Ever perceptive of unspoken truths, he notes when explaining how he came to his quiet faith that “the thirst for power leaves the spirit arid.” In these days of religious lava burning its way through our society and politics, it is a rare privilege, even for a nonbeliever, to read the work of a writer whose spiritual core has clearly been developed through a deep understanding of humanity. In No Ashes in the Fire, we follow this development along with Moore’s maturation as a gay man …

The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pointes Peebles Riverhead Books. 464 pages, $26. AS WHOOPI GOLDBERG said of Julia Roberts, “Julia Roberts was not always Julia Roberts.”…More

THE TITLE of this book is an exaggeration that grows out of another exaggeration that is this book’s thesis: that Sarah Bernhardt typified an “old school” of unnatural stage acting that consisted of moving from one stylized pose to the next, while Duse introduced a new, realistic style that actors have adopted ever since, hence “changing acting forever.”

In five dense, far-ranging chapters, she traces the emergence of the gay novel. Hurley argues that what we now identify as the overt gay or lesbian novel grew out of earlier literary productions, ones that contributed to the “making of selves and sentences, sympathies and worlds that [had] not yet existed.”

For those not familiar: the title of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel refers to Chee’s first novel, Edinburgh, a fictionalized account of his experience of childhood sexual abuse.

HENRY JAMES and Queer Filiationis sort of a sequel to Penn State professor Michael Anes-ko’s 2012 book, Monopolizing the Master, which is an account of how Henry James’ family tried to bowdlerize the Master’s letters after he died so that no one would think he might be homosexual.

Luminous Traitor is Martin Duberman’s attempt to shed light on an episode that is largely forgotten today, especially in the U.S.

Brodell is to be commended for the extensive research she’s done for each subject. Her methods of inquiry included poring through old newspapers, archival material, journals, photos, drawings, and maps. And her efforts paid off.