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"Valentine’s season of grief is more than a personal account of loss and bereavement; it’s also A TESTIMONY TO THE UNDYING AND UNIVERSAL NATURE OF LOVE AND LIFE PARTNERSHIP. Elegiac and, finally, uplifting, this is the sort of book you read not to escape, but to explore the mysteries of human connection."Reviews:*
While the topic of death and relationships cut short are common to the world of gay literature (no thanks to the AIDS epidemic), Valentine’s book stands out for being an extraordinarily well-crafted, candid and moving tome. SX News, Australia, October 2006 Read the full review and interview here. *
A moving chronicle that paints a picture of devotion that can only be called marital — and makes plain, in practical terms, the need for full marriage equality in the United States. afterelton.com, September 2006 Read the full review and interview here. *
Valentine has written a modest, gentle, yet piercing memoir about the death of his longtime companion, Joe Lopes...A Season of Grief is an account of the emotional progression of bereavement, the tiny details that bring memories flooding back, and the rituals of accepting that someone you've loved is suddenly, irretrievably gone...The passages about birding--how birds thread his thoughts about mortality--have a special luminance. James Wolcott, Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair, writing on jameswolcott.com, April 2006 Read the full review here. *
The second deadliest accident in U.S. aviation history occured in November 2001 when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed on its way to the Dominican Republic. On board, among the 264 people who’s lives were ended, was Joe Lopes. This moving book chronicles the author’s emotional descent following the death of Joe, his partner of 21 years. More than that, it is an apologetic for the cause of equal rights, for the recognition of the legitimacy of same-gender marriages or unions, whichever word you choose to indicate committed relationships between two people to build a life together. Out in Asheville, April 2006 *
Valentine’s season of grief is more than a personal account of loss and bereavement; it’s also a testimony to the undying and universal nature of love and life partnership. Elegiac and, finally, uplifting, this is the sort of book you read not to escape, but to explore the mysteries of human connection. EDGEBoston, March 2006 Read the full review here. *
Valentine is a talented writer who effortlessly weaves the days and weeks following his personal tragedy in journal form with autobiographical chapters about his own life, the history of Joe and his family, their relationship, their love, their arguments, their friendship, their problems, their families and friends, and their connection with each other, even after death. With startlingly beautiful prose, Valentine accomplishes far more with this book than even he may have originally planned. After reading it, the reader comes away with not merely a memory or tribute, but an animation of Joe's spirit, a life given form and motion beyond the page. When I finished reading, I came to feel as if I knew Lopes, that I might very well have just spent the last few hours sharing a drink with him. Robert Hennis, The Malcontent, March 2006 Read the full review here. *
A Season of Grief will make you long for the day you finally meet your soulmate. This simple, and often very intimate, story of Bill and Joe's life made me laugh (and cry) over and over again. As readers turn the pages of this beautiful love story, they learn that marriage rights should be afforded to all people -- regardless of their sexual orientation. If you've ever loved, fought, cried, and made love to your partner with even the tiniest bit of passion, you'll recognize yourself as you flip through the pages of A Season of Grief. Genia Stevens, Sisterstalk, March 2006 Read the full review here. Pre-publication reviews“BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED, CANDID, AND EXTREMELY MOVING. The intelligence, honesty, and insight with which Bill Valentine expresses his feelings are extraordinarily generous and caring. I believe that this book will help us all to confront our grief and loss.”
Flora Miller Biddle, Chairman Emerita, Whitney Museum of American Art and Author of The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made “INSPIRING READING. . . . Bill Valentine's moving memoir explains loss by exploring love, and tells the story of grief as a way of showing how deeply satisfying the bond between two gay men can be. This is a memoir to make us think again about who we are and who we can be.” George Haggerty, PhD, Professor of English, University of California, Riverside “THIS IS AN UNUSUAL AND THOUGHTFULLY CRAFTED WORK. The thread of memorializing one's lover through language is a genre within gay and lesbian literature with a history several millennia old, beginning with the poems of Sappho. With the coming of the AIDS pandemic, this type of writing became not only more prominent but also somewhat stereotyped, with the actual processes of grief blurred through repetitive presentation. A Season of Grief redeems this type of writing by showing in a frank and open manner exactly how difficult and many-staged the process of normal grieving is.” Robert B. Ridinger, MA, MLS, Editor of Speaking for Our Lives: Historic Speeches and Rhetoric for Gay and Lesbian Rights (1892-2000) *********************************************************************** |
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