Eat, Sleep, Love
Chuck Forester
It’s 1971 and Charlie McKey, a young gay man from Point Reyes Station, California, arrives in San Francisco, where free love and gay liberation abound. Newly out but open to experiencing the new wonders that suddenly surround him, Charlie jumps in headfirst, immersing himself in a no-holds-barred world of men, drugs, and endless sexual pleasure he’d never dreamed possible. Eat, Sleep, Love is a fond look back on a brief time when life opened up for gay men only to collapse with the deadly arrival of AIDS that marked the end of an era.
Advance Praise for Eat, Sleep, Love
“With keen attention and urgent affection, Chuck Forester brings to life the San Francisco of the 1970s and early 1980s, and the band of gay brothers who came together with ‘thundering exhilarations, billows of joy,’ and ‘consuming lust.’ ‘Great sex flows like a mighty river,’ declares this novel’s hero Charlie. As Forester goes on to evoke the impossible pain those brothers suffered in the age of AIDS, he deepens his gratitude for a lifetime of man-to-man pleasures, and ultimately, he champions the power and profound possibilities of gay desire. Eat, Sleep, Love vividly celebrates men who commit to living fully in the body.”—David Groff, author of Clay
“Much more than a coming out story. Set in the embrace of the groundbreaking and extraordinarily inventive San Francisco gay culture of the 1970s. This is a moving, evocative tale of Charlie’s love, loss, sex, and coming into his own. A fascinating book that follows colorful characters and absorbing adventures unique to that time period and beyond what many know today. A particularly engaging chapter is ‘The Making of a Fine Sex Date.’ which is great reading, and how-to ex manual for anyone, not just those who have just recently come out. Recommended reading!”—Michael Samuel, former board member, Lambda Literary Foundation
“Charlie’s youth in Point Reyes, is the best-executed passage. The how-to manual for gay men is much needed. The chapter titled ‘Touch me, remind me who I am,’ contains the insights and wisdom you’ve accumulated over the decades.”—Edwin Bayrd, author and editor
