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  • Queer and Catholic

  • A Life of Contradiction
  • By: Mark Dowd
  • Narrated by: Mark Dowd
  • Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (35 ratings)
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Queer and Catholic cover art

Queer and Catholic

By: Mark Dowd
Narrated by: Mark Dowd
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Summary

This superb memoir of a gay working-class boy from Manchester exploring how to reconcile his sexuality with his Catholicism is all the more powerful because of his deep knowledge of and commitment to his faith.

Spanning the late 1960s to the present day, Mark Dowd's Queer and Catholic chronicles a changing attitude to same-sex attraction over more than half a century and is packed with stories in turn funny, deeply moving and spiritually insightful, including coming out to his parents by talking in his sleep, training to become a Dominican priest before eloping from a religious order with an ex-friar, and attending the funeral of his father - accompanied by his father!

©2017 Mark Dowd (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

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Informative and Moving

This is an excellent account of the complex issue of homosexuality within the Catholic Church. Mark Dowd’s semi-autobiographical exegesis is both moving and thought-provoking.

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Immensely relatable and moving

This has beem such a joy to listen to. Mark is a brilliant narrator and story-teller. I was able to picture everything he talked about in his book - starting from his upbringing in Salford, to his sojourn in Oxford, and beyond. This book has been more than just a series of diary entries of a gay man, but rather the immensely illuminating reflections of a man of great faith. One might dare say this book borders on being of the catholic apologetic genre!

Funny, moving, deeply sad at times - I have experienced a beautiful range of emotions whilst travelling along with Mark in this book. I am certainly going to recommend it to queer and non-queer friends alike.

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As addictive as any box-set

You know that sense of bereavement you get when you finish a much-loved box set? Well yes, I actually got this feeling after spending 8 hours in the car listening to Mark narrating the tip of the iceberg of his life story - I sincerely hope that he returns to tell us more. This is a heart-warming story of a gay man from Salford brought up in a strongly Catholic family - it explores the juxtaposition of faith and orientation and how the writer reconciled these contradictions. We come to develop a fondness for the writer's mother, Pat, as she emerges from he 1970s thinking that her son's orientation is a matter for medical intervention, to her later life when she delivers the memorable line "I'm sorry love, I'm busy that night. I'm at at Champagne Lesbian Gala.". This book is a joy - narrated by the author himself with superb voice characterisations of the entire cast.

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Warm witty and human

As a gay man who grew up in a small northern town in the 1970s this has so many resonances for me. It's funny, poignant and well written.

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