman" and his restless search for self-knowledge. As the narrator careens from El Paso to Times Square, from Pershing Square to the French Quarter, we get an unforgettable look at a neon-lit life on the edge. Said James Baldwin of the author, "Rechy is the most arresting young writer I've read in a very long time. His tone rings absolutely true, is absolutely his own; and he has the kind of discipline which allows him a rare and beautiful reckless."
The Story of the Night
Colm Tóibín - 1996
Richard Garay lives with his mother, hiding his sexuality from her and from society. Stifled by his job, Richard is willing to take chances, both sexually and professionally. But Argentina is changing, and as his country edges toward peace, Richard tentatively begins a love affair. The result is a powerful, brave, and poignant novel of sex, death, and the diffculties of connecting one's inner life with the outside world.
Bonds of Earth
G.N. Chevalier - 2012
Once a promising young medical student, Michael buried his dreams alongside the broken bodies of the men he could not save. After fleeing New York to preserve the one relationship he still values, he takes a position as a gardener on a country estate, but he soon discovers that the house hides secrets and sorrows of its own. While Michael nurses the estate’s neglected gardens, his reclusive employer dredges up reminders of the past Michael is desperate to forget.John Seward’s body was broken by the war, along with his will to recover until a family crisis convinces him to pursue treatment. As John’s health and outlook improve under Michael’s care, animosity yields to understanding. He and John find their battle of wills turning into something stronger, but fear may keep them from finding hope and healing in each other.