Reading
I started this live journal to kick start my writing, so what am I doing? I'm reading. The advantage of having a daughter who works in the publishing industry is that I get a sneak peek at new books coming out on the market. This afternoon she handed me a copy of a book that just arrived from the printers.
I just finished reading it, juggling the book and the laptop as I created this account. Is it the best thing I've ever read? No, it's not. However, it may be one of the most important books I've read in quite some time. I'll probably read it again tomorrow, and possibly again the day after.
And You Invited Me In, written by Cheryl Moss Tyler, is the story of Alex, a gay man who left home and never looked back at his hate-filled fundamentalist family, only returning briefly for his father's funeral. Now he is in the final stages of AIDS and knows that his partner cannot carry the burden of his care alone. Wanting a chance for closure, he calls his sister, Annie. Their reconciliation begins to have a ripple effect on the once narrow minded members of the family's hometown and church.
At times a touch preachy and heavy-handed, I still want to place a copy of this book in the hands of every holier-than-thou person I have ever met. Bigotry is vile and growing in strength and like a true face of evil cannot look at itself in a mirror. I think this book is a mirror that needs to be held up to many self-righteous people. Will it change the Fred Phelps of the world? I don't think God himself could change that sick bastard, but I do believe that this book might just touch those who may be influenced by him and his kind, reminding them that their religion once preached love, forgiveness and compassion.
This is the first adult fiction book published by Beyond Words (they usually publish mind, body, spirit books), and I think it is an important one with a message that needs to be out there among mainstream literature. When my daughter first told me about the book, I thought it was one that many in the slash community would enjoy. Now that I have read it, I'm not seeing it quite as a story that we, in general, would enjoy, but as one we should promote; one that is not written for the gay lit market, but to make people question just how truly "Christ-like" they are. Many fundamentalists will be made uncomfortable by this book, and I think that is a very good thing.
I just finished reading it, juggling the book and the laptop as I created this account. Is it the best thing I've ever read? No, it's not. However, it may be one of the most important books I've read in quite some time. I'll probably read it again tomorrow, and possibly again the day after.
And You Invited Me In, written by Cheryl Moss Tyler, is the story of Alex, a gay man who left home and never looked back at his hate-filled fundamentalist family, only returning briefly for his father's funeral. Now he is in the final stages of AIDS and knows that his partner cannot carry the burden of his care alone. Wanting a chance for closure, he calls his sister, Annie. Their reconciliation begins to have a ripple effect on the once narrow minded members of the family's hometown and church.
At times a touch preachy and heavy-handed, I still want to place a copy of this book in the hands of every holier-than-thou person I have ever met. Bigotry is vile and growing in strength and like a true face of evil cannot look at itself in a mirror. I think this book is a mirror that needs to be held up to many self-righteous people. Will it change the Fred Phelps of the world? I don't think God himself could change that sick bastard, but I do believe that this book might just touch those who may be influenced by him and his kind, reminding them that their religion once preached love, forgiveness and compassion.
This is the first adult fiction book published by Beyond Words (they usually publish mind, body, spirit books), and I think it is an important one with a message that needs to be out there among mainstream literature. When my daughter first told me about the book, I thought it was one that many in the slash community would enjoy. Now that I have read it, I'm not seeing it quite as a story that we, in general, would enjoy, but as one we should promote; one that is not written for the gay lit market, but to make people question just how truly "Christ-like" they are. Many fundamentalists will be made uncomfortable by this book, and I think that is a very good thing.