Lethe's gay titles include an array of
gay-positive novels, poetry,
erotica and literature for gay men & lesbians. In addition, Lethe
hasbrought out new and classic titles in gay
spirituality and gay wisdom
in the White Crane Gay Spirituality Series. Lethe is one of the
world's
leading publishers of gay and lesbian spirituality, poetry, and
independent fiction. Below is a list of Lethe Press's books of gay
spirit, spirituality and wisdom--both fiction and non-fiction.
"Spirituality" is about understanding the meaning of the myths and
stories that come down to us through culture and, especially, through
religion. Many gay and lesbian people are very religious, but because
of our sexuality, we have to seek beyond the surface of our
religiousness. The titles below recount gay people's experience of
pursuing the spiritual life, often by escaping traditional religion
and finding personal understanding that transcends belief,
doctrine and myth.
Edited and Introduced by Gerald S. Argetsinger
Co-edited by Jeff Laver and Johnny Townsend
Latter-Gay Saints
brings together twenty-five exemplary short works depicting a variety
of perspectives of what it means to be both Mormon and gay. Some
portray characters determined to reconcile their sexuality with the
Mormon faith in accordance with its constantly evolving teachings and
policies. The majority present the realities of gay/lesbian Mormons who
have come to terms with their sexuality in a variety of alternative
ways. Others are written from outside the Mormon community, commenting
on often strange encounters with Mormons who are gay.
These stories are also of value for the broader GLBT community
revealing similarities that people of faith, regardless of which faith,
face in attempting to negotiate their religious heritage with their
homosexuality. Some in the LGBT community find a way, while others do
not, leaving their faith or having it ripped from them. They are
all individuals searching for answers to life’s puzzles.
Jesus and the Shamanic
Tradition of Same-Sex Love won the 2004 Lambda Literary Award
for Spirituality/Religion.
Jesus and the Shamanic
Tradition of Same-Sex Love is a passionate exploration of the
history of Western religion as seen through the queer eye of one of the
most widely acclaimed authors in gay spirituality. Drawing on recently
discovered ancient sources, Will Roscoe offers a striking new view of
Jesus as a charismatic mystic, whose teachings on love and the kingdom
of heaven were complemented by a secret rite that served to impart the
experience of entering heaven. After meticulously reconstructing this
rite, Roscoe seeks its ultimate origins--an odyssey that eventually
leads him to the margins of the inhabited world, where the ancient
practices of shamanism survive to today. Whether discussing early
Christianity, Plato's Symposium, the rites of shamans, or the myths of
ancient Mesopotamia, Roscoe uncovers fresh insights at every turn. He
builds a persuasive argument that mysticism and gay love are powerfully
connected, and that this connection forms a hidden tradition in the
history of Western religion. This new release updates references to
substantiating information and reports on the response to those ideas
in the decade since the book's first publication.
Cowboys, Armageddon, and The Truth: How
a Gay Child Was Saved from Religion
by Scott Terry
Cowboys, Armageddon, and The Truth: How a Gay Child Was
Saved from Religion offers an illuminating glimpse into a child’s
sequestered world of abuse, homophobia, and religious extremism. Scott
Terry’s memoir is a compelling, poignant and occasionally humorous look
into the Jehovah’s Witness faith—a religion that refers to itself as
The Truth—and a brave account of Terry's successful escape from a
troubled past.
At the age of ten, Terry had embraced the Witnesses’ prediction that
the world will come to an end in 1975 and was preparing for Armageddon.
As an adolescent, he prayed for God to strip away his growing
attraction to other young men. But by adulthood, Terry found himself no
longer believing in the promised apocalypse. Through a series of
adventures and misadventures, he left the Witness religion behind and
became a cowboy, riding bulls in the rodeo. He overcame the hurdles of
parental abuse, religious extremism, and homophobia and learned that
Truth is a concept of honesty rather than false righteousness, a means
to live a life openly, for Terry as a gay man.
“Scott Terry’s gritty, colorful account of his church-choked years is
insightful and cringe-inducing--a window into the lives of people with
a terrible need to confine themselves and others in rigid little boxes.
I shuddered at his predicament, marveled at his resilience, and was
heartened by his breakthrough.”
—Will Fellows, Lambda Literary Award finalist and author of A
Passion to Preserve and Farm Boys
Dirk Vanden's All Together won a 2012 Lambda Literary Award
for Gay Erotica
It Was Too Soon
Before… The unlikely life,
untimely death, and unexpected rebirth of Gay Pioneer, Dirk Vanden
By Dirk Vanden
It Was Too Soon Before…
is the autobiography of Richard Fullmer who wrote under the nom de
plume Dirk Vanden. He was a serious novelist in the early days of the
development of the gay literary genre. His first books were
published--augmented with sex scenes inserted by the publisher--as porn
pulps. The book tells the story of his life from his upbringing as a
devout Mormon to his discovery of sexual realities to his move to the
gay meccas of San Francisco and Los Angeles in the 1960s and discovery
of the thriving gay counterculture through the death to AIDS of his
longtime partner to retirement and obscurity to a "rebirth" as his
books have been rediscovered by modern gay literary scholars. The book
includes "The Wit & Wisdom of Gabriel Horny," a collection of humor
and wisdom in short aphorisms that express the spiritual wisdom
Fullmer has garnered through his 78 years.
Includes two sections of photographs from the author's life.
“…fantastic…enthralling…inspiring! I experienced:
anger, sympathy, heartbreak, excitement, and always fascination.” –Kathy
”Top marks, extraordinary!” –Lee
‘BTW, I read "Too Soon" and it's the best thing I've seen all year,
both as a memoir and an historical record. Bravo!’ Lee Rowland in
a comment on Facebook
Maitland McDonagh: “Enthralling memoir -- I highly recommend it.”
A.B. GAYLE: “Just wanted to congratulate Dirk Vanden for not only
winning Best LGBT Biographies & Memoirs but also being placed equal
third overall in the Best Gay Novel/Book. It's not an easy read at
times, but well worth looking at to get a feel for what men like Dirk
went through. Life (and publishing) has always been a battle for
him.”
The Secret of the Golden Phallus: Male Erotic Alchemy for the
21st Century
by Bruce P Grether
Introduction by Joseph Kramer
Commentary by Toby Johnson
This book can transform how you see yourself and can even change your
life. Major taboos remain around male genitals and eroticism, taboos
that you must dissolve in order to reclaim who and what you really are.
It is time on our rapidly changing planet to merge the erotic with the
sacred, and for you to reclaim your body as a temple. Revealed here as
never before, is the authentic phallic wisdom of Male Erotic Alchemy
for too long deliberately obscured by the dominant cultures. Ancient
wisdom combines with cutting-edge practices that are simple, yet
powerful tools you can actually use. The Triple God concept and the
three forms of Male Solo Sex Magick will unleash your creative,
sustaining, and regenerative powers. You are encouraged to honestly
embrace your own phallus and enhanced erotic ecstasy as the legitimate
core of your male identity. The
Secret of the Golden Phallus will help you to become a happier,
healthier, more balanced man.
Great review posted to a yahoo group by a reader:
I have now
read the above book by Bruce Grether. Hey, this is gospel. This
is "good news". The worshipful, mindful practice is there and it
is backed up with mythology(in the vein of Joseph Campbell)which adds
depth and a spiritual flavor. And there is more. That cosmic
Oneness and a Blakian mysticism as in "To see the universe in penis and
experience eternity in the palm of your hand". And this, of
course, brings us full circle back to the practice of male erotic
alchemy itself. The material and immaterial worlds are fused,
perhaps even one and the same. Good news, indeed.
Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living
by Daniel M. Jaffe
“We
know the territory that Jaffe writes in—lush, stark, unexpected, a
Jordan flowing through it with Real on one bank and Dream on the other.
Jaffe is not afraid to write about violence, or blasphemy, sometimes
comically and sometimes horrifically...you are holding in your hands
this new book of his. Where fractured novel and story collection are
Velcroed to the music he composes, his Torah of the moment, the stories
of our gay queer Jewish lives, seen and reseen, heard and reheard, with
a lush orchestra of lived experience playing in the background. A
collection of stories that could be a novel, the sections of a novel
shuffled like a deck of cards. A lush Jewish gamelan for queer ears,
queer hearts, queer minds. And otherwise.”— from Andrew Ramer’s
Introduction.
In Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living, Daniel M.
Jaffe explores various aspects of gay-Jewish life: coming out to self
and family; (re)defining one’s relationship to tradition and faith;
surviving child abuse and teenage sexual identity angst; experiencing
the adult joys and heartbreaks of dating, of forming relationships, and
of losing them; coping with HIV/AIDS; considering parenting; and
dealing with old age.
Mirroring the diversity within contemporary American Jewish life, the
main characters in these twenty-four stories are Jewish, but in various
ways—some wrestle with religion, others with their place in tradition
and community. Yet for other characters here, Jewish identity is not at
issue in the pursuit of happiness, love, and inner peace; rather,
Jewishness is a cornerstone given, a foundational lens through which
these characters see and examine the world and self.
Great review by Simone Ellin in The
Baltimore Jewish Times:
Daniel
Jaffe’s new collection of short stories is not for everyone. If
explicit descriptions of gay sexual encounters are not for you, then
you’ll probably want to pass. That being said, “Jewish Gentle and Other
Stories of Gay-Jewish Living” is a fascinating, diverse and highly
imaginative work of fiction, with stories about relationships — new
loves, loves lost and long-term love; stories about coming out, coming
of age and coming to terms with sexual identification; tales of
parental rejection, sexual abuse, interfaith relationships,
anti-Semitism and living with HIV/AIDS — all told through a Jewish lens.
The Uncommon Sense of the
Immortal Mullah Nasruddin
Stories, jests, and donkey tales of the beloved
Persian folk hero
By Ron J. Suresha
Once,
when young Nasruddin was acting up in class by distracting his
classmates with endless antics, jests, and stories, his irate teacher
uttered a curse: “Whatever you do or say, wherever you go or stay,
whether it’s night or day — people will only laugh at you.” Now, eight
centuries later, children, adults, and wise fools everywhere are still
laughing at Nasruddin, one of the world’s most beloved folk characters.
This entertaining and insightful retelling of more than 350 Mullah
stories brings the famed Persian legend into the 21st Century.
Storytellers, folklorists, Sufis, comedians, wisdom seekers, and
everyone who loves to laugh will be enriched and enlightened by the
timeless wit, inscrutable wisdom, and uncommon sense of humor of Mullah
Nasruddin.
GREAT review from Storytelling,
Self, Society journal:
"Suresha identifies the real strength of Nasruddin’s stories in context
to world literature and story performance, that is, its power to build
bridges between cultures. He relates a personal reference to the mullah
stories, as they were the first stories he learned from his
Israeli-American mother. Throughout his life he continued to collect
these anecdotes, and as a young adult he found one of Idries Shah’s
collections of Nasruddin stories on the shelves in an ashram library.
. . .
"The intended audience for Suresha’s collection is a contemporary
audience of all ages. If the illustration cover by Sgott MacKenzie is
any indication of a future market for this collection, we are likely to
see Suresha’s book in use for secondary educational environments as
well as personal libraries. Suresha refers to this text as a
“contemporary retelling,” which is appropriate to the storytelling
traditions of Turkey. The point of these stories is to speak to the
audience in the language and metaphors that are familiar. Suresha
acknowledges that he avoided the “more lurid and pejorative sexual,
scatological, ethnic, racist, sexist and violent subjects,” but he
eludes to the possibility of including them in a forthcoming
collection. I hope Suresha carries out this plan to bring the more
compromising stories to an adult audience at a later date—after all,
that is part and parcel of the trickster’s trade."
Freedom Glorious Freedom
The Spiritual Journey to the Fullness of Life
For Gays, Lesbians,and Everybody Else
By John J. McNeill
In
Freedom, Glorious Freedom, acclaimed author John J. McNeill shows
how lesbian and gay Christians can achieve full spiritual
maturity and self-acceptance. McNeill discusses freedom of
conscience and discernment of spirits, ancient teachings of the
Christian church that have a special urgency for lesbian and gay people
who need to free themselves from all the homophobic authorities and
deal with God on a direct and personal basis. The liberating
process of coming out of the closet is seen as a spirit-filled effort
to achieve the glory of God by becoming fully alive.
McNeill offers a twelve-step spirituality as a spiritual
process of liberation from all addictions in order to experience the
love of God in its fullness. The epilogue expresses in detail
a philosophical vision, looking both to the past and to the future, of
how gay liberation fits into the Spirit-directed evolution of human
history and its role in the ongoing struggle for human liberation.
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.
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
Contemplations
of
the Heart:
A Book of Male Spirit, Photography, Digital Imaging and Text
By Peter Grahame
A
very unique and moving book, this collection of images and poetry tells
an eloquent story of the gay male spirit. The book is filled with
sensuous, lush and magical images of naked men that have been processed
to create a dream-like land of joy.
Contemplations of the Heart highlights men of many different
ages,
shapes, sizes and colors. The non-erotic, non-objectifying male nude
photographic and digital images, and the meditation-style text, are
reflective of positive self-image and self-acceptance, and it suggests
how these may lead to a deeper sense of the spiritual self, most
especially for Gay men.
Hard cover, mostly full color, the book
measures 5.75 in. x 8.25 in. All male photo subjects appearing are 18
or older. This book is very reasonably priced, and a great gift.
Peter Grahame is interviewed about his art in Icarus 1
A collection of essays by the English socialist
poet,
anthologist and early homosexual activist. The book is an attempt to
make an objective comparison between the origins and practices of pagan
religions and christianity.
For more than three decades, clinical
psychologist, Don Clark, has
been speaking to the hearts and minds of gay people, their families,
friends, teachers and helpers in the many editions of Loving Someone Gay.
With compassion he has promoted communication across generations
as well as revealing a path of understanding and reconciliation for
parents, siblings, husbands and wives—as well as among religious
leaders, teachers, librarians, legislators, judges, and law enforcement
agencies. Most important he has provided vital insight into the
psychodynamics and sociology of individuals, the gay men and lesbians
who have been and continue to be misunderstood and abused in societies
around the world.
The author of the perennially popular and
life-changing
book, Loving
Someone Gay, recounts his own life journey from shame, failure,
guilt
and fear to pride, self-confidence and understanding of true feelings.
Sharing how he made the transformation himself, the first officially
openly gay psychologist in the U.S. and "father of gay-oriented
psychotherapy" points the way for others to claim gay identity and gay
pride and follow him to happiness, meaning, love and success.
Amar A
Alguien Gay (Loving Someone Gay--Spanish translation by Ralph Seligman)
por Don Clark, PhD
Por más de tres décadas, el
psicólogo clínico, Don Clark, ha estado hablando a los
corazones y mentes de la gente gay, sus familias, amigos, maestros, y
ayudantes en las múltiples ediciones de Loving Someone Gay (Amar
A Alguien Gay). Con compasión él ha promovido la
comunicación a través de generaciones, revelando un
camino hacia el entendimiento y reconciliación para padres,
hermanos, esposos y esposas—al igual que para líderes
religiosos, maestros, bibliotecarios, legisladores, jueces, y agencias
que imponen la ley. De mayor importancia, el provee una visión
vital dentro de las psicodinámicas y la sociología de los
hombres gay y lesbianas que frecuentemente son malentendidos y
abusados, a veces por sí mismos. Leyendo su explicación
de la “homofobia internalizada” es una experiencia de sanación.
Él ha dicho, “En éste tiempo de malentendido global en
que vemos viejos hábitos de prejuicio e intolerancia siendo
finalmente cuestionados, el mundo clama por la comunicación y
empatía. Ha llegado la hora para que cada persona que piensa que
es racional que ofrezca una mano de ayuda a una hermana o hermano gay,
aquí o allá, conocido o desconocido. Las reglas y papeles
sociales que antes no se cuestionaban están cambiando. Ninguna
persona está libre a atreverse a ser exactamente quien ella o
él es hasta que esa persona esté dispuesta a ofrecer
entendimiento, respeto y afecto a la persona gay que añora
solamente tener la misma libertad.”
Con ésta más reciente edición actualizada de su
famoso libro, Don Clark ilumina una luz clara a nuestro futuro en el
siglo veintiuno.
Don Clark is one of
the great theoreticians and philosophers of gay consciousness, but with
the gentle touch of the firm, but loving therapist—which, in fact, he
is. No dogmatist, he deftly explains the psychodynamics, offers options
and points the way with his own personal and personable example, but
leaves it to you to choose your own path and discover your own powers.
Clark’s insightful analysis of the subtle effects of internalized
homophobia has freed countless numbers of questioning men and women
from guilt and fear. It’s a boon to the world that his therapeutic
skills translate from the therapy room to the written word. His books
convey psychological and spiritual wisdom and healing.
—Toby Johnson, author of Gay
Spirituality: Gay Identity
& the Transformation of Consciousness
Ever since the publication of the best-selling book Loving Someone Gay, clinical
psychologist Donald Clark has received a constant stream of letters
from readers who wanted to share something important with him.
Sometimes they have questions, sometimes they just want to talk to a
kindred spirit. Clark writes: "The first few months after publication
were disorienting, since I was trying to maintain my normal life as a
clinical psychologist in private practice, a teacher, and, more
important, a father and a lover, while doing publicity tours, media
interviews and autograph parties. I was so distracted that I did not
realize until months later how much I had learned during that period.
But slowly I recognized that a common thread ran through the letters
and the comments of people I was meeting. They said they appreciated
learning about me in the book, because it was helpful to identify with
my experience, thoughts, and feelings and those of my clients and
friends. It took a while but I got the message. Readers wanted more and
they wanted it in the form of simple truth about me and the people I
know. One day I realized that Living
Gay had been taking shape in my mind for a long time. A friend
asked what the next book was going to be about and without a moment’s
hesitation I said 'About living, loving, aging and dying as seen from a
gay perspective.'"
Clark released Living Gay in
1979. Lethe Press is pleased to reissue this wonderful book that offers
inspiration and insight into being gay—though decades have passed since
the original volume appeared and LGBT rights and lives are no longer
whispered about in the shadows, Clark’s wisdom about leading life in a
positive and fulfilling way without denying same-sex desire is neither
dated nor ephemeral. Living Gay
is a book that still welcomes 21st century readers and encourages their
lives, loves, and spirits.
Queering the Text: Biblical, Medieval, and
Modern Jewish Stories
by Andrew Ramer
Andrew Ramer’s new book, Queering
the Text: Biblical, Medieval, and Modern Jewish Stories,
grapples with traditional midrashim, plays with homoerotic love poems
from medieval Spain, and envisions alternate versions of the present.
Inspired by the pioneering work of Jewish feminists, working with the
narrative tools of the rabbis of old, Ramer has crafted stories that
anchor LGBT lives in the three-thousand-year-old history of the Jewish
people. “The universe is made up of stories, not atoms,” wrote poet
Muriel Ruckeyser. The stories in this book will transport you to a new
universe – the one we are striving to create, right here and now.
A classic of gay mythopoesis. Michael Bails
(Seattle WA)
writing an
unsolicited review on the amazon.com site says: "I was recommended this
book after having taken a Body Electric workshop a few weeks before.
From the first page I began to re-live the entire bonding rituals that
we had experienced over that weekend. How to connect, how to
communicate, and how to intimately bond on a higher plane! ... A
definite "must have" book for the gay tribe who would like to interact
spiritually and emotionally!"
Buy
from TLA gay books & videos Available
in ebook formats from TLA, LGBT Bookshop, smashwords.com & other
Internet vendors; and for Kindle from amazon.com
In this Lambda Literary
award-winning
title,
Toby
Johnson explores how
the rise of gay identity has become an important part of contemporary
religious development. This dramatic transformation has resulted due to
the perspective of gay men with their ability to step outside the
assumptions and conventions of culture and see things from a different
point of view. This book will reward readers seeking new insight into
faith as well as culture, myth and traditions.
Johnson's
vision of a life-affirming, sex-positive spirituality of love,
cooperation, mutual respect and acceptance is in sync with modern
scientific knowledge, and does not ask the reader to suspend logic or
critical thinking. Gay Christians who are struggling with their sexual
orientation will especially appreciate Johnson's convincing
refutation
of common "biblical" anti-gay arguments. A powerful book for
personal
change and a great gift to a gay friend who is unhappy with his life or
suffering from low self-esteem.
You can
download to iTunes & transfer the pdf to an iPad
or other ebook reader
SPECIAL:
Combo Offer -- PDFs of both Gay Spirituality & Gay Perspective by
Toby Johnson also includes
a radio interview with Harry Faddis,
entitled The Way of Joyful Participation in the Sorrows of the World.
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.
Purchase and download PDF
now. Pay through AmazonPayments. Digital edition priced at $7.99
You can
download to iTunes & transfer the pdf to an iPad
or other ebook reader
SPECIAL:
Combo Offer -- PDFs of both Gay Spirituality & Gay Perspective by
Toby Johnson also includes
a radio interview with Harry Faddis,
entitled The Way of Joyful Participation in the Sorrows of the World.
a
white crane wisdom book Lammy Award
Nominee 2007
for
Best Anthology
Charmed
Lives: Gay Spirit in
Storytelling Edited by Toby Johnson
&
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 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
Available in ebook
formats from TLA, LGBT Bookshop, smashwords.com & other Internet
vendors; and for Kindle from amazon.com
click
cover for
larger image
Secret Matter By Toby Johnson
The winner of a Lambda Literary Award for Gay
Men's
Science
Fiction
and bestselling novel, Secret Matter
returns to print in a revised
edition for the 21st century. With an afterword by gay theologian,
social commentator Mark Jordan.
BONUS with this edition: Adam and Steve, a whimsical tale
with a profound insight
Kevin Anderson is moving along through his life,
finishing up
college, and getting ready to leave New York for an internship
rebuilding San Francisco after an immense earthquake. Then the Visitors
arrive; a race of human-like aliens touch down in several cities around
the globe, including SF, and nothing will ever be the same. When
Kevin's company is given a contract to build a facility for the
Visitors, he forms a friendship with ïBel, one of their number.
But is
'Bel so alien after all? They seem so human, but they possess some odd
characteristics and seem to be hiding something. What secrets do they
carry, and where, exactly, are they from?
Buy
from
TLA
gay books
& videos Available
in ebook formats from TLA, LGBT Bookshop, smashwords.com & other
Internet vendors; and for Kindle from amazon.com
Getting Life in Perspective A Fastastical
Romance By Toby Johnson
Sweet, sexy, wise and thoroughly entertaining, this
mytho-historical
novel, featuring two lovable apparitions from the late 1800s America,
interweaves a heart-warming storey of youthful romance and adventure
with an ageless life-affirming and gay-positive spiritual message
...along with just a touch of the Twilight Zone.
Buy
from
TLA
gay books
& videos Available in ebook formats from TLA, LGBT
Bookshop, smashwords.com & other Internet vendors; and for Kindle
from amazon.com
Two Spirits: A Story of Life With the Navajo By Walter L.
Williams
& Toby Johnson
Twenty years after publishing his
ground-breaking The
Spirit and the
Flesh, anthropologist Walter L. Williams breaks his silence and writes
another book on Native Americans. Together with award-winning writer
Toby Johnson, he has produced a work of historical fiction striking in
its evocation of Navajo philosophy and spirituality. Set in the Civil
War era of the 1860s, this novel tells the story of a young Virginian
who finds himself captivated by a Navajo Two-Spirit male. This book
illuminates the truth of what the United States did to the largest
indigenous people of this nation. A novel full of suspense, plot
twists, and endearing romance.
"What can I say about this book. It was
AWESOME. I felt like I was there among the Dine, in the Sweat Lodge, in
Santa Fe watching Joelle sing. I could see the mountains and feel the
hot air and all the glory of the Southwest. I would highly recommend
this book for anyone who loves historical fiction with gay characters
in it. I'd give this book 10 stars if I could, but definitely 5 stars."
"Lastly, I want to encourage those of
you who, although you might think that this story sounds wonderful, are
afraid to read it. It is true that this story is far from a typical
story in the M/M genre, but the two essential things that make up a
romance are present here: a sweeping love story and a HEA [Happy Ever
After]. Yes, I admit I cried several times while reading this, often in
frustration and sometimes with joy. I won’t say that it was an easy
story to read, because it isn’t. I often had to put this book down and
take it up later. But that was the key: I always wanted to pick it back
up. And more than anything, I felt like I took a journey with the
characters and they became my friends. What more can you ask for in a
book?"
Buy
from
TLA
gay books
& videos Available
in ebook formats from TLA, LGBT Bookshop, smashwords.com & other
Internet vendors; and for Kindle from amazon.com
With an Foreword by the Author about this New Edition
What if you learned that the
AIDS
virus was the result of bioweapons research gone bad, and that somebody
knew and was hiding the truth? What if there's a cure? Could you trust
your source of information? Could you trust your own perceptions? Could
you act on such information? And what would you do? This is the
situation that San Francisco AIDS counselor Jonathan Stiers finds
himself enmeshed in in this wisdom-tinged thriller novel by gay
spiritual writer, student of Joseph Campbell and former editor of White Crane Journal
Toby Johnson.
Originally published in 1987 when AIDS was still a mystery disease,
successful treatments had not been developed and spiritual/attitudinal
healing—of soul, if not of body—was the only hope, this novel, with its
explanations of healing and presentation of wisdom from A Course in Miracles and The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment,
was originally titled Plague: A
Novel about Healing.
Twenty-five years later, the novel's quandary about the nature of evil
and its message of hopeful acceptance and love of life are still
relevant, perhaps even more so. The story of the "fourth quill" comes
from an Indian tale about a previous incarnation of the Buddha who
discovers the "treasure of the ages" and it's not what he'd expected;
Johnson retells the tale and derives a meaningful and life-affirming
attitude that transcends the specific issues of AIDS in the 1980s.
The Fourth Quill
recasts the story into a parallel universe with a surprising and happy
ending where Jon Stiers really can wonder if he has brought about the
cure of AIDS. Woven through the hero/adventure plot are two lovely and
heartwarming romances, one straight, one gay—both with unexpected
twists. A little modern, scientific and sensible and a little mystical,
The Fourth Quill
exemplifies Toby Johnson's style of dramatizing gay spirit through
storytelling and speculative fiction. This is a parallel universe
readers will likely remember and come back to.
"Jay
Michaelson knows too well that our life is a wedding and a funeral, at
the same time, in any given moment. The erotic on these pages comes
hand in hand with the devotional."
- Ilya Kaminsky, author of Dancing in Odessa
" If you are comfortable in your pew, these may not be the poems for
you. But if you want fully embodied poems of outrage and love -- and if
you want to "make a religion of flaw," read Another Word for Sky.
You wonÍt regret it."
- Richard Chess, author of Third Temple
Jay Michaelson is the executive director of Nehirim: GLBT Jewish
Culture and Spirituality, and a leading figure in the gay spirituality
movement. Visitors to Easton Mountain, Burning Man, Body Electric, and
many other places have thrilled to his ecstatic, erotic performances of
visionary queer mystical poetry -- and now his first book of poems is
out from Lethe Press. At times reflective, at times outrageous, Another
Word for Sky stakes Michaelson's claim to be the James Broughton,
even the Allen Ginsberg, of his generation.
Clouds of Magellan is an
independent publishing imprint, based in Melbourne, Australia.
Clouds specialises in non-fiction in the
area of spirituality, broadly defined, and publishes some fiction and
poetry. They publish Michael Kelly, former Dignity leader in Australia
(Rainbow Sash Movement) and part-time resident at Easton Mountain Gay
Retreat in upstate New York.
For more about White Crane
Institute
& White Crane Books, visit:
White Crane Books presents wonderful titles of gay history and culture,
including The Trouble with Harry Hay (revised for the 100th
anniversary of Hay's birth) by Stuart Timmons, The Fire in Moonlight
by Mark Thompson and Bo Young, OutSpoken: The collected writings of
Vito Russo
Purchase
and download PDF now!
