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The Inside Reader: Nick Nolan
Jun. 4th, 2010 10:35 amShow me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends - Silas Weir MitchellSometime ago I read Double Bond by Nick Nolan; I liked a lot that book, but it would have for sure a better read together with its prequel, Strings Attached. Unfortunately in that moment, the both books were self-published by the author, and so not so easy to retrieve. I was glad to find out that both books are now re-released with new covers and hopefully wider distribution. Of course it was my pleasure to ask Nick if he wanted to do an Inside Reader List in the occasion of the re-release Double Bond.
Inside Reader’s List for Nick Nolan
1) Perfect Freedom (and anything else) by Gordon Merrick. In the 1970’s, Gordon Merrick was the Aaron Spelling of sticky gay fiction. His books are guilty pleasures brimming with blazing hot men, unbelievably explicit sex, sappy love (“Oh, Darling, I’ve missed you!” “Oh, Darling, I’ve missed you, too!”), and arching melodrama. Perfect Freedom takes place in the South of France pre-WWII, and is a bawdy coming-of-age story about a delicious youth who—once deflowered—becomes as insatiable as a satyr on Viagra. So if you’re planning a summer vacation, be sure to pack any (or all) of Merrick’s works in your Louis Vuitton luggage—then once you get poolside, order a double and switch off your iPod. Paperback: 456 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books; 1st Alyson Ed edition (July 15, 1999)
ISBN-10: 1555832970
ISBN-13: 978-1555832971
Amazon: Perfect Freedom
2) Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir by Paul Monette. Paul Monette succumbed to AIDS in 1995; thus was silenced one of our most articulate and brave voices. However, Borrowed Time will serve future GLBT generations as a vivid time capsule for that tragic and toxic era when lots of nice, educated people actually believed that homosexuals were perverts, and AIDS was ‘God’s Punishment.’ This book served as the greatest single inspiration for me to become a writer, while giving reassurance to thousands of gay men suffering (or providing comfort to someone) with AIDS that they were not alone. If I were teaching ‘Gay History 101,’ this would be required reading. Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Mariner Books (June 1, 1998)
Publisher Link: http://www.hmhbooks.com/catalog/titledetail.cfm?titleNumber=1182773
ISBN-10: 0156005816
ISBN-13: 978-0156005814
Amazon: Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir
This "tender and lyrical" memoir (New York Times Book Review) remains one of the most compelling documents of the AIDS era-"searing, shattering, ultimately hope inspiring account of a great love story" (San Francisco Examiner). A National Book Critics Circle Award finalist and the winner of the PEN Center West literary award
( books from 3 to 10 )
About Nick Nolan: Nick Nolan was born and raised in Los Angeles. After working nights and weekends selling furniture to put himself through college, Nolan went on to direct a group home for homeless and abused GLBT youth. During his scant spare time, he began writing. Inspired by the works of writers Armistead Maupin, Paul Russell, and Paul Monette, he penned his debut novel, Strings Attached, the first in a planned trilogy. Shortly after its release, Strings Attached was named the 2006 Gay/Lesbian Book of the Year by ForeWord Magazine, hit #1 in Gay Fiction on Amazon.com, and spent nearly a year in that genre's Top 10. Two years later Nolan's second thriller Double Bound won Book of the Year awards for Gay/Lesbian Fiction by both ForeWord Magazine and ReaderViews.
In 2009 Nick was delighted to sign with AmazonEncore, so that his two novels might reach a wider audience. AmazonEncore released an edited and improved Strings Attached on March 9, 2010, and Double Bound will follow on May 25.
Nick, his partner and their two beloved dogs divide their time between their home in the San Fernando Valley and their cabin high in the mountains of California. A third novel is expected soon.
Strings Attached by Nick Nolan Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: AmazonEncore (March 9, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0982555016
ISBN-13: 978-0982555019
Amazon: Strings Attached
Closeted teenager Jeremy is sent to live with wealthy relatives after his mother enters rehab. Struggling to fit into the posh world of Ballena Beach, Jeremy joins the high school swim team, dates a popular girl, and begins to think he may have landed in paradise—until his great aunt Katharine starts to dictate his every move … and a late-night phone call insinuates that his father’s accidental death was not so accidental after all.
As Jeremy grows accustomed to the veneer of a fabulous life, so grows his need for answers—as well as the danger of immeasurable harm. Weaving together a murder mystery, sexual ambiguity, and characters with hidden identities and agendas , Nick Nolan offers readers a deliciously witty page-turner about the “puppet” who wishes only to be a real boy. Strings Attached is also a surprisingly heartfelt story about coming-of-age and coming out—not necessarily in that order.
Double Bond by Nick Nolan Paperback: 339 pages
Publisher: AmazonEncore (June 1, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0982555024
ISBN-13: 978-0982555026
Amazon: Double Bond
Named 2008 'Book of the Year' by both ForeWord Magazine and ReaderViews, this adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk is a modern tale of passion, deception, and danger: Because of Katharine Tyler's investment in a Brazilian island resort, she sends her handsome young nephew Jeremy with his lover Carlo to assess its progress. And though hunky ex-Marine Arthur Blauefee serves as their bodyguard, the trio strives against a charming trickster, sensual temptation, a kidnapping, and an unexpected double-cross, where Aunt Katharine plays puppet-master before getting tangled in her own strings. Although DOUBLE BOUND features the central characters from 2006 Book of the Year winner STRINGS ATTACHED, this is Arthur's story: his heartbreaking youth, his precarious days as a gay US Marine, then his treacherous--and deliciously fulfilling--journey to Brazil, where he is challenged to heroism, while agonizing between his conscience, and his blistering desire for the one man he's forbidden to love.
1) Perfect Freedom (and anything else) by Gordon Merrick. In the 1970’s, Gordon Merrick was the Aaron Spelling of sticky gay fiction. His books are guilty pleasures brimming with blazing hot men, unbelievably explicit sex, sappy love (“Oh, Darling, I’ve missed you!” “Oh, Darling, I’ve missed you, too!”), and arching melodrama. Perfect Freedom takes place in the South of France pre-WWII, and is a bawdy coming-of-age story about a delicious youth who—once deflowered—becomes as insatiable as a satyr on Viagra. So if you’re planning a summer vacation, be sure to pack any (or all) of Merrick’s works in your Louis Vuitton luggage—then once you get poolside, order a double and switch off your iPod. 
2) Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir by Paul Monette. Paul Monette succumbed to AIDS in 1995; thus was silenced one of our most articulate and brave voices. However, Borrowed Time will serve future GLBT generations as a vivid time capsule for that tragic and toxic era when lots of nice, educated people actually believed that homosexuals were perverts, and AIDS was ‘God’s Punishment.’ This book served as the greatest single inspiration for me to become a writer, while giving reassurance to thousands of gay men suffering (or providing comfort to someone) with AIDS that they were not alone. If I were teaching ‘Gay History 101,’ this would be required reading. 
Strings Attached by Nick Nolan 
Double Bond by Nick Nolan 
