Books with author Dennis Abrams

Collin and his best friend, Nate, are high school juniors living in a suburb of Houston, where the politically and culturally conservative attitude makes coming out beyond difficult. One night they decide it would be a bit of harmless fun to sneak into a gay club in the city—a chance to dance, check out guys, and meet others like themselves.They couldn’t be more wrong.In minutes everything Collin took for granted is destroyed when a shooter’s bullets tear through the club. Collin survives, but that’s only the start of his ordeal. In the aftermath he has to face the loss of his friend, survivor’s guilt, the pain of his wounds, and judgment when he’s outed on a national level. Making it through his last year of school feels impossible when life as he knew it will never be the same.

In Shakespeare’s time, women were not allowed to appear on stage, and so female parts were played by boy actors. In I Was Cleopatra, readers meet John Rice — perhaps the most beautiful and acclaimed boy actor of them all. It is believed by many that John Rice originated the roles of Lady Macbeth, Cleopatra and Cordelia, and this fictional memoir explores his life both on and off the stage. With graceful prose and an encyclopedic knowledge of the period, Dennis Abrams invites readers to experience gender fluidity and sexuality through the fictional recollections of a fascinating historical figure as he reflects on his life in this “farewell” to his theatrical past.The story follows John from the age of thirteen, when he leaves his family in Reading to join the King’s Men theater troupe in London as an apprentice boy actor. Over the course of the next few years, John eagerly hones the acting skills necessary to portray female roles. He memorizes lines, reads all the plays he can get his hands on, and works on imitating female gestures and mannerisms. He becomes a friend, and eventually a lover, of Alexander, a boy actor who is getting too old to play female roles. And he works closely with Shakespeare himself, who coaches him through the roles of Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra, among others.But around the time he turns sixteen, John starts to worry about inevitably becoming too old to convincingly portray women onstage, which leads to some unsettling choices.

In Shakespeare’s time, women were not allowed to appear on stage, and so female parts were played by boy actors. In I Was Cleopatra, readers meet John Rice ― perhaps the most beautiful and acclaimed boy actor of them all. It is believed by many that John Rice originated the roles of Lady Macbeth, Cleopatra and Cordelia, and this fictional memoir explores his life both on and off the stage. With graceful prose and an encyclopedic knowledge of the period, Dennis Abrams invites readers to experience gender fluidity and sexuality through the fictional recollections of a fascinating historical figure as he reflects on his life in this “farewell” to his theatrical past.The story follows John from the age of thirteen, when he leaves his family in Reading to join the King’s Men theater troupe in London as an apprentice boy actor. Over the course of the next few years, John eagerly hones the acting skills necessary to portray female roles. He memorizes lines, reads all the plays he can get his hands on, and works on imitating female gestures and mannerisms. He becomes a friend, and eventually a lover, of Alexander, a boy actor who is getting too old to play female roles. And he works closely with Shakespeare himself, who coaches him through the roles of Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra, among others.But around the time he turns sixteen, John starts to worry about inevitably becoming too old to convincingly portray women onstage, which leads to some unsettling choices.

The very name Coco Chanel inspires thoughts of fashion and beauty, perfume and style, and a look of timeless elegance. But the woman behind the name, Gabrielle Chanel, survived a childhood that was anything but stylish and elegant. The daughter of an itinerant merchant whose mother died while she was still young, Chanel lived a life she later denied, raised by nuns in an orphanage as a charity case. Yet somehow, Chanel survived to become the queen of 20th-century fashion, a designer who didn't draw yet became the most influential designer of her time and beyond. This biography examines the life of Coco Chanel, her fashions, and her loves, showing how the French country girl became a fashion icon.

Collin and his best friend, Nate, are high school juniors living in a suburb of Houston, where the politically and culturally conservative attitude makes coming out beyond difficult. One night they decide it would be a bit of harmless fun to sneak into a gay club in the city―a chance to dance, check out guys, and meet others like themselves.They couldn’t be more wrong.In minutes everything Collin took for granted is destroyed when a shooter’s bullets tear through the club. Collin survives, but that’s only the start of his ordeal. In the aftermath he has to face the loss of his friend, survivor’s guilt, the pain of his wounds, and judgment when he’s outed on a national level. Making it through his last year of school feels impossible when life as he knew it will never be the same.

Barbara Walters is the most unexpected of television pioneers. The daughter of a nightclub owner, she possessed a pronounced Boston accent and a slight speech impediment making her an unlikely candidate for a career in the polished world of television journalism, especially at a time when jobs for women in television news were few and far between. Yet, in her nearly 50-year career, Barbara Walters has broken barriers for women journalists everywhere. As the first female cohost of the Today show and the first coanchor of a nightly news show, she has helped to reshape not only the role of women in television news but also the perception of women in society at large. Read more about this pioneering role model for generations of female journalists in Barbara Walters: Television Host and Producer.

Nicolas Sarkozy was born an outsider. A child of immigrants who grew up outside the circles of the French political elite, Sarkozy beat the odds by slowly climbing up the political mountain until he reached France s highest peak--the office of the presidency. But how did this short, obese child from a broken home grow up to become the president of France? In Nicolas Sarkozy, explore what Sarkozy did to make it to the top and the political and personal prices he paid to achieve his dreams.