Books by Paul Lisicky

M2m New Literary Fiction- P

by Edmund White, Felice Picano, Andrew Holleran, Karl Woelz, Paul Lisicky

Anthology of literary fiction by gay men. Includes literary legends Edmund White, Andrew Holleran and Felice Picano as well as new writers Tom House, Paul Lisicky, Mitch Cullin, W.C. Harris, Robin Lippincott, Michael Carroll, Dan Jaffe and nine others. This is the first in a new series highlighting the best of contemporary gay male voices practicing the art of literary fiction.

Lawnboy

by Paul Lisicky

"Lawnboy is, quite simply, the real thing, a novel of mystery and great beauty." —Michael Cunningham

They all thought I was good-natured, upright and responsible, generous, affectionate, and kind, and of course I could be those things, but there was much more to me than that, a side that unnerved even myself, and this side included William.

Seventeen-year-old Evan's adventure begins with mowing a neighbor's lawn, a summer job that leads him into an unpredictable world of desire and betrayal. Estranged from his parents and his older brother, he moves in with forty-one-year-old William and begins a disastrous series of attempts to make a new home. Must he make a choice between his family and desire? First published to wide acclaim in 1999, Lawnboy by Paul Lisicky wanders the lush and tumultuous landscape of the early 1990s, its south Florida setting as fertile and troubling as Evan's inner life.

Famous Builder

by Paul Lisicky

Paul Lisicky remembers being not much like other boys his age, but rather the awkward thirteen-year-old with "arms thick as drinking straws," who composes tunes in his head that he might later send to Folk Mass Today or to the producers of The Partridge Family. Born into a family whose incremental success bumps them up a notch from their immigrant upbringing and into suburban America, Paul puts his creative, undaunted energy into drawing intricate housing development plans and writing liturgical music.
In the lively, loving essays contained in Famous Builder, Lisicky explores the constant impulse to rebuild the self. With gracious, thoughtful candor and pitch-perfect humor, he explores the very personal realms of childhood dreams and ambitions, adolescent sexual awakenings, and adult realities.

The Narrow Door: A Memoir of Friendship

by Paul Lisicky

In The Narrow Door, Paul Lisicky creates a compelling collage of scenes and images drawn from two long-term relationships, one with a woman novelist and the other with his ex-husband, a poet. The contours of these relationships shift constantly. Denise and Paul, stretched by the demands of their writing lives, drift apart, and Paul's romance begins to falter. And the world around them is frail: environmental catastrophes like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, natural disasters like the earthquake in Haiti, and local disturbances make an unsettling backdrop to the pressing concerns of Denise's cancer diagnosis and Paul's impending breakup. Lisicky's compassionate heart and resilience seem all the stronger in the face of such searing losses. His survival--hard-won, unsentimental, authentic--proves that in turning toward loss, we embrace life.

Later: My Life at the Edge of the World

by Paul Lisicky

A stunning portrait of community, identity, and sexuality by the critically acclaimed author of The Narrow Door

When Paul Lisicky arrived in Provincetown in the early 1990s, he was leaving behind a history of family trauma to live in a place outside of time, known for its values of inclusion, acceptance, and art. In this idyllic haven, Lisicky searches for love and connection and comes into his own as he finds a sense of belonging. At the same time, the center of this community is consumed by the AIDS crisis, and the very structure of town life is being rewired out of necessity: What might this utopia look like during a time of dystopia?

Later dramatizes a spectacular yet ravaged place and a unique era when more fully becoming one’s self collided with the realization that ongoingness couldn’t be taken for granted, and staying alive from moment to moment exacted absolute attention. Following the success of his acclaimed memoir, The Narrow Door, Lisicky fearlessly explores the body, queerness, love, illness, community, and belonging in this masterful, ingenious new book.

Song So Wild and Blue A Life with the Music of Joni Mitchell

by Paul Lisicky

"An intimate, impressionistic Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man mode, interwoven with Mitchell myths and parallels."-- New York Times Book Review

"An astonishing exploration of what it means to lead an artist's life--how to last, dig deep, change, to embrace one's voice while in conversation with your heroes."--Elizabeth McCracken, author of The Hero of This Book

From the celebrated novelist and memoirist, a gorgeous account of how Joni Mitchell's work has shaped his writing throughout his life.

From the moment Paul Lisicky heard Joni Mitchell's music while growing up in New Jersey, he recognized she was that rarity among musicians--a talent whose combination of introspection, liberation, and deep musicality set her apart from any other artist of the time. As a young man, Lisicky was a budding songwriter who took his cues from Mitchell's mysteries and idiosyncrasies. But as he matured, he set his guitar aside and turned to prose, a practice that would eventually take him to the Iowa Writers' Workshop and into the professional world of letters.

As the decades passed, Lisicky's connection to Mitchell's artistry only deepened. Her music was a constant, a guide to life, and an artist's manual in one. As he navigated love and heartbreak and imaginative struggles and the vicissitudes of a creative career, he would often return to Mitchell's songs, to the solace and lessons that only her musicianship could give.

Paying unique tribute to the woman who shaped generations of creators and thinkers, Lisicky offers his own coming-of-adulthood as testimony to the power of songwriting and staying true to your creative vision. Part memoir, part biography, and part homage, Song So Wild and Blue is a joy for devoted Mitchell enthusiasts, budding writers, and artists of all stripes.