Tales from the Bottom of My Sole

David Kingston Yeh

Guernica Editions, Fall 2020

390 pages

Trade Paperback

ISBN13: 9781771835411

ISBN10: 1771835419

English

$25.00 Canada, $21.95 US, £14.95 UK

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Welcome to the second installment in the adventures of Daniel Garneau, his eccentric family and friends. When a long-lost sister shows up as a trans man named Luke, a series of precipitous events throws the lives of boyfriends Daniel and David into turmoil. While David attends an extravagant family reunion in Sicily, Daniel's ex Marcus plans the world-premiere of his one-man show. The couple's vertiginous exploration of sex, intimacy and desire comes to a head when a shocking revelation tests their commitment and future together. Tales from the Bottom of My Sole (2020) is the stand-alone sequel to David Kingston Yeh's debut novel, A Boy at the Edge of the World (2018). It is a “confabulated fictional memoir” told by Daniel Garneau, a young gay man in search of himself. In the end, his story is the story of every man: a rollicking dramedy and a philosophical reflection on reconciliation, love and family.

Outside, the snow was coming down harder than ever. I was just starting to have visions of Luke and David frozen somewhere in an alleyway clutching six-guns, with bullet holes in each of their hearts.

What I liked most about the first book, was also experienced in Yeh’s new book – he tells the stories of people without judgement. Even those that should be judged for their behavior are positive characters with redeeming qualities. In Tales from the Bottom of My Sole, I especially liked how he not only continued to include people’s diversity as incidental, but that the group of friends have so many different personalities and lifestyles and everyone is treated humane.

Tugglegrass Reviews

I remain in awe of David Kingston Yeh‘s writing. The world-building, the storytelling and depth of each and every character he writes is vivid and rich as we are taken on this journey of nights out and relaxed afternoons. In Tales From the Bottom of My Sole, we are quietly handed jewels of the family histories and legacies behind characters we’d never know so intimately in any other novel. Beyond the characters, the author has their conversations place so many real-life stories of feminism, revolution, liberation, queer theory and queer history in here –moments that are quirky, silly, inspiring, empowering, and just-so-damn-interesting are contained within the narrative. Tales is a story that unwraps itself so many times over the more you think about each scene.

Stargirlriots Book Reviews

David and Daniel face a shocking revelation that tests them and their lives together. I think the main point that the books makes is that all of us may be different in many ways, yet we are all the same in the long run. Experiences change us but rolling with these and facing what we have to face makes us stronger. I realize that this paragraph might seem ambiguous to many but when you think about it, you will understand that it takes “a village” for us to become who we are. Here that village is composed of Daniel’s friends. This is a sequel to Yeh’s “A Boy at the Edge of the World” (which I have yet to read) but it stands alone. All in all, it is a rewarding read and highly recommended.

Amos Lassen

Praise for A Boy at the Edge of the World: An unabashed gay rom-com coming of age story that entertains with a deceptively light style.

Drew Rowsome, contributing editor, MyGayToronto

Reviews

Tales From the Bottom of My Sole
Tugglegrass Reviews - December 29, 2020
Tales From the Bottom of My Sole
Stargirlriots Book Reviews - December 21, 2020
Tales From the Bottom of My Sole: sexual adventuring in the melting pot of Toronto
Drew Rowsome's Blogspot - October 28, 2020
Tales from the Bottom of My Sole: Sex, Intimacy & Love
Reviews by Amos Lassen - September 3, 2020

Books by David Kingston Yeh

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