LGBTQIA+ topics: coming out Books

Book SynopsisTrade Review‘This brave and bracing memoir is an urgent reminder that America remains a place where queer people have to fight for their lives. It’s also a generous portrait of a family in which the myths of prejudice give way before the reality of love. Equal parts sympathy and rage, Boy Erased is a necessary, beautiful book’ Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You ‘It is just so beautifully written and so powerful… a brilliant book… for anyone who has been through that journey of coming out or battling with society for who they are… even if you’re just someone who likes to read a passionate and beautifully written story, then this book is for you’ Nihal Arthanayake, BBC Radio 5Live ‘A brave, powerful meditation on identity and faith, Boy Erased is the story of one man’s journey to accepting himself and overcoming shame and trauma in the midst of deep-rooted bigotry’ Buzzfeed ‘An elegant memoir…Conley is a thoughtful writer’ Aaron Hicklin, Observer ‘The power of Conley’s story resides not only in the vividly depicted grotesqueries of the therapy system, but in his lyrical writing about sexuality and love, and his reflections on the Southern family and culture that shaped him’ Los Angeles Times ‘Boy Erased is a gut-punch of a memoir, but the miracle of this book is the generosity with which Conley writes in an effort to understand the circumstances and motivations that led his family to seek the “cure”… his memoir is not simply a story of survival — in this book, a true writer comes of age’ LA Review of Books ‘Exceptionally well-written… This timely addition to the debate on conversion therapy will build sympathy for both children and parents who avail themselves of it while still showing how damaging it can be’ Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisI've fallen in love with this fabulous foursome They are a phenomenon!' Drew BarrymoreFrom @theoldgays, the internet's most beloved foursome, a book of inspirational stories and aspirational advice for living life at the fullest.The Old Gays have taken TikTok by storm with their viral videos, by turns outrageous and hilarious, fashionable and fierce. But as four gay men, aged from 67 to 80, Mick, Jessay, Robert, and Bill have lived through decades of momentous change and they've got stories that take more than three minutes to tell.They grew up in the closet, experienced Stonewall, lived large during the gay sexual revolution, lost friends during the AIDS crisis, dealt with their own HIV+ diagnoses, and saw gay marriage became legal. Between them, they've been through it all divorce, depression, bankruptcy, near-death experiences. And then there's the dinner parties, the nudism, the professional bodybuilding, the orgies and the matter of church.These are the tales sometimes scandaloTrade Review‘I need to be a part of their friend group, STAT … I’ve fallen in love with this fabulous foursome … They are a phenomenon!’Drew Barrymore ‘LOVE The Old Gays … Love them so much!’Paula Abdul ‘Upbeat [and] witty … though irreverent humor is the Old Gays’ bread and butter, they also reflect on faith, their struggles with homophobia, and surviving the AIDS crisis. The authors inspire fearlessness with their own exuberant attitudes. This risqué rule book celebrates making the most of life at any age’Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisA moving memoir chronicling the friendship of two gay men coming of age in 1950s BritainTrade Review'Part eulogy, part memoir, this is a wonderfully clear-eyed piece of writing. And for anyone who has ever dreamt of leaving a small-town childhood behind them, this is going to really wring your heart. It certainly did mine' -- Neil Bartlett, author of 'The Disappearance Boy'

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Book SynopsisAn innovative poetic interrogation of wrestling, queerness, and staying true to oneself. Quinn Carver Johnson's debut collection follows its titular protagonist, a nonbinary and queer professional wrestler, as they travel across Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri, working for a booker known as the Puppeteer.Trade ReviewThe Perfect Bastard is an ambitious, revelatory, and exciting debut. These poems are for readers searching for portrayals not only of queerness and the Midwest but also of queer joy, queer sports, and, ultimately, a celebration of camp." - Taneum Bambrick, author of Intimacies, ReceivedTable of Contents A Prediction // A Spoiler The Territory The Roster [ACT I] The Birth of the Perfect Bastard Before it Sets In The Beauty of the Backyard Wrestling League Ode to the Hometown Crowd Cheap Heat // Action City The Perfect Bastard Finds a Photograph of Adrian Street & His Father We Want Tables Puppet Show Tanner Hart Burns Intimacy Suplex The Perfect Bastard vs. The First Crusher In the Alley Between Matches, The Sunset Kid Explains the History of Cigarettes Ode to the Pink Cowboy Hat [ACT II] Nightfall // Daybreak or The Last Ride of the Sunset Kid [ACT III] The Perfect Bastard Dreams of Gold During A Radio Interview on the Night of the Ceremony, Someone Calls In & Asks the Perfect Bastard “How Do I Explain to My Children All of This Queer Love You’re Flaunting on TV?” They Say 50% Of Marriages End in Divorce, but 100% Of Pro Wrestling Marriages End in Disaster Tonight, the Perfect Bastard is the Sacrificial Poet The Lemon Crusher Breaks Kayfabe on the Radio The Perfect Bastard vs. The First Crusher II The Rebirth of the Perfect Bastard Rose Gold Jack Holiday Cuts a Promo Adrian Street Wins the Mid-South Television Championship In the Fly Trap Adrian Street Explains the Joke The Perfect Bastard Calls Their Mom The Ghost of Gorgeous George Visits the Perfect Bastard Pipebomb // Pipedream The Perfect Bastard Speaks to Adrian Street Supercut Action City Screwjob Acknowledgements

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Book Synopsis"A wealth of keen insight and just the right touch of delightful humor." —Sigrid Nunez, author of The FriendA kaleidoscopic story, unspooling over the twenty-four hours of a very contemporary woman’s sixtieth birthday.Nine years have passed since Ana Koehl had sex with her pot-addicted anesthesiologist husband, seven since she began an affair with a gonzo journalist. She’s gratified by her work as a book doula, but burdened by her belief that she need always be on call. Her elderly mother’s birthday greeting is an inflation-adjusted calculation of the cost of raising Ana in a mice-infested house, her brother has hijacked the will of their recently deceased starchitect father, her adult child is changing rapidly before her eyes, and her best friend advocates for “the truth in lies.” Gazing out at the dark moat of Central Park from behind her desk, Ana sees that she can no longer postpone making peace with her past or confronting her present.Narrated by Ana and the key figures in her life—her husband, her brother, her lover’s wife, to name a few—Ana Turns spirals through issues from capital punishment to the dynamiting of the Bamiyan Buddhas, culminating in a watershed dinner party, with Ana’s family members’ true colors on full display. By day’s end, the bounds of her own collaboration and forgiveness illuminated, Ana turns towards a vision of what she wants next in this blink of a life.Trade Review“With each glorious, hilarious page I found myself turning with Ana, one of the most original creations I’ve seen in a while and, to steal from Lermontov, truly A Heroine of Our Time.” —Gary Shteyngart, author of Our Country Friends“I fell in love with Ana, a modern-day Mrs. Dalloway crisscrossing New York City to discover the unexpected truths about her life, lovers and impossible family. An exquisitely written love letter to what it means to be a grown-up woman.” —Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand“This moving portrait of a woman assessing the friendships, romances, and family relationships that have shaped her sixty years contains a wealth of keen insight and just the right touch of delightful humor.” —Sigrid Nunez, author of What Are You Going Through“Lisa Gornick’s Ana Turns is a beautifully written and propulsive novel of desire and longing, regret and forgiveness. Ana is my favorite kind of character—deeply perceptive, surprisingly funny, and smart as hell. I loved this novel.” —Angie Kim, author of Miracle Creek“It’s a great feat to capture a whole life through the lens of a single day. Lisa Gornick’s Ana Turns does this beautifully in a series of vivid encounters with both the present and the past on the momentous occasion of her sixtieth birthday. It’s exciting to watch Ana risk revealing her true feelings and to ultimately discover what she wants and deserves. But this isn’t only an internal story. The novel sweeps through history and travels all over the world to show the influences Ana is bringing with her into each moment, alone or with others. Ana Turns is a powerful story of a woman coming into her own.” —Alice Elliott Dark, author of Fellowship Point

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Book SynopsisTHE OFFICIAL STORY OF A MUSICAL ICON - TOLD IN FULL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS OWN WORDS'Funny, smart and heartbreaking. Incredible... go listen to it or read it.' Robbie Williams'The most entertaining music memoir since Elton John's Me... This is George O'Dowd in all his exhausting glory.' Observer'Joyously indiscreet' Daily Mail'I went to a lot of trouble to create Boy George and then I went through a whole battle for years about not wanting to be him. But now I enjoy and embrace it in a way that I wasn't able to as a young person.... I'm finally learning to be George Alan O'Dowd from Eltham.'Karma is the definitive autobiography from the incomparable Grammy, Brit and Ivor Novello award-winning lead singer of Culture Club and LGBTQ+ vanguard: Boy George. Told in his inimitable style, Karma tells the story of the charismatic frontman - the drama, the music, his journey of addiction and recovery, surviving prison, meeting legends like David Bowie, Prince and Madonna, and the highs and lows of a life lived in the spotlight and in the headlines.This is the explosive and searingly honest account of Boy George's life as a child growing up in sixties London, coming out to his Irish Catholic family and exploring his sexuality through the hedonism of the seventies - the glam rock and punk rock revolution that birthed Culture Club - and the heydays of the nineties, to finally embracing the man and artist that he is today. With all the humour, honesty, sarcasm (and hats!) that you'd expect, Karma gives us a unique insight into Boy George's incredible story and the true evolution of a music icon.'Culture Club is always going to be one of those lovers I go back to. I've railed against it and that Boy George character I created. For years I convinced myself I was a creature of habit, unchangeable, immovable. But eventually you have to look in the mirror. Not looking for spots, looking for something deeper. Why the hell am I here? I would say life is the point of life.'

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Book SynopsisWhen repressed British schoolfriends Nina and Noa start writing a parody American coming-of-age romance, the colourful, familiar characters come to life and show them that they might just have a story of their own to tell. Cowboys and Lesbians is a queer romantic comedy which examines the intersection between sexuality and fantasy through the eyes of two closeted teenage girls, highlighting just how much the stories we consume affect the ones we tell about ourselves. CASTING 2 actors (both female, playing later teens) or up to 8 actors Running time: 75-80 minutes ★★★★ "Funny, mischievous, utterly absorbing..’ Clive Davis, The Times "Outrageous, hilarious, and wonderfully wholesome, this queer rom-com is exactly what the title insists and more." - Vi Dang, Playbill "Incredibly tender, fuelled by the hopeful urges of early understandings of queerness and the desperate desire to be kissed" - Kate Wyver, The Guardian ★★★★★ “refreshing, original and laugh out loud hilarious” London Theatre Review ★★★★ “outrageously funny, and gay too - what more could you want?” Watch that Scene ★★★★★ West London Queer Project

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