OPEN, HEAVEN – by Seán Hewitt
HOPE YOU HAVE A GAY (HAPPY) THANKSGIVING! Join us to Discuss our Monthly Book in Nov ...
---- Amazon Editors' Pick for Best Lit ----
---- Shortlisted Swansea Univ. Dylan Thomas Prize ----
---- Poetry won Lambda Awd nom & Rooney Prize for Irish Lit ----
STUNNING 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗡𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗟: IN A 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗚𝗘 IN THE NORTH OF 𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗, 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝟭𝟲𝗬𝗢 𝗕𝗢𝗬𝗦 MEET & 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠 EACH OTHER'S LIVES OVER THE COURSE OF 𝟭 𝗬𝗥.
- - - Patrick Gale, 𝘈 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 (which we read & loved) - - -
“𝘈 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙚𝙩 & 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘈𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙖𝙡𝙡-𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 & 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 2 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦.”
SUMMARY: A 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘂𝘁 novel from the 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝗲𝘁 Seán Hewitt, reminiscent of 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 & 𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗹𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁 (both of whom we've read) in the intensity of its 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗲𝘅𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. It's a 𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 & intensely expressive portrayal of 2 teenagers 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 with each other over 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆, 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿.
James - a 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝘀𝗵𝘆 𝟭𝟲𝘆𝗼 - is alone in his newly discovered 𝘀𝗲𝘅𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, full of an 𝘂𝗻𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲 but inexperienced. As he begins to understand himself & his longings, he also realizes how his feelings 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻 to separate him from his family & rural community. He 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, fantasizing about what lies beyond the village’s leaf-ribboned boundaries, beyond his autonomy, tenderness, sex. Then, in autumn of 2002, he 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗟𝘂𝗸𝗲, who was sent to live with his aunt & uncle at their farm outside the village.
Luke is 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿, 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲, 𝘂𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁 & comes with a 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿. 𝗔𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱r. Abandoned by his parents - his father imprisoned, his mother moving to France for another man. And James is immediately 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗻 to him, like the 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗶𝗿, dragging things into it & blazing them into its 𝗵𝗼𝘁, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲, drawn to this boy who is beautiful & impulsive, charismatic, troubled. But underneath Luke’s bravado is a 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 - a longing for the love of his father & for the stability of family life.
This is a novel about 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲, 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲. With the 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 & 𝗹𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺 that animate his work as a poet, Hewitt has written a 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝘆𝗺𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 & 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 in all its forms. A truly exceptional debut.
- - - - - The Guardian - - - - -
“𝙏𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧, 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 & 𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙥𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙘, 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 - & 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝙨𝙚𝙭𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝙨𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙙 - 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣.”
[free, no RSVP needed, just come & we'll welcome you in!]
---- Amazon Editors' Pick for Best Lit ----
---- Shortlisted Swansea Univ. Dylan Thomas Prize ----
---- Poetry won Lambda Awd nom & Rooney Prize for Irish Lit ----
STUNNING 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗡𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗟: IN A 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗚𝗘 IN THE NORTH OF 𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗, 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝟭𝟲𝗬𝗢 𝗕𝗢𝗬𝗦 MEET & 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠 EACH OTHER'S LIVES OVER THE COURSE OF 𝟭 𝗬𝗥.
- - - Patrick Gale, 𝘈 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 (which we read & loved) - - -
“𝘈 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙚𝙩 & 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘈𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙖𝙡𝙡-𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 & 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 2 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦.”
SUMMARY: A 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘂𝘁 novel from the 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝗲𝘁 Seán Hewitt, reminiscent of 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 & 𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗹𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁 (both of whom we've read) in the intensity of its 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗲𝘅𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. It's a 𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 & intensely expressive portrayal of 2 teenagers 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 with each other over 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆, 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿.
James - a 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝘀𝗵𝘆 𝟭𝟲𝘆𝗼 - is alone in his newly discovered 𝘀𝗲𝘅𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, full of an 𝘂𝗻𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲 but inexperienced. As he begins to understand himself & his longings, he also realizes how his feelings 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻 to separate him from his family & rural community. He 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, fantasizing about what lies beyond the village’s leaf-ribboned boundaries, beyond his autonomy, tenderness, sex. Then, in autumn of 2002, he 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗟𝘂𝗸𝗲, who was sent to live with his aunt & uncle at their farm outside the village.
Luke is 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿, 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲, 𝘂𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁 & comes with a 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿. 𝗔𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱r. Abandoned by his parents - his father imprisoned, his mother moving to France for another man. And James is immediately 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗻 to him, like the 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗶𝗿, dragging things into it & blazing them into its 𝗵𝗼𝘁, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲, drawn to this boy who is beautiful & impulsive, charismatic, troubled. But underneath Luke’s bravado is a 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 - a longing for the love of his father & for the stability of family life.
This is a novel about 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲, 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲. With the 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 & 𝗹𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺 that animate his work as a poet, Hewitt has written a 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝘆𝗺𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 & 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 in all its forms. A truly exceptional debut.
- - - - - The Guardian - - - - -
“𝙏𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧, 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 & 𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙥𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙘, 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 - & 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝙨𝙚𝙭𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝙨𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙙 - 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣.”
[free, no RSVP needed, just come & we'll welcome you in!]
Where is it happening?
Center on Halsted, 3656 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60613-5974, United States
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherGay Men's Book Group - Chicago
