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"The Trans Memoir We've Always Needed." ?Autostraddle "This blistering memoir is the book I didn't know I needed... I'm so grateful they had the courage to share their experience in such a transparent, authentic way." ?One of BuzzFeed's Most Anticipated Books of 2022• One of The Millions' Most Anticipated Books of the Month • One of Ms. Magazine's Most Anticipated Reads of 2022 • One of BookRiot's LGBTQ Books You Need to Read • When divorce moves young R/B Mertz away from rural Pennsylvania and their abusive father, Mertz's life is torn in two. Mertz's mom and new stepdad dive headfirst into conservative Catholic homeschooling, entrenching themselves in a world dominated by saints, prayers, and having as many babies as possible, just as Mertz is starting to realize they might be queer.Mertz clings to Catholicism as a rebellion against their anti-Catholic bio-dad, and to movies and musicals as beacons of the world outside the conservative closet constructed by the homeschoolers?who might actually be more concerned with being conservative than with being good, while Mertz's bio-dad just wants them to be "normal." Trying to stave off the inevitable, Mertz enrolls in a conservative Catholic college in Ohio. Coming of age in the early aughts, they grapple with flirtations, sexual encounters, and confusing relationships with students and faculty, as they try to figure out how to live a life in a world hell-bent on making them choose between their community and their identity. At turns rebellious, charming, and self-effacing, Mertz struggles to navigate this oppressive environment, questioning whether or not there is a place for them inside or outside of the Catholic Church; whether they can be themselves on the left or the right; whether they can be "conservative" or "liberal;" or whether they can be at all. Ultimately, Burning Butch is the courageous story of a trans / non-binary butch on a quest to survive with their authenticity intact.
Nem was not like his college classmates. Instead of crowding around a TV set, Nem opted for lonely walks where he could indulge his passion for photography, until the night he saw Nicholas, a young professor from London, with another male student. The affair is passionate and brief. When Nicholas returns to London, Nem must move on. He graduates and soon finds success as a critic in New Delhi’s burgeoning art world. Then comes an invitation to speak to artists in London, and the past is suddenly resurrected. As London's cosmopolitan art scene envelops Nem, he is haunted by the possibilities of a life with Nicholas. But Nicholas eludes Nem, avoiding a reunion with his old student, but leaving clues that lead to someone else: Myra, a woman Nem thought was Nicholas's sister. Brought together by their love for Nicholas, Nem and Myra embark on a surprising friendship.Janice Pariat explores the concept of emotional memory with the inquisitive mind of a scientist and the prowess of a poet. Rich, immersive prose drives a story with international scope, one that seeks answers to the age-old mystery of what binds us to others, and how we can ever let them go.
Motivated by a haunting graffito in the desert, journalist Dale Maharidge explores the realities of being poor in America in the coming decade, as pandemic, economic crisis and social revolution up-end the country.
A book of mourning told through a coolly evocative series of life (and death) vignettes, from a lauded French writer, now in English for the first time; #34;Six Feet Under" meets Georges Perec
A short novel grappling with memory, identity, and ownership in an alternate version of the 1920s where the elite's memories can be removed and exist as clones
The son of an Algerian immigrant, Idir is a disappointment to his doctor father. Torn between his wealthy school friends and his neighborhood pals, who range from petty thieves to professional criminals, Idir operates easily between worlds, and yet is at home nowhere. Without much effort, Idir becomes one of the Parisian upper crust’s most sought-out private dicks, thanks to his understanding of the needs of his privileged clients. The only thing standing in his way is Idir's unfortunate habit of crying uncontrollably.Things change when Oscar Crumley, a wealthy media scion that Idir knew at university, reappears in Idir's life, hiring him to find his missing younger half-brother, Thibaut. Idir assumes it is an open and shut case. But when Idir discovers that Thibaut was hiding his homosexuality from his conservative family, his disappearance takes on sinister connotations.Distracted by his intense affair with the wife of a wealthy friend, Idir ultimately becomes embroiled in a war of lies and corruption between two of France's most powerful media conglomerates. Inspired by Chandler and the American greats, Guez uses the familiar tropes of noir to create an entirely new language.
"Stephens' darkly comic, sharply irreverent, undeniably wise 'Great Adoption Novel' is an unexpectedly timely, not-to-be-missed, epic wild ride." ¿Booklist, *Starred Review*Lisa Pearl is an American teaching English in Japan and the situation there¿thanks mostly to her spontaneous, hard-partying ways¿has become problematic. Now she¿s in Seoul, South Korea, with her childhood best-friend Mindy. The young women share a special bond: they are both Korean-born adoptees into white American families. Mindy is in Seoul to track down her birth mom, and wants Lisa to do the same. Trouble is, Lisa isn¿t convinced she needs to know about her past, much less meet her biological mother. She¿d much rather spend time with Harrison, an almost supernaturally handsome local who works for the MotherFinder¿s agency. When Lisa wakes up inside a palatial mountain compound, the captive of a glamorous, surgically-enhanced blonde named Honey, she soon realizes she is going to learn about her past whether she likes it or not. What happens next only could in one place: North Korea.
Rus is a creature of habit. His mother left him an apartment and a debit card, from which he withdraws money everyday to purchase a drink at Starbucks. Until Rus is told by a government agency that his apartment is illegal and that he owes taxes. Lots of taxes. Rus panics and his cash is stolen by a smooth talking Russian submarine captain.Meanwhile, as Rus capitulates to the demands of society and finds an office job with the help of a micro-managing new girlfriend, the neighborhood's local postal worker surveys the lives of its other residents with an omniscient eye: Mrs. Blue compulsively steals hand creams; a secretary struggles to make conversation (much less human connections); a delivery man desperately seeks to make a name for himself but struggles with his immigrant status; and an aging bachelor, hampered by extreme paranoia, will finally have the chance to meet the Queen (if he can just hold it together long enough).With Rus at the head of this lonely ensemble's search for meaning in a complicated and alienating world, debut novelist Adriaanse weaves together intersecting lives to create a mini-epic, one that charts a hidden resistance to corporate sameness and artificial relationships.
Michael was only 15 when a mysterious accident changed his life forever. He was rebuilt out of paper by his father, and ten years later he is still trapped in the paper version of his teenage body. To escape his stagnant life at home, he runs away to the city by the sea, which promises art and adventure. Instead, Michael discovers the city is tearing at the seams.With rumors swirling that a militarized north will annex the city, newcomer Michael has more to worry about than the unpredictable seaside weather. After being rescued from a rainstorm by Maiko, an unemployed fur model, Michael’s cruel high school sweetheart Mischa suddenly reappears. Michael becomes torn between loyalty to Maiko and Mischa's decadent underground art world. But when he finds himself drawn to the city's most notorious artist, David Doppelmann, Michael begins another dangerous transformation, one that will either lead to uncovering his true self, or destroy him and everyone he cares about. Part fable, part surrealistic journey, Gallagher Lawson’s impressive debut is a gripping narrative about the nature of artistic identity and its tenuous relationship to the greater good, Lawson has created a visionary, allegorical novel of our time.
It's war at the School of Visual Arts, and nobody's art is safe. Not even Jackson Pollock's!Your archenemy taunts you with clandestine bacon frying. Your boss feverishly cyberstalks an aging romance novel cover model. Your husband unexpectedly takes in a wayward foreign national. Your best friend reveals a secret relationship with your longstanding workplace crush.Welcome to the life of Nina Lanning, lone and floundering administrator of a prestigious Midwestern art school. Her colleagues are pioneers of contemporary art movements, inspirational orators, creative virtuosos and the source of constant headaches as they rage against the authority Nina represents. They also happen to be her closest friends.When once-a-century flooding threatens to destroy the art building, and the priceless Jackson Pollock trapped inside, Nina and her ragtag band of faculty members undertake to rescue the early work of the splatter master. Propelled by disasters both natural and personal, Nina must confront her colleagues, her husband, and most importantly, herself. Cate Dicharry's debut novel is a painfully hysterical examination of what is truly worth saving, and mastering the art of letting go.
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