Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1001518 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 308 pages

Review
Collectively, the writers have produced a personally empowering, kaleidoscopic tapestry. This anthology can be kept on a shelf and referred to for a bit of inspiration on a particularly bad day, or as a resource that keeps the good karma flowing in balance with our everyday lives. -- Bay Area Reporter, February 15, 2007

"A book where spirit takes prominence over sex is a treat." -- Richard Labonte, Book Marks

A book where spirit takes prominence over sex is a treat. --Richard Labonte, Book Marks

Collectively, the writers have produced a personally empowering, kaleidoscopic tapestry. This anthology can be kept on a shelf and referred to for a bit of inspiration on a particularly bad day, or as a resource that keeps the good karma flowing in balance with our everyday lives. --Bay Area Reporter

From the Publisher
Modern society, including--and maybe especially-- gay culture recreates its own mythological traditions in "the old-fashioned way," by telling stories.

Gay storytelling engender myths, allowing the negative elements that traditional society and religion has placed on homosexual identity to be transformed and uplifted.

Lethe Press (Steve Berman, editor/publisher) announces an anthology of writings that do what good myths and storytelling are supposed to do: inspire and evoke meaning (especially out of despondency and darkness), to cheer, to place life in larger context, to hint at secret meanings--stories that inspire gay men to think positively about themselves, their lifestyles, their bodies (of any type), and, especially, their own spiritual paths.

From the Author
Let's tell each other what a long straw we've drawn in this life because we're gay.

Customer Reviews

Found Treasures
I go online to shop, and the title's intriguing, and it's only $10.88 and over 300 pages, So I buy it thinking, that's such a bargain, and I read just two of the 35 short stories in it (`Musuko Dojijo' by Mark Horn and `The True and Unknown Story of Albert Gale' by Andrew Ramer) and I felt like I went to a yard sale and found a box filled with sundries among which I have already found a diamond and an emerald. Excited by other possible treasures that may be found there. And reassured that felt [..] literature continues alive and well.

It's all about "Canals of Mars"
Victor Banis' "Canals of Mars" is one of the most beautiful love stories I've read in many a moon. I may be a straight woman but this story is universal. How refreshing to have such a story about those of us who are no longer young...

Banis is well-known - and deservedly so! - for his "Man from C.A.M.P" series, but his current writing is far stronger. It's wonderful to see him tapping such a deep well of feeling.

Midwest Book Review, June 2007 Issue
Long-time spiritual writer Toby Johnson and publisher/writer Steve Berman have put together a much-needed collection of essays and stories about gay men and spirituality. So often, anti-gay activists go out of their way to malign gay people, and homophobes in mainstream churches often block gays from worship and religion. This collection offers an alternative to those small-minded persecutions.

What Johnson has been saying for years in books like GAY SPIRITUALITY and GAY PERSPECTIVE is that the spiritual consciousness expressed by gays--indeed, by all GLBTQ people--is a vital and evolutionary step forward for everyone on the planet. No longer need we be trapped in meaningless, dogmatic, fear-based, or male-dominated religious practices. There's hope and inspiration to be found by, for, and about homosexual lives.

Berman and Johnson have managed to get stories and essays from many literary lights: Mark Thompson, Malcolm Boyd, Perry Brass, Victor J. Banis, Jeffery Beam, Mark Abramson, and many others. The inspiring work of educators, community activists, and religious experts such as David Nimmons, Mark Horn, Dan Stone, Michael Sigmann, Bill Blackburn, and Donald Boisvert are also featured.

CHARMED LIVES is a Lambda Literary Award Finalist in the category of Best Anthology, and it's fully deserving. Every story, every essay is a gem that reveals the beauty, strength, and value of gay voices.

As Bert Herrman writes in his essay, "Grace is not really magic, it is a natural state of being, but for those who reach it, it works like a charm." Reading these pieces will comfort, inspire, and charm anyone seeking to learn more about the wonder of gay spirit in storytelling. Highly recommended. ~Lori L. Lake, Midwest Book Review