BOOKS
After a decade of mistakes, a struggling writer leaves
Manhattan to start over in a small college town. Populated with egotists and
narcissists, Jameson Currier’s resilient and unfliching We Are Made of Stars,
a “memoir in the form of a novel pretending to be a memoir,” reveals a gay
man’s journey through grief during the early years of the AIDS epidemic.
We Are Made of Stars
a novel by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-1-937627-33-1
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 206 pages
Paperback. Price $18.00
8” x 5.25”,
Pub date: October 16, 2024
We Are Made of Stars
a novel by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-1-937627-33-1
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 206 pages
Paperback. Price $18.00
8” x 5.25”,
Pub date: October 16, 2024
A mesmerizing tale of a young man’s education by drag queens in the 1970s,
a fatal accident and its cover-up, and the resulting aftermath on
lives and friendships, as told through archived documents.
The Man That Got Away
an illustrated confession by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-0-9844707-6-1
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 146 pages
Paperback. Price: $16.00
8” x 5.25”
Pub Date: June 3, 2024
“A beautifully written, character-driven coming-of-age story that subverts clichés of queer literature.” –Kirkus Reviews
The Man That Got Away
an illustrated confession by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-0-9844707-6-1
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 146 pages
Paperback. Price: $16.00
8” x 5.25”
Pub Date: June 3, 2024
“A beautifully written, character-driven coming-of-age story that subverts clichés of queer literature.” –Kirkus Reviews
As seen through the eyes of an apprentice theatrical publicist during the spring of 1981, Mr. Darcy’s Pride recounts the onstage and offstage desires and debacles of the Broadway debut of a musical adaption of the Jane Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice.
A bawdy, backstage Broadway sex farce.
“A hilarious look at a frustrated publicist’s work on a laborious musical adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, where the misadventures of the many characters recall Austen’s novel, although in a much more modern context. The show itself is a flop, but it’s what is going on behind the scenes that keeps both its characters and the reader engaged and laughing. Currier sees the theater world as a perfect microcosm for life in general and revels in it as a haven for the gay male, both in the closet and out of it. He does this with wry and self-deprecating humor to great result.”
—Lambda Literary Review
Mr. Darcy’s Pride by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-1-937627-87-4
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 56 pages
Paperback. Price: $15.00
7” x 5”
Limited Edition
Pub Date: June 1, 2025
A bawdy, backstage Broadway sex farce.
“A hilarious look at a frustrated publicist’s work on a laborious musical adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, where the misadventures of the many characters recall Austen’s novel, although in a much more modern context. The show itself is a flop, but it’s what is going on behind the scenes that keeps both its characters and the reader engaged and laughing. Currier sees the theater world as a perfect microcosm for life in general and revels in it as a haven for the gay male, both in the closet and out of it. He does this with wry and self-deprecating humor to great result.”
—Lambda Literary Review
Mr. Darcy’s Pride by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-1-937627-87-4
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 56 pages
Paperback. Price: $15.00
7” x 5”
Limited Edition
Pub Date: June 1, 2025
From
the author of The Candlelight Ghost and Mr. Darcy’s Pride, Half of Hamlet is a backstage theater tale of the shocks and
surprises that are revealed during a musical adaptation of William
Shakespeare’s Hamlet performed with marionettes.
“A singing and dancing version of Hamlet performed with puppets in which a middle-aged office worker gets caught up in the drama, as well as the beautiful man playing the lead. Currier sees the theater world as a perfect microcosm for life in general and revels in it as a haven for the gay male, both in the closet and out of it. He does this with wry and self-deprecating humor to great result.”
—Lambda Literary
Half of Hamlet by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-1-937627-89-8
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 56 pages
Paperback. Price: $15.00
7” x 5”
Limited Edition
Pub date: August 1, 2025
“A singing and dancing version of Hamlet performed with puppets in which a middle-aged office worker gets caught up in the drama, as well as the beautiful man playing the lead. Currier sees the theater world as a perfect microcosm for life in general and revels in it as a haven for the gay male, both in the closet and out of it. He does this with wry and self-deprecating humor to great result.”
—Lambda Literary
Half of Hamlet by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-1-937627-89-8
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 56 pages
Paperback. Price: $15.00
7” x 5”
Limited Edition
Pub date: August 1, 2025
When a couple purchases the abandoned Candlelight Theater,
its previous owner warns that the ghost of a dead actress still haunts the
theater. As the ghost begins to intimidate
her new owners, her tragic fate is uncovered.
The Candlelight Ghost by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-1-937627-85-0
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 80 pages
Paperback. Price: $12.00
8” x 5.25”
Pub Date: March 1, 2023
The Candlelight Ghost by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-1-937627-85-0
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 80 pages
Paperback. Price: $12.00
8” x 5.25”
Pub Date: March 1, 2023
Trying
to fulfill a promise, a young man finds himself on an unexpected journey when Paul’s
cat escapes and a surreal adventure through memories begins.
From the author ofThe Haunted Heart and The Wolf at the Door, this special edition of Paul’s Cat by Jameson Currier features illustrations drawn by the author.
Paul’s Cat by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-1-937627-81-2
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 66 pages
Paperback. Price: $12.00
8” x 5.25”
Pub Date: June 1, 2022
From the author ofThe Haunted Heart and The Wolf at the Door, this special edition of Paul’s Cat by Jameson Currier features illustrations drawn by the author.
Paul’s Cat by Jameson Currier
ISBN-13: 978-1-937627-81-2
Published by Chelsea Station Editions, 66 pages
Paperback. Price: $12.00
8” x 5.25”
Pub Date: June 1, 2022
Winner! Prix Du Roman Gay 2022!
Le Troisième Bouddha
Traduit de l’anglais par Étienne Gomez
Perspective Cavalière, 2021
The French translation by Étienne Gomez of Jameson Currier’s novel, The Third Buddha, about the aftershocks of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in Manhattan and Afghanistan.
The French language edition can be purchased here.
In 2022, Le Troisième Bouddha was awarded the Prix du Roman Gay.
Traduit de l’anglais par Étienne Gomez
Perspective Cavalière, 2021
The French translation by Étienne Gomez of Jameson Currier’s novel, The Third Buddha, about the aftershocks of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in Manhattan and Afghanistan.
The French language edition can be purchased here.
In 2022, Le Troisième Bouddha was awarded the Prix du Roman Gay.
“A wry, witty, often self-deprecating take on desire from the more mature gay man’s point of view.”
—Lambda Literary
“A smart, heartfelt set of tales of gay men’s lives.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Why Didn’t Someone Warn You About Prince Charming?
stories
Chelsea Station Editions, 2019
stories
Chelsea Station Editions, 2019
Blending heroic male icons, literary archetypes, gay relationships, and an observant, sharp humor, Jameson Currier’s Why Didn’t Someone Warn You About Prince Charming? collects twelve new tales of bad romances, backstage affairs, bittersweet recipes, and broken hearts.
“This collection is very much a tribute piece to the older gay man, the guy who has not achieved all of his dreams, but his power is in the fact that he hasn’t given up—he’s not down for the count, not yet. Where there’s life, where there’s love—there’s still hope. There’s still a life affirming story to tell.”
—Lambda Literary
“It’s the pieces about older, sometimes hapless gay men looking for love in all the wrong places that give this collection much of its punch. These are gay men of a certain age who have survived the ups and downs of gay culture and emerged whole and still hopeful. A collection of fully realized and humorous prose that will satisfy many a reader—even when the protagonist doesn’t achieve the same satisfaction.”
—A&U
Lambda Literary Finalist
— Gay Memoir
“Currier
is a masterful essayist, adept at lingering over a meaningful detail or
capturing a complex emotion in a simple phrase.”
—Kirkus Reviews
—Kirkus Reviews
Until My Heart Stops
intimate writings
Chelsea Station Editions, 2015
Lambda Literary finalist, Gay Memoir
Until My Heart Stops assembles more than fifty works of narrative nonfiction written by the author over a thirty-year period, including many published during the height of the AIDS epidemic. The result is a searing personal and poignant memoir of an artist finding his voice during difficult times. Once again Currier doesn’t shy away from revealing personal moments and emotions, this time his own, including his love and retreat from the theater, his grappling with boyfriends and long-term relationships, and the details into his own medical diagnosis of HCM—hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition of excessive thickening of the heart muscle for which there is no apparent cause or cure.
“A remarkable collection of hard-earned, melancholic wisdom.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A preservation of pieces of a personal history, and works that are, even when removed from context, still resonant.”
—Edge
intimate writings
Chelsea Station Editions, 2015
Lambda Literary finalist, Gay Memoir
Until My Heart Stops assembles more than fifty works of narrative nonfiction written by the author over a thirty-year period, including many published during the height of the AIDS epidemic. The result is a searing personal and poignant memoir of an artist finding his voice during difficult times. Once again Currier doesn’t shy away from revealing personal moments and emotions, this time his own, including his love and retreat from the theater, his grappling with boyfriends and long-term relationships, and the details into his own medical diagnosis of HCM—hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition of excessive thickening of the heart muscle for which there is no apparent cause or cure.
“A remarkable collection of hard-earned, melancholic wisdom.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A preservation of pieces of a personal history, and works that are, even when removed from context, still resonant.”
—Edge
“While the foreground of the novel is more than a series of conversations among the four men, Currier is able to extract potent drama and reader engagement from both their words and their unspoken observations. A testament to resilience in the wake of tragedy, to the omnipresence of the past, and above all, to the conciliatory power of storytelling, Based on a True Storyis a dark, glimmering gem of a read.”
—Passport Magazine
“A moving, meditative demonstration of the impact friends, lovers and acquaintances has on our lives and in our minds, regardless of longevity and despite how the rest of the world may see them.”
—Edge
Based on a True Story
a novel
Chelsea Station Editions, 2015
Two gay couples meet at an idyllic mountain cabin to celebrate Thanksgiving. As the four men reminisce of their college years, coming out, and recall their past friends and former lovers, a shocking and fatal tale of obsession unfolds.
“Expertly drawn and
realistic.”a novel
Chelsea Station Editions, 2015
Two gay couples meet at an idyllic mountain cabin to celebrate Thanksgiving. As the four men reminisce of their college years, coming out, and recall their past friends and former lovers, a shocking and fatal tale of obsession unfolds.
—ALA GLBT Reviews
“A swift, dramatic read with plenty of poignancy.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A compelling new novel that retells an actual horrific crime that never should have happened. Currier expertly and carefully explores the details of the senseless and horrific murder and shows that loss can materialize in many different forms, and that the pain lingers on rippling outward, affecting the lives of others for years to come. It explores not only how the individuals deal with tragedy, especially that with a homosexual basis, but also how the community does as well in both positive and negative ways.”
—Chelsea Station
Lambda Literary Finalist — Gay Mystery
“A captivating, highly detailed, and impressively
impartial, almost journalistic, profile of a Southern college town shaken by
the after-effects of a hate crime when a male student is beaten and left for
dead for no reason other than his sexual orientation. The powerful prose
effectively conveys why it was written, as well as the inherent need for it to
be read. Despite—or perhaps because of—the unpleasant circumstances and outcome
that shape this novel, A Gathering Stormis enraging, engrossing and impossible to put down.”
—Edge
“A wonder of emotive writing and intuitive imagination, and a fitting tribute to the community-scarring event which inspired it.”
—Bay Area Reporter
“The point and the power of A Gathering Storm is the impact the crime has to transform the characters—spurring some to come out or stand proud against hate, and others to vocalize their homophobia. An absorbing read about an important topic.”
—Philadelphia Gay News
—Edge
“A wonder of emotive writing and intuitive imagination, and a fitting tribute to the community-scarring event which inspired it.”
—Bay Area Reporter
“The point and the power of A Gathering Storm is the impact the crime has to transform the characters—spurring some to come out or stand proud against hate, and others to vocalize their homophobia. An absorbing read about an important topic.”
—Philadelphia Gay News
| A Gathering Storm a novel Chelsea Station Editions, 2014 Inspired by true events, A Gathering Storm begins in a small university town in the South when a gay college student is beaten. In the ensuing days as the young man struggles to survive in a hospital, the residents of the town and the university find themselves at the center of a growing media frenzy as the crime reverberates through the local and national consciousness. Using details and elements from actual hate crimes committed against gay men, Currier weaves personal and spiritual layers into a timely and emotional story. |
“Currier explores Matthew Shepard’s murder in richly empathetic fiction. The large cast shows how widely a crime’s ripples extend. Written in powerful, choppy sentences and consciously patterned after screenplays and true-crime stories, Currier’s novel is told in the present tense, shifting among the perspectives of the many characters involved. A compassionate tribute to hate-crime victims.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A Gathering Storm is much more than another factual retelling. Currier infuses subtle details from other true hate crimes incorporating them into the storyline. His third-person, journalistic style allows the author to speculate about the characters feelings, thoughts and emotions. This technique allows the facts to easily be conveyed allowing a 'silent observer' effect for the reader to be in on the scenes developing before them. Currier explores the thoughts and reactions to the two assailants' girlfriends, the sheriff involved in the case, relatives to all three boys, the doctors working to save his life, and various people directly (and indirectly) involved showing the unmentioned butterfly effect a horrible crime can have on so many others. An important book to read and it’s definitely worth your time to read it!”
—Seattle Gay News
“The Forever Marathon features the talented author’s trademark prose that drips with emotion, a powerful story, and two unforgettable (albeit not necessarily likeable) characters, who remind you to either cherish or reexamine your own relationship.”
—Edge
“Currier has accomplished something truly remarkable: He has presented two highly unlikeable, self-absorbed, clichéd characters, and woven them into an interesting story that keeps the reader turning pages. This is a funny, exasperating, touching read.”
—Examiner.com
“As real as it gets. Currier is a talented storyteller with a knack for engrossing characterization and bona fide emotion.”
—Bay Area Reporter
The Forever Marathon
a novel
Chelsea Station Editions, 2013
A wickedly delightful war of wits and whines between longtime companions during a two-day fight.
From their meeting as struggling graduate students in Manhattan to becoming the owners of expensive foreign cars and a country house in Pennsylvania, Jesse and Adam have spent twenty-four cantankerous years as significant others—half of their lives. Now in their late forties, a small domestic fight swells between the gay couple into a major battle, ensnaring a talkative, opportunistic young man as collateral damage.
a novel
Chelsea Station Editions, 2013
A wickedly delightful war of wits and whines between longtime companions during a two-day fight.
From their meeting as struggling graduate students in Manhattan to becoming the owners of expensive foreign cars and a country house in Pennsylvania, Jesse and Adam have spent twenty-four cantankerous years as significant others—half of their lives. Now in their late forties, a small domestic fight swells between the gay couple into a major battle, ensnaring a talkative, opportunistic young man as collateral damage.
“What would you do if you realized you’d spent half your life with the same man and you weren’t sure if you loved him any longer? Enter Adam and Jesse, both 49. I found myself trying to predict the outcome throughout the book. The ending is honest and true to the characters, something that is not always the case in happily ever-after land.”
—Philadelphia Gay News
“Jameson Currier’s fifth novel, The Forever Marathon, is a compelling, brutally honest examination of two days in the life of a long-term relationship between two men, who seem to have stayed together more out of habit than their desire for each other.”
—Edge
.
“As a writer, Currier should be lauded for his creative decision to avoid the all-too-common formulaic trappings of most current novels written for and about gay men. Here, the focus is not on sex. Rather, the emphasis is the considerable lengths a man will go to in his lifelong search for true love.”
—Lambda Literary
“Linking wit, heady sex, longing, and the agony of a hollow love life, Currier beautifully romanticizes the hope and the hunt for love, the rarest flower. At times this journey to find Mr. Right is agonizing, sometimes sad, and sometimes erotically titillating. But every scene is written with such beauty and poetic grace, it becomes an easy voyage to embrace, even though at times all the misfires and near-misses cut like a knife.”
—Bay Area Reporter
What Comes Around
a novel of linked stories
Chelsea Station Editions, 2012
A quirky, touching, and unique novel of a single gay man’s quest to find a meaningful relationship. Written over a period of twenty-five years, these fifteen linked short stories—many of which have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies—exploit the narrator’s wit and heightened self-examination by utilizing a second person point of view technique. Covering four decades of misadventures of looking for the right man, Currier’s unnamed narrator bumps through blind dates, break-ups, unexpected seductions, tragedies, and imperfect affairs. Currier was awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship for the stories included in What Comes Around.
“From an adolescent crush on a swimming instructor to the imagined drowning of a high maintenance boyfriend, Currier explores every aspect of relationships—the good, the bad, and the very dysfunctional—each set in a literary landscape perfectly crafted for the lovelorn. Currier’s masterful command of language is demonstrated throughout the novel. His words are rich with the beauty of humanity, fully capturing the essence of the fragility of the hopeful heart.”
—Lambda Literary
“In Jameson Currier’s What Comes Around, in story after story, year after year, the protagonist looks for love, often in the wrong places. The stories range from sweet to troubling, but all capture the complex, sometimes contradictory nature of desire. Currier’s strong writing is on full display here, offering plenty for both cynics and romantics alike.”
—Next
“This intriguing and unusual novel is really a collection of interconnected short stories tied together by an unnamed male narrator who spends much of his life searching for a lifetime lover, each quest ending in disappointment and regret. Currier captures the fragile nature of human relationships and explores the ways in which they can be broken. Cleverly constructed and not without an original hook, What Comes Around provides a compelling and intimate portrait of one man 's obsession. Readers looking for an unusual narrative voice will find the novel hugely rewarding.”
—Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide
a novel of linked stories
Chelsea Station Editions, 2012
A quirky, touching, and unique novel of a single gay man’s quest to find a meaningful relationship. Written over a period of twenty-five years, these fifteen linked short stories—many of which have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies—exploit the narrator’s wit and heightened self-examination by utilizing a second person point of view technique. Covering four decades of misadventures of looking for the right man, Currier’s unnamed narrator bumps through blind dates, break-ups, unexpected seductions, tragedies, and imperfect affairs. Currier was awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship for the stories included in What Comes Around.
“From an adolescent crush on a swimming instructor to the imagined drowning of a high maintenance boyfriend, Currier explores every aspect of relationships—the good, the bad, and the very dysfunctional—each set in a literary landscape perfectly crafted for the lovelorn. Currier’s masterful command of language is demonstrated throughout the novel. His words are rich with the beauty of humanity, fully capturing the essence of the fragility of the hopeful heart.”
—Lambda Literary
“In Jameson Currier’s What Comes Around, in story after story, year after year, the protagonist looks for love, often in the wrong places. The stories range from sweet to troubling, but all capture the complex, sometimes contradictory nature of desire. Currier’s strong writing is on full display here, offering plenty for both cynics and romantics alike.”
—Next
“This intriguing and unusual novel is really a collection of interconnected short stories tied together by an unnamed male narrator who spends much of his life searching for a lifetime lover, each quest ending in disappointment and regret. Currier captures the fragile nature of human relationships and explores the ways in which they can be broken. Cleverly constructed and not without an original hook, What Comes Around provides a compelling and intimate portrait of one man 's obsession. Readers looking for an unusual narrative voice will find the novel hugely rewarding.”
—Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide
“A riveting tale of suspense, hardship and the human spirit to overcome all odds, making it a perfect choice for a reader who appreciates such efforts. Five stars out of five.”
—Echo Magazine
“Currier again proves he has an incredible knack for conveying the unbridled joy and unavoidable pain inherent in relationships. Each character is genuine and likeable in some way, yet capable of questionable or unbecoming behavior, which makes them all the more believable. The Third Buddha is a challenging, original novel about relationships that triumph, despite tragic and troubling circumstances.”
—Edge
“A complex, character-propelled story in which the search for others becomes self-discovery.”
—Library Journal
The Third Buddha
a novel of 9/11 and Afghanistan
Chelsea Station Editions, 2011
Like Currier’s previous work, the author once again targets the big themes of modern gay life in his new novel: identity, faith, homophobia, romance, and the complexity of relationships, but at the heart of The Third Buddha are the little acts of random kindness that continue to astonish in times of crisis and war. Jameson Currier expands his richly detailed storytelling to an international level in this new novel, weaving together the intertwining stories of the search for a missing journalist in the Bamiyan region of Afghanistan with a young man’s search for his older brother in Manhattan in the aftermath of 9-11. The result is a sweeping, multi-cultural novel of what it means to be a gay citizen of the world.
a novel of 9/11 and Afghanistan
Chelsea Station Editions, 2011
Like Currier’s previous work, the author once again targets the big themes of modern gay life in his new novel: identity, faith, homophobia, romance, and the complexity of relationships, but at the heart of The Third Buddha are the little acts of random kindness that continue to astonish in times of crisis and war. Jameson Currier expands his richly detailed storytelling to an international level in this new novel, weaving together the intertwining stories of the search for a missing journalist in the Bamiyan region of Afghanistan with a young man’s search for his older brother in Manhattan in the aftermath of 9-11. The result is a sweeping, multi-cultural novel of what it means to be a gay citizen of the world.
“Currier shows his creativity and writing skill in these extraordinary stories of interrelated characters.”
— Lambda Literary
“A courageous tale that explores the effects of the World Trade Center attacks on a group of gay men. Currier’s novel seems all the more relevant as it reminds us that causes and their effects can be simultaneously global and domestic, both subtle and deafening.”
—Next
“Currier’s characters are marvelous here, and he has a terrific eye for telling details that do so much to set scenes. His post 9/11 New York City is jittery and tentative, much like Ted’s relationship to the seedy Rico, and his Afghanistan is hot, ominous and damaged by war, occupation and predators. The landscape here is almost a third major character in this story, shifting and changing on the surface while its cultural bedrock remains stubbornly stable. The Third Buddha is as engrossing as it is detailed, never failing to entertain as it breaks down some pretty large themes to bite-sized acts of beauty and humanity. It’s a truly memorable journey.”
—Out in Print
“A delightfully spooky, often kooky, gay vision quest. Currier’s Avery Dalyrymple is larger-than-life and intricately flawed, and the fact that he just can’t seem to get out of his own way makes him primed for misadventure and gay mayhem. One of Currier’s strengths has always been the ability to soak his narrative in a rich, authentic ambiance and The Wolf at the Door is no exception, with sentences that resonate with the decadent rhythms of the French Quarter and paragraphs that positively drip with Southern gothic moodiness. Genre fans will find plenty to appreciate in Currier’s otherworldly version of It’s a Wonderful Life fused with all the ensemble wit of Tales of the City and the regional gothic texture of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. Savor this one like a bowlful of spicy jambalaya and a sniffer of fine aged bourbon on a hot, humid night.”
—Dark Scribe Magazine
The Wolf at the Door
a novel set in a haunted gay-owned guesthouse in New Orleans
Chelsea Station Editions, 2010
Ghosts? Angels? Hallucinations? When a death occurs at Le Petite Paradis, a guesthouse in the French Quarter of New Orleans, the spirit world becomes unsettled, or so Avery Greene Dalyrymple III, the co-owner believes. The son and grandson of Southern evangelists, Avery is also an overworked and overwrought middle-aged gay man, a cynical “big-time drinker and sinner” fairly certain he can maintain a family of “other deviants and delinquents stumbling along Bourbon Street” to keep him company. But Avery is also the only person in contact with the spirit world on his property—ghosts from the house’s origins during the 1820s—and he must use the history left behind from another ghost—a gay man from the 1970s—to find a way to restore peace to his household and rejuvenate his faith.
a novel set in a haunted gay-owned guesthouse in New Orleans
Chelsea Station Editions, 2010
Ghosts? Angels? Hallucinations? When a death occurs at Le Petite Paradis, a guesthouse in the French Quarter of New Orleans, the spirit world becomes unsettled, or so Avery Greene Dalyrymple III, the co-owner believes. The son and grandson of Southern evangelists, Avery is also an overworked and overwrought middle-aged gay man, a cynical “big-time drinker and sinner” fairly certain he can maintain a family of “other deviants and delinquents stumbling along Bourbon Street” to keep him company. But Avery is also the only person in contact with the spirit world on his property—ghosts from the house’s origins during the 1820s—and he must use the history left behind from another ghost—a gay man from the 1970s—to find a way to restore peace to his household and rejuvenate his faith.
“Lush with surreal, sensual tones, the novel becomes a heady, pungent gumbo of spirits, sex, magic spells, voodoo, spirituality, and lots and lots of bourbon. A writer who consistently surprises and delights, Currier's dynamism will surely carry his literary career to higher heights.”
—Bay Area Reporter
“Currier is a master storyteller of speculative fiction, and this novel is unique in that it takes a group of unbelievers (whom I can identify with) and gradually forces them to accept the reality of what they are experiencing. Very creative story, told with a dry wit by a group of highly diverse, realistic, flawed individuals who become links to the past and instrumental in helping some tortured souls find their rest. Outstanding for those who appreciate this genre of fiction. Five ghostly stars out of five.”
—Echo Magazine
“Stirring a gumbo pot of characters and subplots, Currier keeps his unlikely mix of ingredients at a perfect simmer as they meld into a singularly delectable story with a sense of place so rich, readers may be enticed to head to Louisiana and experience the novel’s setting first hand.”
—Passport
“Well-wrought gay ghost
stories, fiction at its finest.”
— Next
“Jameson Currier’s The Haunted Heart and Other Tales expands upon the usual ghost story tropes by imbuing them with deep metaphorical resonance to the queer experience. Infused with flawed, three-dimensional characters, this first-rate collection strikes all the right chords in just the right places. Equal parts unnerving and heartrending, these chilling tales are testament to Currier’s literary prowess and the profound humanity at the core of his writing. Gay, straight, twisted like a pretzel…his writing is simply not to be missed by any reader with a taste for good fiction.”
— Dark Scribe Magazine
— Next
“Jameson Currier’s The Haunted Heart and Other Tales expands upon the usual ghost story tropes by imbuing them with deep metaphorical resonance to the queer experience. Infused with flawed, three-dimensional characters, this first-rate collection strikes all the right chords in just the right places. Equal parts unnerving and heartrending, these chilling tales are testament to Currier’s literary prowess and the profound humanity at the core of his writing. Gay, straight, twisted like a pretzel…his writing is simply not to be missed by any reader with a taste for good fiction.”
— Dark Scribe Magazine
The Haunted Heart and Other Tales
ghost stories
Lethe Press, 2009
Chelsea Station Editions, 2012
Twelve stories of gay men and the memories that haunt them.
Jameson Currier modernizes the traditional ghost story with gay lovers, loners, activists, and addicts, blending history and contemporary issues of the gay community with the unexpected of the supernatural.
“Summer’s over and autumn creeps up on us like a shadow in the sunlight, so celebrate it by reading this wonderful collection of ghost stories from a modern master of the genre. Currier’s characters are sumptuous, his plots are freshly twisted and his prose magnificent. Chilling stuff for chilly weather.”
— Out Front Colorado
“Currier’s writing is flawless and his knack for conveying emotion, with both the spoken words and thoughts of his characters, is unparalleled. Fans of the author have come to expect that his work isn’t exactly light or escapist, which makes it all the more affecting.”
— Edge
“I found each of these stories just as satisfying and unique as a full length novel, so much so that, as I often do with longer stories, I thought about each story for days after I finished reading it. Give it five twisted stars out of five!”
— Echo Magazine
“In his introduction, Jameson Currier writes of forming the desire a number of years ago to move beyond his reputation as an AIDS writer. In reinventing himself, he remained concerned as ever with issues relevant to the lives of contemporary gay men. Setting down a list of topics to address, he included―substance abuse, gay marriage, serving in the military, domestic abuse in gay relationships, hate crimes, homophobia, and living outside of urban areas—all represented here. At the same time, Currier began a study of classic ghost stories, a genre that had fascinated him since boyhood. (Favorites mentioned are the works of M. R. James, Henry James, E. F. Benson, Edith Wharton, and Ambrose Bierce.) The best of the resulting collection draws upon the past in observing the present, and in doing so never fails to disturb and entertain.”
— ALA GLBTRT Newsletter
ghost stories
Lethe Press, 2009
Chelsea Station Editions, 2012
Twelve stories of gay men and the memories that haunt them.
Jameson Currier modernizes the traditional ghost story with gay lovers, loners, activists, and addicts, blending history and contemporary issues of the gay community with the unexpected of the supernatural.
“Summer’s over and autumn creeps up on us like a shadow in the sunlight, so celebrate it by reading this wonderful collection of ghost stories from a modern master of the genre. Currier’s characters are sumptuous, his plots are freshly twisted and his prose magnificent. Chilling stuff for chilly weather.”
— Out Front Colorado
“Currier’s writing is flawless and his knack for conveying emotion, with both the spoken words and thoughts of his characters, is unparalleled. Fans of the author have come to expect that his work isn’t exactly light or escapist, which makes it all the more affecting.”
— Edge
“I found each of these stories just as satisfying and unique as a full length novel, so much so that, as I often do with longer stories, I thought about each story for days after I finished reading it. Give it five twisted stars out of five!”
— Echo Magazine
“In his introduction, Jameson Currier writes of forming the desire a number of years ago to move beyond his reputation as an AIDS writer. In reinventing himself, he remained concerned as ever with issues relevant to the lives of contemporary gay men. Setting down a list of topics to address, he included―substance abuse, gay marriage, serving in the military, domestic abuse in gay relationships, hate crimes, homophobia, and living outside of urban areas—all represented here. At the same time, Currier began a study of classic ghost stories, a genre that had fascinated him since boyhood. (Favorites mentioned are the works of M. R. James, Henry James, E. F. Benson, Edith Wharton, and Ambrose Bierce.) The best of the resulting collection draws upon the past in observing the present, and in doing so never fails to disturb and entertain.”
— ALA GLBTRT Newsletter
“The breadth of Currier’s personal experience is evident in his writing, which is moving without resorting to melodrama, familiar without feeling clichéd. In the new book's title story, for instance, he describes a man who has lost many friends to AIDS as feeling “like a boy lost at an amusement park who can't find his family and doesn't understand why they are not where they should be.” It's a characteristically vivid yet unsentimental description of what it's like to wake up and find that your entire chosen family, your whole support system, is suddenly gone—and many people who survived the worst years of the epidemic will likely find that Currier has, once again, put into words the things that they've felt for years.”
—Windy City Times
Still Dancing
new and selected stories
Lethe Press 2008
Chelsea Station Editions, 2011
In Still Dancing author Jameson Currier brings together twenty short stories spanning three decades of the impact of the AIDS epidemic on the gay community. Along with stories from Currier’s debut collection, Dancing on the Moon, praised by The Village Voice as “defiant and elegiac,” are ten newly selected stories written by one of our preeminent masters of the short narrative form.
“In these stories, Currier fictionalizes queer life and times from three decades of the AIDS era, capturing the years in his prose. It has the literary heft of Camus and the quiet urbanity of Cheever…. Currier chronicles not only a defining era in gay America, but the private lives of the people who triumphed through what looked like defeat. These lives are often so finely drawn, Currier never has to resort to cliché… Gritty, esoteric, funny and passionate, Currier’s courageous prose reminds us that we must never forget.”
—Edge
“Currier's latest collection of stories reveals a long, textured chronicle of gay men, gay life, and the horrific AIDS epidemic that both threatens and empowers an entire population. His tales tell of the initial shock and bewilderment in trying to come to grips with a deadly new menace to gay men's health in the 1980s, coupled with an unending sense of grief and hopelessness. Be forewarned: these are not sunny stories, but they're as real as it gets. Currier's fiction isn't the kind with the Hollywood happy ending secured with a pink ribbon. Currier is a bright, astute writer and a survivor, having lived in New York City for 30 years and experienced much of the stark, heavy content reflected in his stories. They are markers – intense reminders of our collective history.”
—Bay Area Reporter
new and selected stories
Lethe Press 2008
Chelsea Station Editions, 2011
In Still Dancing author Jameson Currier brings together twenty short stories spanning three decades of the impact of the AIDS epidemic on the gay community. Along with stories from Currier’s debut collection, Dancing on the Moon, praised by The Village Voice as “defiant and elegiac,” are ten newly selected stories written by one of our preeminent masters of the short narrative form.
“In these stories, Currier fictionalizes queer life and times from three decades of the AIDS era, capturing the years in his prose. It has the literary heft of Camus and the quiet urbanity of Cheever…. Currier chronicles not only a defining era in gay America, but the private lives of the people who triumphed through what looked like defeat. These lives are often so finely drawn, Currier never has to resort to cliché… Gritty, esoteric, funny and passionate, Currier’s courageous prose reminds us that we must never forget.”
—Edge
“Currier's latest collection of stories reveals a long, textured chronicle of gay men, gay life, and the horrific AIDS epidemic that both threatens and empowers an entire population. His tales tell of the initial shock and bewilderment in trying to come to grips with a deadly new menace to gay men's health in the 1980s, coupled with an unending sense of grief and hopelessness. Be forewarned: these are not sunny stories, but they're as real as it gets. Currier's fiction isn't the kind with the Hollywood happy ending secured with a pink ribbon. Currier is a bright, astute writer and a survivor, having lived in New York City for 30 years and experienced much of the stark, heavy content reflected in his stories. They are markers – intense reminders of our collective history.”
—Bay Area Reporter
Les Fantomes
short stories about AIDS
Cylibris, 2005
In 2005, CyLibris, a gay publishing company in France, published a French-language edition of a collection of AIDS-themed short stories by the author titled Les Fantômes (translation The Ghosts) — in cooperation with “sida, Grande Cause Nationale 2005,” a national French AIDS organization.
short stories about AIDS
Cylibris, 2005
In 2005, CyLibris, a gay publishing company in France, published a French-language edition of a collection of AIDS-themed short stories by the author titled Les Fantômes (translation The Ghosts) — in cooperation with “sida, Grande Cause Nationale 2005,” a national French AIDS organization.
“The recurring theme of these stories is the character’s lack of intimacy despite their physical interaction. Sure desire, lust, passion, and sex are easy to come by, but life after orgasm is far more complicated. This is where Currier’s interest lies. These stories force us to think about what it all means if our connections are based on sex without emotional connectedness.”
— The Gay and Lesbian Review
“Covering fifteen years of searching for the ‘perfect man,’ these stories manage to be finely wrought and mad-sexy at the same time.”
— The New York Blade
“Currier has the gift for compressing a novel’s worth of plot, character and theme within the confines of a short story. Besides dealing with desire, lust, passion, and sex, Currier's fiction collection is a fascinating look at the gay human condition.”
— The Book Nook
Desire, Lust, Passion, Sex
stories
Green Candy Press, 2004
Chelsea Station Editions, 2013
Desire, Lust, Passion, Sex brings together nineteen stories by Jameson Currier—including six never-before-published works as well as the author’s widely praised short fiction previously published in literary journals, Web sites, and award-winning anthologies such as Best Gay Erotica, Best American Erotica, and Men on Men. In this new collection, the author meticulously details the search for love, romance, and partnership between gay men, and his characteristically spare prose brings into sharp relief the sometimes maddening traits that constitute a person’s romantic ideal and shows how the quest for a meaningful relationship can transform—or derail—the course of our lives.
stories
Green Candy Press, 2004
Chelsea Station Editions, 2013
Desire, Lust, Passion, Sex brings together nineteen stories by Jameson Currier—including six never-before-published works as well as the author’s widely praised short fiction previously published in literary journals, Web sites, and award-winning anthologies such as Best Gay Erotica, Best American Erotica, and Men on Men. In this new collection, the author meticulously details the search for love, romance, and partnership between gay men, and his characteristically spare prose brings into sharp relief the sometimes maddening traits that constitute a person’s romantic ideal and shows how the quest for a meaningful relationship can transform—or derail—the course of our lives.
“Desire, Lust, Passion, Sex surpasses any expectations ten-fold. The characters speak with wisdom and understanding. Jameson Currier gives us people who are starving for attention and have an insatiable appetite for human contact. Readers will not only sympathize with his creations, but will imagine themselves there as well, among the wreckage.”
— Lambda Book Report
“For fans of Currier’s writing, and for newcomers as well, Desire, Lust, Passion, Sex offers a full range of wit as well as wisdom. As always, his writing gives full voice to the internal world of emotions, without floating too far into solipsistic self-pity or greedy literary showmanship. If you love great writing and erotica, what you will appreciate here are not Casanova’s “moment of anticipation” but rather the moments of self-discovery that bring understanding, or propel someone in a new direction. It is precisely this sort of informed awareness that will excite, enthrall, and enrich any reader who takes up Currier’s new volume.”
— Gay City News
“Beautifully written and profoundly moving.”
—Lambda Book Report
“Currier is adept at drawing a fine line between the erotic and the tragic, and at telling stories that ‘although personal, are also the stories of our community.’ Where the Rainbow Ends feels like the fictionalized history of a generation of gay men.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Currier has created a
powerful monument honoring a generation of gay men lost to AIDS and their
wounded resilient survivors.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Currier captures the essence of the hedonistic/tragic times with a vivid eye for detail, resisting the temptation to gloss over the more excruciating points. The ultimate point he is making is that Robbie endures, even though like Job, Robbie’s faith in life endures only after great sacrifice. While Currier cannot bring back the ghosts taken by AIDS, his deeply felt characters spring to life in this earnest retelling of gay men’s sad recent history.”
—The New York Blade News
—Publishers Weekly
“Currier captures the essence of the hedonistic/tragic times with a vivid eye for detail, resisting the temptation to gloss over the more excruciating points. The ultimate point he is making is that Robbie endures, even though like Job, Robbie’s faith in life endures only after great sacrifice. While Currier cannot bring back the ghosts taken by AIDS, his deeply felt characters spring to life in this earnest retelling of gay men’s sad recent history.”
—The New York Blade News
Where the Rainbow Ends
a novel
Overlook Press 1998 and 2000
Chelsea Station Editions, 2011
Lambda Literary Finalist: Gay Fiction
A powerful, compelling, and heartfelt first novel of a young gay man's quest for faith, family, and understanding during the early years of the AIDS epidemic.
“Jameson Currier’s debut novel, Where the Rainbow Ends, moved me to tears more than once and, simply put, is one of the best pieces of gay literature I have ever read. Rather than focusing on and wallowing in the heavy melodrama that the AIDS epidemic seems to produce in most writers, Currier shows both the highs and lows. The lives of these incredibly well-drawn, three-dimensional people encompass all of the emotion that is found in gay/lesbian life. The book is about creating a sense of family, and most of all, it is about hope. In Robbie, Currier has created a gay Everyman we can all identify with, love, and root for. This is one novel that I was sorry to see end. With this work, Currier has established himself as one of the preeminent gay novelists, not just of the 1990s, but of all time. This book should be required reading for every gay man, period.”
—Impact
“While other protagonists of AIDS fiction seem to drift with a moral philosophy made up of fuzzy Protestantism or icy, Irish Catholicism married to an assumed air of intellectual dismissal of religion as an irrelevance, Taylor is an authentic Christian. The novel’s true theme is his attempts to reconcile his homophobic religious upbringing to the practical experience of being queer and believing in God. Jameson Currier creates in his main character all of the tender doubt and terrible loneliness as his fundamentalist faith matures on the path to a kind of simple redemption that is most typical of AIDS era gay fiction. Where the Rainbow Ends is more than another AIDS novel with the quirk of having a Christian protagonist. It is a wonderful character study of the everyday proof of human faith in remorseless tests of contemporary life. In an age that gave gay men a Garden of Eden only to cast them into a world of extraordinary suffering and decidedly unfabulous tedium, Taylor triumphs quietly. For Currier, where the rainbow ends is a place where enduring faith is the pot of gold.”
—The Weekly News
a novel
Overlook Press 1998 and 2000
Chelsea Station Editions, 2011
Lambda Literary Finalist: Gay Fiction
A powerful, compelling, and heartfelt first novel of a young gay man's quest for faith, family, and understanding during the early years of the AIDS epidemic.
“Jameson Currier’s debut novel, Where the Rainbow Ends, moved me to tears more than once and, simply put, is one of the best pieces of gay literature I have ever read. Rather than focusing on and wallowing in the heavy melodrama that the AIDS epidemic seems to produce in most writers, Currier shows both the highs and lows. The lives of these incredibly well-drawn, three-dimensional people encompass all of the emotion that is found in gay/lesbian life. The book is about creating a sense of family, and most of all, it is about hope. In Robbie, Currier has created a gay Everyman we can all identify with, love, and root for. This is one novel that I was sorry to see end. With this work, Currier has established himself as one of the preeminent gay novelists, not just of the 1990s, but of all time. This book should be required reading for every gay man, period.”
—Impact
“While other protagonists of AIDS fiction seem to drift with a moral philosophy made up of fuzzy Protestantism or icy, Irish Catholicism married to an assumed air of intellectual dismissal of religion as an irrelevance, Taylor is an authentic Christian. The novel’s true theme is his attempts to reconcile his homophobic religious upbringing to the practical experience of being queer and believing in God. Jameson Currier creates in his main character all of the tender doubt and terrible loneliness as his fundamentalist faith matures on the path to a kind of simple redemption that is most typical of AIDS era gay fiction. Where the Rainbow Ends is more than another AIDS novel with the quirk of having a Christian protagonist. It is a wonderful character study of the everyday proof of human faith in remorseless tests of contemporary life. In an age that gave gay men a Garden of Eden only to cast them into a world of extraordinary suffering and decidedly unfabulous tedium, Taylor triumphs quietly. For Currier, where the rainbow ends is a place where enduring faith is the pot of gold.”
—The Weekly News
“Defiant and elegiac.”
—The Village Voice
“I have read and re-read these stories, delighted in them and savored each one. How is it that fiction can so successfully transcend and translate science? Jameson Currier’s kind of fiction can recreate reality more accurately than a cinema verité account of our daily lives... Currier captures the bittersweet existence of gay men living through this holocaust, the afterglow when the bombs have fallen and before news of further devastation reaches them.”
—The Washington Post Book World
—The Village Voice
“I have read and re-read these stories, delighted in them and savored each one. How is it that fiction can so successfully transcend and translate science? Jameson Currier’s kind of fiction can recreate reality more accurately than a cinema verité account of our daily lives... Currier captures the bittersweet existence of gay men living through this holocaust, the afterglow when the bombs have fallen and before news of further devastation reaches them.”
—The Washington Post Book World
Dancing on the Moon
short stories about AIDS
Chelsea Station Editions, 2011
Penguin, 1994
Viking, 1993
This debut collection of short stories, first published in 1993, was praised for its courageous and compassionate depiction of the impact of AIDS on gay men and their families and friends.
“Currier’s writing has the quiet power of a river—with its depths and shallows, undercurrents, serene beauty, and its occasional sweeping rapids. These are stories we hold in each of us. Currier gives them a voice and gives them back to us”
—Baltimore Gay Paper
“As a cumulative act of witness his stories assume a sad, elegiac force... unbearably bittersweet.”
—Lambda Book Report
“The casual candor and ease in which Currier writes about his characters makes Dancing on the Moon a heartfelt literary accomplishment. Dancing on the Moon makes great strides in AIDS literature.”
—Parlee
“Some people may refrain from reading Dancing on the Moon out of a discomfort with AIDS. That would be a shame. As the band plays on, AIDS spirals deeper into our lives. To ask fiction to ignore what it has always done best: mirror the times in which we live, and the ways in which we survive, Dancing on the Moon reaches to fulfill that obligation with an effort of the first order. For that reason, and for the sheer good talent of Jameson Currier, this collection deserves a wide readership.”
—Baltimore Alternative
short stories about AIDS
Chelsea Station Editions, 2011
Penguin, 1994
Viking, 1993
This debut collection of short stories, first published in 1993, was praised for its courageous and compassionate depiction of the impact of AIDS on gay men and their families and friends.
“Currier’s writing has the quiet power of a river—with its depths and shallows, undercurrents, serene beauty, and its occasional sweeping rapids. These are stories we hold in each of us. Currier gives them a voice and gives them back to us”
—Baltimore Gay Paper
“As a cumulative act of witness his stories assume a sad, elegiac force... unbearably bittersweet.”
—Lambda Book Report
“The casual candor and ease in which Currier writes about his characters makes Dancing on the Moon a heartfelt literary accomplishment. Dancing on the Moon makes great strides in AIDS literature.”
—Parlee
“Some people may refrain from reading Dancing on the Moon out of a discomfort with AIDS. That would be a shame. As the band plays on, AIDS spirals deeper into our lives. To ask fiction to ignore what it has always done best: mirror the times in which we live, and the ways in which we survive, Dancing on the Moon reaches to fulfill that obligation with an effort of the first order. For that reason, and for the sheer good talent of Jameson Currier, this collection deserves a wide readership.”
—Baltimore Alternative