Beatitude has just received another 5-star review—by Monika Vig on the World of Diversity Fiction site—and I have to say that to receive a review, let alone a 5-star review, more than a year after Beatitude’s publication, is truly inspiring and gratifying. Here’s an excerpt: “I loved, loved, loved it! Beatitude has some sad [...]
Looking back at the year that followed the publication of Beatitude, I was struck by how much my first novel had changed my life in ways I’d never imagined. Every author dreams of hitting the bestseller lists, seeing their characters on the big screen and winning all sorts of awards. And, in a way, all [...]
Book-lover Allizabeth Collins has been reviewing and writing about books since 2001! She just reviewed Beatitude on her long-running blog, The Paperback Pursuer: “What would happen if you found your soulmate in someone you could never have? The interactions between Harry and Jay describe the depth of this conundrum from the beginnings of an innocent friendship [...]
“[A] well-written and appealing debut novel… Many poets, including Eileen Myles, Bob Rosenthal and Sparrow make appearances, but it is Allen Ginsberg who figures most prominently. A fictional interview at his East 12th Street home feels very realistic and imbues the sometimes irascible Ginsberg with avuncular wisdom… Closs, who has done a great deal of [...]
Anthony R. Cardno, who recently interviewed me for his Rambling On literary site, has just reviewed Beatitude in Chelsea Station, the new literary magazine edited and published by the tireless—and tirelessly creative—Jameson Currier. “I felt utterly drawn in,” writes Cardno. “By the end of the book, I felt like I’d made two new friends [...]
“I very much enjoyed reading this touching exploration of an imbalanced friendship/unrequited romance,” writes Jennifer M. of Books, Personally in her review of Beatitude. “And while it is not a happy ending in the romantic sense of ‘happily ever after,’ it is a happy ending in that it celebrates love however it comes.” Her [...]
Authors need friends and supporters to help get the word out about their books, especially authors whose books are published by independent presses, like me. I could never have imagined when I sent Lori Hettler a galley of Beatitude what would happen next. Lori is the super-human force behind The Next Best Book Club & [...]
Is Beatitude the next cult book? BookSexy founder Tara Olmsted thinks so. Olmsted founded BookSexy, a book review blog, as an outgrowth of “wanting to connect people with books they’ll love.” Her latest love: Beatitude, which she feels is “one of those books that might just build a cult following.” We can hope! Olmsted also loves [...]
Tara Olmsted, founder of BookSexy, awarded Beatitude 4 stars on Goodreads: “Beatitude is a reminder that love is love, regardless of whether it’s romantic or platonic. Closs weaves together a beautiful and complicated narrative around this idea. He’s created a novel that shouldn’t be pigeonholed as any one thing: as a love story, gay literature, a [...]
I was honored by a invitation from Lori Hettler of The Next Best Book Blog to be included in a roundup of Authors’ Top Three Books of 2011. The piece features contributions from 13 authors, with blurbs about their favorite recent reading material. What were mine? Click here to find out.
This is the latest review—and an especially thoughtful and informed one—from Jerry Wheeler at Out in Print: “Beatitude is a fine, poetic book, full of insight and sumptuous writing—perfect for meditation on love and friends.” You can read the full review here.
“Beatitude is not a romance but this doesn’t mean it is not a love story…” “It’s bittersweet but not sad…” “Very easy to read…” “You arrive at the end with a feeling you would not have minded” more. Just a few excerpts from