Showing titles in Biographies & Memoirs

In a hugely ambitious study that crosses continents, languages, and almost a century, Gregory Woods identifies the ways in which homosexuality has helped shape Western culture. Extending from the trials of Oscar Wilde to the gay liberation era, this book examines a period in which increased visibility made acceptance of homosexuality one of the measures of modernity.

Grappling with the era's body shaming and blatant sexism while dealing with a growing body of her own, Gina found herself struggling with a lack of fat representation and role models long before anyone had heard of body positivity. With time, Gina's body became something to love, enjoy and celebrate, and in Greedy Guts she challenges how we think about body beauty standards, fatphobic culture and ourselves. Gina shows just how fat liberation - and female liberation - are essential.

'A book to love and cherish' Deborah Levy, author of The Cost of Living 'A beautiful writer and, just as important, a beautiful thinker' Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life 'Friendship is, in fact, as much the topic of this book as aloneness' Sarah Bakewell, Guardian At no time before have...

n July 1964, the Sunday Mirror ran a front-page story headlined: PEER AND A GANGSTER: YARD ENQUIRY. While withholding the names of the principal subjects, the newspaper reported that the Metropolitan Police had ordered an investigation into an alleged homosexual relationship between ‘a...

This is the memoir of James C. Hormel - a man who grew up feeling different not only because his family owned the Hormel “empire” and lived in a 26 bedroom house in a small Midwest town, but because he was gay at a time when homosexuality was not discussed or accepted. Outwardly he tried to live up to the life his father wanted for him - he was a successful professional, had married a lovely woman, and had children - but as volatile changes in the late 1960s impeded on the American psyche, Hormel realized that he could not hide his true self forever.

This program is read by the author, with contributions from Pamela Adlon and Gwen Rainbow. "The production of the audiobook...is so rich with sound effects, additional voice actors and music."—The San Francisco Chronicle "Tart, sassy, and hilariously funny from start to finish, Rainbow’s...

Oscar Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright in the late 19th century. His controversial plays were riddled with mockery of social status, cleverly covered by the use of comedy. Wilde may have paved the way for people living a little off the center line. Full of flash and flare, he wrote some of those colorful traits into his literature. Take a journey into the world of Oscar Wilde, and find out just how individualistic he was.

Conversations on the transgender experience may be becoming more commonplace but the topic is still all too often the subject of fierce debate. But behind the shock headlines, what does it really mean to be trans? In this powerful, extensively researched, and deeply personal memoir, Kenny Ethan...

Comedian Stephen K Amos is one of eight children, whose parents came to London from Nigeria in the 60s. In these three series, co-written with multi-award-winning British playwright Jonathan Harvey, he takes us back in time to the 1980s, as he reminisces about his dysfunctional childhood and formative experiences, and shares the dramas and traumas of his teenage years.

Author Kate Bornstein ushers listeners on a funny, fearless, and wonderfully scenic journey across the terrains of gender and identity. On one level, Gender Outlaw details Bornstein's transformation from heterosexual male to lesbian woman, from a one-time IBM salesperson to a playwright and performance artist. But this particular coming-of-age story is also a provocative investigation into our notions of male and female, from a self-described nonbinary transfeminine diesel femme dyke who never stops questioning our cultural assumptions.

In 1841, the 'peasant poet' John Clare escapes from an asylum in Epping Forest, where he had been kept for four years, and walks over 80 miles home to Northamptonshire. Suffering from poor mental health, Clare was attempting to return to his idealized first love, Mary, unaware that she had died three years earlier. In 1995, with his life in crisis and his own mental health fragile, Robert decides to retrace Clare's route along the Great North Road over a punishing four-day walk. 

An inspiring, honest and intimate memoir about family, love and rising from the ashes. 'Ali's memoir absolutely wrecked me - in the best, most necessary way. It's brutally honest, beautifully written, and I have huge respect for her for putting this into the world' Paula Penfold 'I couldn't put...

The Old Gays have taken TikTok by storm with their viral videos, by turns outrageous and hilarious, fashionable and fierce. But as four gay men, aged from 67 to 80, Mick, Jessay, Robert, and Bill have lived through decades of momentous change and they’ve got stories that take more than three minutes to tell. These are the tales – sometimes scandalous, sometimes profound, sometimes heart-breaking – that only an older gay man can tell. Their Guide to the Good Life is a celebration of lives lived to the fullest, and the art of getting old without getting bored.

“This book is hilarious and that bitch made me laugh out loud.”—Chelsea Handler A chaotically joyous collection of essays from one of the original influencers and the internet's sweetheart, Bretman "The Baddest" Rock. Hilarious and earnest, this collection of essays, how-tos and...

William S. Burroughs’ fiction and essays are legendary—but his influence on music’s counterculture has been less well-documented until now. Examining how one of America’s most controversial literary figures altered the destinies of many notable and varied musicians, William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock ‘n’ Roll reveals the transformations in music history that can be traced to Burroughs. The stories of Burroughs’ backstage impact will transform the way you see America’s cultural revolution and the way you hear its music.

Growing up in a Russia plagued by homophobia, Maxym wrestles with his conflicting emotions toward Muslims and his own suppressed homosexuality. Alongside his innate psychopathic tendencies and an unsettling fascination with killing, his exceptional marksmanship skills make him a coveted asset. Trained to be an unrelenting assassin, he walks a precarious tightrope, embodying a paradoxical blend of tender affections and unwavering loyalty to the nation that nurtured him—an enigmatic figure in the tapestry of contemporary Russia.

‘A fascinating and thoughtful exploration of faith in the modern world. If you’re wondering why it matters and how to make sense of it, read on.’ – Clare Balding Is it possible to believe in God and be gay? How does it feel to be excluded from a religious community because of your...

As much music history as biography, Awop Bop Aloo Mop celebrates "Little" Richard Wayne Penniman, who burst onto the American scene in 1955 with his mega-hit "Tutti Frutti." Almost by himself, Little Richard wrote the anti-rules and poured the concrete for the foundation of a new musical art...

'An incredibly honest tale of survival, escape and resilience' The Observer 'Roche is a charming, unflinchingly honest guide on a journey that's as funny as it is heart-breaking.' JUNO DAWSON How does an untrained eye recognise the process of dying, when your mind is fixed firmly on living? A...

Faith, Hope & Love describes—in the form of journal entries and readings with three psychics/mediums—Jenn's first year of mourning and recovery following her partner Ann Marie's suicide in March 2019. Jenn found a profound shift in her understanding of the afterlife, the Universe, and her higher power. She experienced an abundance of meaningful coincidences and synchronicities that could not be ignored. Her daily journaling began as a means to express her feelings of extreme anguish and loss of a love she had never felt before that now seemed to be gone forever.