Brian Bouldrey (born May 10, 1963)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Brian Bouldrey is a United States writer. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Northwestern University's English Department. He is also a Visiting Writer at Lesley University.

Brian Bouldrey, is the author, most recently, of The Sorrow of the Elves (GemmaMedia, 2010). He has written three nonfiction books Honorable Bandit: A Walk Across Corsica (University of Wisconsin Press, September 2007), Monster: Adventures in American Machismo (Council Oak Books), and The Autobiography Box (Chronicle Books); three novels, The Genius of Desire (Ballantine), Love, the Magician (Harrington Park), and The Boom Economy (University of Wisconsin Press), and he is the editor of several anthologies.

He is recipient of Fellowships from Yaddo and Eastern Frontier Society, and the Joseph Henry Jackson Award from the San Francisco Foundation, a Lambda Literary Award, and the Western Regional Magazine Award. He is the North American Editor of the Open Door literacy series for GemmaMedia. Teaches fiction, creative nonfiction, and literature.

Source: http://www.english.northwestern.edu/people/bould.html

Almost any Gay male who grew up in a strongly religious—or at least, professing--household will recognize himself in some part of this story, The Genius of Desire, and will immediately grasp the instinct for simultaneous self-preservation and self-discovery reflected in the title. Funny and sad in the best senses of those words, parts of it may seem dated now but the emotional truths it tells still ring clearly for me. I was surprised to find that I could not find a current image for the cover of this book, but the images it called up for me have remained and still resonate. --Dan Stone

Further Readings:

Honorable Bandit: A Walk across Corsica by Brian Bouldrey
Hardcover: 296 pages
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (September 12, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0299223205
ISBN-13: 978-0299223205
Amazon: Honorable Bandit: A Walk across Corsica

Brian Bouldrey traveled to the island of Corsica, with its wine-dark Mediterranean waters, powdered-sugar beach sand, sumptuous cuisine, and fine wine. And then he walked away from all of them.
Bouldrey strapped on a backpack and walked across Napoleon's native land with the same spirit many choose to dance or drink: to celebrate, to mourn, to think, to avoid thinking, to recall, to ignore, to escape, and to arrive.
This wonderfully textured account of a two-week ramble along a famous Corsican hiking trail with his German friend Petra (she was good at the downhills while he was better at the uphills) offers readers a journal that is a launching point for reflection: thoughts on cultural differences, friendship, physical challenge, personal challenge, and getting very, very lost. Part travelogue, part memoir, and part lampoon, this book offers readers an impressionistic view of a little talked about yet stunningly beautiful landscape.

Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians and the Public Library Association

Runner-up, Best Travel Book, National Association of Travel Journalists

The Sorrow of Elves (Open Door) by Brian Bouldrey
Paperback: 90 pages
Publisher: GemmaMedia; Original edition (November 30, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1934848514
ISBN-13: 978-1934848517
Amazon: The Sorrow of Elves

Walace Weiss, A once-famous fantasy novelist, now troubled by drug addiction, sets himself on a final two-fold quest: to finish his first novel in over a decade, and, like the immortal elves of his stories, to try and remember what, in his long life, he should not have forgotten.

Part of the prestigious Open Door Series, originally designed for adult literacy in Ireland, these books confirm the truth that a story doesn't have to be big to change our world. The Sorrow of Elves is part of the US launch of Open Door books written by North American authors.

Wrestling with the Angel: Faith and Religion in the Lives of Gay Men by Brian Bouldrey
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Trade; Reprint edition (May 1, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1573225452
ISBN-13: 978-1573225458
Amazon: Wrestling with the Angel: Faith and Religion in the Lives of Gay Men

In these essays, writers reconcile their belief in God with the religious institutions in which they were raised and by which they were ultimately rejected. Intensely personal, these essays take readers beyond the obvious difficulty of religious exile and into the heart of theology--emerging as passionate acts of faith that speak to all who are yearning for a richer spiritual life.

The Genious of Desire by Brian Bouldrey
Paperback: 274 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books (May 10, 1994)
ISBN-10: 0345388720
ISBN-13: 978-0345388728
Amazon: The Genius of Desire

Michael Bellman is not your average little boy. He speaks to plates, banisters, and other household objects (preferring them to people). He frequently confesses to sins he never committed (like adultery). And he's hopelessly drawn to the romantic notion of a secret, double life. Michael spends summers in Monsalvat, Michigan, coming of age in a loving tangle of great aunts, great uncles, cousins once-removed (but ever-present), and one tough-looking, silently scary grandmother. The Kaisers are a wild, highly eccentric bunch: Great Uncle Jimmy speaks to his dead wife during meals and proudly proclaims himself the Fattest Man in the World; Cousin Anne torments and taunts Michael beyond endurance; reckless Cousin Tommy secretly smokes cigars and can't wait to "kick butt in 'Nam"--and Michael watches every magical move he makes. A few years and one driver's license later, as family alliances change and long-silent desires surface, Michael begins to understand his attraction to the double life because he's living one--at roadside rest stops, in library washrooms and public parks. Coming out is the first step, coming to terms is the next....