Collection: Shop Gay

More than ten years after its original publication, Going the Other Way remains deeply moving, and more timely than ever.

By virtue of a relentless work ethic, exceptional multi-sport talent, and a quick left-handed swing, Billy Bean made it to the majors, where he played from 1987 to 1995--an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres. But as a gay man in the brutally anti-gay world of baseball, closeted to teammates and family, Bean found himself unable to reconcile two worlds that he felt to be mutually exclusive. At the young age of 31, in the prime of his career, even as he solidified his role as a major-league utility player, Bean walked away from the game that was both his calling and his livelihood.

At once heartbreaking and farcical, ruminative and uncensored, this unprecedented memoir points the way toward a more perfect game, one in which all players can pursue their athletic dreams free of prejudice and discrimination.

After nearly a lifetime spent in the Industry, author and fashion insider Simon Doonan is ready to let you in on a little secret: his peers in this multibillion-dollar industry are just as nutty as the denizens of your local loony bin. In The Asylum, an unabashedly hilarious memoir-in-essays, Doonan, the creative ambassador for Barneys New York, tells the real-life stories of glamorous madness and stylish insanity.

Doonan has seen it all: from dealing with models unable to work for fear of ghosts, to deep-sea fishing with a couturier pal and his jailbird companion, to watching Anna Wintour remain perfectly calm while the ceiling fell--literally--in the middle of Fashion Week. The outlandish family Doonan knew as a child has given way to alarmingly similar lunatic peers in the fashion world: style insiders see patterns and trends in everything; they suffer from outsize personality disorders and delusions of grandeur; and, of course, they have a predilection for theatrical makeup and artfully destroyed clothing. No one is more suited to the asylum than the truly die-hard fashionista--after all, eccentricity and extremism are the foundations of great style.

Hailed as "a must-read for fashionistas and non-fashionistas alike," (Michael Kors) and "raucous and revelatory" (Booklist), Doonan's critically acclaimed collection gives us the scoop on the kooky, cutthroat--but always fabulous--fashion world, and proves the author to be one of the sharpest humorists writing today.

RuPaul's Drag Race UK returns to our screens for a second season with an all new cast ready to slay the runway. Discover the secrets of the Werk Room and get all the gossip backstage in exclusive interviews with the Queens and judges. With special features, play-along games, secrets and trivia, this is your perfect companion to the Drag Race extravaganza! Remember kids, reading is fundamental.

In medieval Japan (14th-16th centuries), it was customary for elite families to entrust their young sons to the care of renowned Buddhist priests from whom they received a premier education in Buddhist scriptures, poetry, music, and dance. When the boys reached adolescence, some underwent coming-of-age rites, others entered the priesthood, and several extended their education, becoming chigo, or Buddhist acolytes. Chigo served their masters as personal attendants and as sexual partners. During religious ceremonies--adorned in colorful robes, their faces made up and hair styled in long ponytails--they entertained local donors and pilgrims with music and dance. Stories of acolytes (chigo monogatari) from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries form the basis of the present volume, an original and detailed literary analysis of six tales coupled with a thorough examination of the sociopolitical, religious, and cultural matrices that produced these texts.

Sachi Schmidt-Hori begins by delineating various dimensions of chigo (the chigo "title," personal names, gender, sexuality, class, politics, and religiosity) to show the complexity of this cultural construct--the chigo as a triply liminal figure who is neither male nor female, child nor adult, human nor deity. A modern reception history of chigo monogatari follows, revealing, not surprisingly, that the tales have often been interpreted through cultural paradigms rooted in historical moments and worldviews far removed from the original. From the 1950s to 1980s, research on chigo was hindered by widespread homophobic prejudice. More recently, aversion to the age gap in historical master-acolyte relations has prevented scholars from analyzing the religious and political messages underlying the genre. Schmidt-Hori's work calls for a shift in the hermeneutic strategies applied to chigo and chigo monogatari and puts forth both a nuanced historicization of social constructs such as gender, sexuality, age, and agency, and a mode of reading propelled by curiosity and introspection.

A stunning memoir of coming of age and recovering from anorexia in the 2020s

Charlotte Bellows wrote The Definition of Beautiful between the ages of fifteen and seventeen, in the wake of lockdown and in recovery from anorexia. In the tradition of Sylvia Plath in The Bell Jar and Françoise Sagan in Bonjour Tristesse, Bellows writes with deceptively straightforward urgency, pushing through society's constraints on the bodies and minds of girls and women to offer a story both achingly familiar and devastatingly new.

In 2020, fourteen-year-old Charlotte's lifelong drive to achieve 'perfection' distorts into an all-encompassing obsession. Living between the suffocating world of lockdown and an uncanny dreamscape inhabited by competing avatars, Charlotte faces a parade of masked faces in hospital rooms, the aftermath of first love, the erosion of lifelong friendship, and the agony of seeing her illness devastate her family as it threatens to destroy her; as the world reopens, she finds new connections and mentors, new joy, new ways of thinking, new ways to be.

Charlotte Bellows offers a potent fusion of insight and innocence -- a story for those who suffer or have suffered from eating disorders, but, more, a vital coming of age story of a young gay and artistic woman, tugged and throttled by a myriad of pressures, not least from the dark gravity that is the underside of her own creative drive.

"Be yourself; you finally have the opportunity."

Keith has spent his life pretending to be something that he is not; straight. But after meeting Toby, his first boyfriend, and falling head-over-heels, he finds the strength and courage to step out of the closest and live his truth with pride. For months, everything seems perfect. Until Toby pulls the rug out from below his feet and Keith stumbles through a web of secrets and lies that leave him standing on shaky ground and questioning everything about the man he thought was the love of his life, and his own judgment.

Problems of Our Own, by Stephen Ford, is a story that touches upon the real-life struggles of those who are part of the LGBTQ+ community and the highs and lows of falling in love. Readers will join Keith on his journey as he deals with issues revolving around mental health, relationships, homophobia, and trauma. Problems of Our Own is Keith's story, but it speaks to the experiences and lives of millions within the LGBTQ+ community who struggle with these same issues and need to know that they are not alone.

Paulyanna: International Rent-boy is an honest and frank portrayal of a working-class male prostitute's life. Many factors contribute in delivering the main character onto the streets. Some very typical, such as early abandonment, poverty, lack of education and sexual abuse. But Paul does not dwell too much on the past and refuses to allow these events to mar his ambition. At eighteen a lost train ticket leaves him stranded in the city after a job interview. He uses his questionable wits to make a quick decision that steers him down a rather dodgy path. Without added glamour or grit, Paul shares the raw accounts of his life as a rent-boy in the 90s, from London to Los Angeles. It may not have been pretty, and there was risk and danger as well as fun and thrills, but Paul had the audacity to succeed in his quest to obtain happiness, security and wealth. This is not an erotic tale. It is an ordinary account of day-to-day life as viewed from a unique perspective. A peek into what really goes on behind the glassy-eyed smile of a male street worker. Read about his life in this optimistic and fascinating roadbook adventure.

Paul isn't at school to learn, he's there to be fed. Though they often have no voice, a problematic child will more than likely have a tale to tell. Not that Paul would ever let slip the shame he hides. Weighed down for so long with insecurities, the scruffy kid already feels isolated from his peers. These formative years of secondary school, where confidence can be shattered by a single taunt, do not encourage children to speak out. If Paul's secrets were ever known, no good would come of it, only humiliation. So he disguises his anguish behind a facade of roughness. Paul excels at naughtiness; takes pride in being the baddest. It's his only talent, and it's been sharpened by his wayward upbringing. And if anything is going to break the monotony of learning, it's being sent out to the empty corridor. Glimpse Paul's life in the 1980s, follow him through school and the streets, witness his crimes. Understand his motives but don't judge him too harshly. Real life is never straightforward and the choices we make are not always sound. Why should Paul's be any different?

In his stunningly honest and poignant memoir, Frank Spinelli recounts a childhood marked by trauma and of finding the courage that ultimately transformed his life. . .

Frank Spinelli grew up on Staten Island in the 1970s to Italian-born parents who viewed cops and priests as second only to the Pope in infallibility. His mother, concerned that her son was being bullied at school for being "different," signed Frank up for Boy Scouts when he turned eleven. For the next two years, Frank's life had two realities--one lived in full view of his family, and the other a secret he shared with his Scoutmaster that he couldn't confess to anybody.

Eventually Frank went to college, established a thriving medical practice, and found a home in Manhattan. But the emotional and physical effects of his past continued to shadow every aspect of his life. Then a shocking discovery gave Frank the opportunity to overturn thirty years of confusion and self-blame--for himself, and for other boys like him.

Pee-Shy is a remarkable story of overcoming the unimaginable to choose resilience over darkness, and love over loss.

"A devastatingly heartbreaking look at life after childhood abuse, with wit and piercing insight that can only come from a place of brutal honesty." --Josh Kilmer-Purcell

"This is a memoir about a grown-up boy's generous--and healing--heart."--Kevin Sessums

"This is one of those horrific, true stories that Dr. Spinelli so courageously reveals. With raw honesty he makes us understand that monsters do exist and a child's innocence is precious. His story is one of too many, but maybe, this one will help open our eyes a little more and shine a light on a taboo subject that many chose not to see or believe." --Whoopi Goldberg

The autobiographical essays in Edge offer insight into the passions of acclaimed author Jeff Mann. These memories, insightful as they are endearing, range from his boyhood obsession with the gothic allure of Dark Shadows, to the doubt and pain of being a Southerner, and so at the edge of the gay community, and the appeal of leather bars and bear culture. Mann also visits gay meccas in these essays--the resorts of Key West, Provincetown, and Rehoboth Beach, along with several European destinations such as Germany, Ireland, Belgium, and Scotland, have important cameos. But he is never an idle traveler--he is challenged by his experiences, and his observations reveal the thoughts of many gay men. Along the way Mann ruminates on a variety of subjects, from lost lovers to wearing kilts, theophany, Sylvia Plath, adult videos, and bathhouses.

Joseph March is not a happy man. He's stuck in a dead end job. His boyfriend has left him for a younger man. There's a naked stranger in his bed. And, he's about to turn forty. When his friends want to whisk him away for a surprise birthday getaway, what's a nice, gay guy supposed to do? Go along for the ride! Hoping for a little relaxation, his friends have made reservations at a spa they discovered in an internet chat room, but, this is no ordinary spa. It's a health club, an educational seminar, a sex club, a nudist colony, a wilderness retreat and a penal institution all rolled into one! Forced to stay, Joe has ample time to re-examine his life. With the aid of his friends and an odd assortment of spa guests, Joe eventually decides that it's time to rejoin the human race, but that's easier said than done. Danger, drugs, hilarious characters, disaster and true love are all just a road trip away! If Joseph can survive the weekend, he just might find Euphoria! Euphoria is a full length comedy for the stage.

In this collection of short stories whose main characters are gay men. They tackle many different situations such as first love, coming out, death and don't ask; don't tell. Where the characters deal with life and make friends in their ways. And explore passion between two lovers. Giving the reader a stronger idea of the many forms love takes. Which is the principle that stands on love is love. Letting the reader have a deeper understanding of how to love and be loved.

From Brian's 14th volume of poetry, he took a profound journey of experiences like heartache, hurtful thoughts, and many other life experiences and compiled them into his best collection. Brian talks about exploring his thoughts on ending a relationship, sacrificing his life, and caring for his loved ones. Even his fears of living, dealing with the lack of self-confidence, self-esteem, and even more of his mental health, finding the Light in all his small victories, the darkness in his failures, and the learning process. Brian writes very openly and brings out what he is going through. He doesn't talk about what he is living. He lets his pen do the talking. He tells his life story in his healing, emotional, mental processes and aims to become a better person from the pen. He speaks of pain, grief, and how his failures become a weapon that fights him. He has excellent use of words and doesn't shy away from the truth or the facts. This collection is a go-there kind of collection. Just read for yourself.

This collection is volume nine of Brian's journals. Who writes about the many observations and experiences of his life. But also writes as a creative outlet for his anxious mind. With his words, he pours his thoughts out in a great expression. Being a poet Brian has a way with words that is like a second language. Brian's collection was written between Oct 2011- Feb 2014. This is where Brian had a case of writer's block and gave writing a break for some time. This collection just like his journals give you an idea of the notes of his experiences and his observations.

From Brian's 10th volume of poetry, this is a semi reflection of his personal life and his experiences. This is also the time Brian channeled his grief, heartache, and depression into his words. Sometimes we have a hard time speaking about what is going on inside. Brian has used his poetry to channel what he was going through. His words give the silent expression of his mind, his experiences, and what he knows through those life lessons. Written between March 2014 - Aug 2016. Showing that when alone you just channel your energy into something positive and you can achieve anything.