Breathing Lessons : A Novel

Nominee:
2016 Lambda Literary Award, Gay Fiction


A visceral new voice in gay fiction gives a novel on the life lessons learned by a homosexual man as he ages and matures

A bold and explicit debut novel by one of the most visceral new voices in gay fiction, Breathing Lessons is the story of Henry Moss, a homosexual everyman whose life knows none of the limitations or abuses his predecessors experienced. When a teenaged Henry came out to his mother, she worried only that he’d be lonely. At the time, he thought her concerns were old-fashioned. Two decades later, he’s had supportive family and friends, he’s well-liked by the athletes who train with him, trusted in his professional life, parties whenever he pleases, and performs all manner of sexual acts with whomever he wants. But as he gets older and, increasingly, the men he sleeps with are married, Henry finds that his mother may have been right. Can he find the lasting intimacy he craves in his life amidst the equal-opportunity freedom afforded by his generation’s openness? Learning to navigate between the two is as delicate as learning to breathe again.

Andy Sinclair is a writer whose work has appeared in Dragnet Magazine, fab, and the Globe and Mail. He lives in Toronto.