God Says No - by James Hannaham (Paperback)

About the Book

Gary Gray marries his first girlfriend, a fellow student from Central Florida Christian College who loves Disney World as much as he does. They are nineteen years old, God-fearing, and eager to start a family, but a week before their wedding Gary goes into a waffle house bathroom and lets something happen. God says no is his testimony--the story of a young Black Christian struggling with desire and belief, with his love for his wife and his appetite for other men, told in a singular, soulful voice. Driven by desperation and religious visions, the path that Gary Gray takes--from revival meetings to "out" life in Atlanta to a pray-away-the-gay ministry--gives a riveting picture of how a life like his can be lived, and how it can't--Publisher's description.

Book Synopsis

A Lambda Award Finalist: a black gay man struggles with his marriage, faith, and desires in this "tender, funny tour of a mind struggling to do the right thing" (Steve Martin).

Gary Gray marries his first girlfriend, a fellow student from Central Florida Christian College who loves Disney World as much as he does. They are nineteen, God-fearing, and eager to start a family. But a week before their wedding Gary goes into a rest-stop bathroom and lets something happen.

God Says No is his testimony--the story of a young black Christian struggling with desire and belief, with his love for his wife and his appetite for other men, told in a singular, emotional voice. Driven by desperation and religious visions, the path that Gary takes--from revival meetings to out life in Atlanta to a pray-away-the-gay ministry in Memphis, Tennessee--gives a riveting picture of how a life like his can be lived, and how it can't.

A Stonewall Book Award Pick 2010

Finalist for the 2009 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Debut Fiction

"A revelatory and sympathetic guide to a misunderstood world." --Steve Martin, author of Shopgirl and Born Standing Up

Review Quotes

Praise for God Says No

"A tender, funny tour of a mind struggling to do the right thing. A revelatory and sympathetic guide to a misunderstood world." --Steve Martin, author of Shopgirl and Born Standing Up

"This novel is an absolute original. Gary Gray's search for wholeness and acceptance is a heartfelt (and often very funny) plea for all men (and women) to be embraced just as they are. A wonderful debut." --Martha Southgate, author of Third Girl from the Left

"God Says No is a book that was desperate to be written but well out of reach. And then James Hannaham came along and wrote it, with the kind of care, wit, sympathy and fury that the book deserved. A truly daring first novel." --Jim Lewis, author of Why the Tree Loves the Ax

About the Author

James Hannaham received an MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches at the Pratt Institute.