A book titled End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies about the End of the World, written by Sylvia Browne – YES – THAT Sylvia Browne, the TV psychic, apparently predicted the global outbreak of coronavirus. The book was first published in 2008! Wild. Check out the excerpt detailing the virus after the jump!
In its earliest incarnation, the North American punk scene was a type of social art movement, often populated by aimless kids from broken homes, fumbling through the night to mould the chaos of youth into some sort of meaningful experience.
By the time James Oseland anointed himself “Jimmy Neurosis,” he was well acquainted with the seedy, yet somehow innocent underbelly of the San Francisco punk scene – which was itself, in 1977, only beginning to take shape.
In his book, which arrived last month as a paperback, Oseland describes the way the birth of punk helped him navigate survival in desperate times as a gay kid in a low income, single parent family before there was any template of how to do so.
Nowadays, Oseland is better known as an award-winning food writer and his five-season run as a judge on the Bravo show Top Chef Masters. We got the chance to chat with him about why, at this stage in his career, he decided to revisit these traumatic, yet formative years in the punk scene and how those experiences play out in his life now.
Read the full Q&A after the jump!
The Order of Nature by Josh Scheinert
The Order of Nature is a gay love story that takes place in The Gambia, Africa. Its two protagonists, an American volunteer and a Gambian hotel bartender, meet by chance and pursue a relationship, facing mounting challenges and tragedies due to The Gambia’s culture of homophobia. The author, Josh Scheinert, spent a year teaching law at the University of The Gambia, which inspired the story. In his words:
I came to appreciate the real challenges LGBTQ people face in countries where laws criminalize who they are. During my time in The Gambia, I was in the closet. And even though my experience was wonderful, I knew that if there was ever a problem, I could easily return home, where home meant comfort and safety. For too many people, that luxury does not exist. I wrote The Order of Nature to provide readers a window into what it means to live a life that’s illegal.
The Order of Nature is available at Giovanni’s Room in Philadelphia, “The Oldest & Very Best LGBTQ & Feminist Bookstore in the Country.” Buy the book online here.
For our British readers, you can find the book at Gay’s the Word in London.
IN PERSON: Scheinert will be speaking on May 4 at the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
The OMG Book Club highlights new, must-read literature available at independent queer bookstores around the world.
The OMG Book Club highlights new, must-read literature available at Glad Day Bookshop, the world’s oldest surviving LGBTQ bookstore (and a great Amazon alternative).
Jimmy Neurosis is a memoir by celebrated food editor and author James Oseland that spans a few years of his life as a gay teenager in 1970s San Francisco. Oseland dove headfirst into the punk scene where he adopted the moniker “Jimmy Neurosis,” exploring new social relationships, new compulsions and addictions, and embraced his own difference. He writes unflinchingly about his fraught relationship with his mother and his decision to move across the country to live with his much-older boyfriend and become part of the New York City art scene (there was a run-in with Andy Warhol in a stairwell).
This book is a vivid portrait of a counter-cultural moment told with an openness that’s astonishing at times. Jimmy’s perspectives and values were rapidly changing during those years, but there remained a deep enthusiasm and curiosity that drove him forward even in the book’s darkest moments. It’s an inspiring, frightening, and sweet tale that is particular in scope but universal in its humanity.
Buy the book now at Glad Day.
The OMG Book Club highlights new, must-read literature available at Glad Day Bookshop, the world’s oldest surviving LGBTQ bookstore (and a great Amazon alternative).
Artist Eric Kostiuk Williams has released a new graphic short story collection called Our Wretched Town Hall, an incisive commentary on now with gorgeously surreal illustrations in his distinct style. Some of the stories were first published last year right here on OMG.BLOG as part of the Twink Rage Revue, Eric’s ongoing series for our site.
Buy a copy of the book, and stay tuned for more of Eric’s work coming this year!
The OMG Book Club highlights new, must-read literature available at Glad Day Bookshop, the world’s oldest surviving LGBTQ bookstore (and a great Amazon alternative).
K.D. Edwards’s debut novel The Last Sun is the first story in his fantasy series The Tarot Sequence (cover art for book two has already been revealed). Set in the city of New Atlantis on the island we know as Nantucket, the tale revolves around a fallen prince named Rune (and his sexy bodyguard/BF Brand) who have been tasked with finding a missing member of the royal family.
There is magic, intrigue, mystery, and a lot of gay stuff, all set in a “historical world of staggering breadth and realization” (Scott Reintgen).
Buy the book now at Glad Day.
The OMG Book Club highlights new, must-read literature available at Glad Day Bookshop, the world’s oldest surviving LGBTQ bookstore (and a great Amazon alternative).
“Before that day, I hadn’t been to church in five Beyoncé albums.”
And we’re off and running with the first essay in Michael Arceneaux‘s moving and funny collection I Can’t Date Jesus. If you’re a fan of David Sedaris, you’ll love Arceneaux’s humor, and we’re pretty sure you’ll learn something as you read story after story from his black, queer Texan perspective.
Arceneaux eloquently writes about coming out to his mother; growing up in Houston, Texas; being approached for the priesthood; his obstacles in embracing intimacy that occasionally led to unfortunate fights with fire ants and maybe fleas; and the persistent challenges of young people who feel marginalized and denied the chance to pursue their dreams.
Buy the book and let us know how you like it!
