About
Bronx-born wordsmith, Larry Benjamin is the author of Excellent Sons: A Love Story in Three Acts, a 2022 Lambda Literary Award winner in the Gay Romance category and a 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist; Unbroken, a 2014 Lambda Literary Award finalist and a 2014 IPPY (Independent Publishers Book Award) Gold medalist; The Sun, The Earth & The Moon; a, In His Eyes; Damaged Angels, a collection of short stories; and Vampire Rising, an allegorical novella.
His work has been published by Carina Press, a Harlequin imprint, Bold Strokes Books, and Beaten Track Publishing.
Featured Work
HE: A remarkable tale of romance and resilience
Preacher’s kid Jackson and orphaned Oren grow up in the same dusty, poor, Bible-thumping farm town. When they meet at sixteen, they discover they have more in common than just their roots and brutal upbringing. Together, they begin to explore their orientation and their burgeoning love for each other. When they are threatened with consignment in conversion camp, they abruptly leave town together. Oren attends college, while Jackson learns a trade. In their new surroundings, they discover friends and a sense of safety for the first time.
Forty years later, when a shocking act of betrayal destroys their relationship, each is left wondering if there can be love after the apocalypse as they look back on a past they cannot change and a future they cannot predict.
When Oren reluctantly attends his fortieth high school reunion and reconnects with his high school crush, sparks unexpectedly fly.
A remarkable tale of romance and resilience, using the premise that orientation is simply a pattern of attraction, He explores what happens when that pattern is broken.
Told epistolary style through journal entries and Facebook messages, the book is divided into periods, each of which is denoted by a color, rather than traditional chapters.
Other Works
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Excellent Sons: A Love Story in Three Acts
2022
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The Sun, The Earth & The Moon
2019
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In His Eyes
2017
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Unbroken
2013
Awards and Recognition
- Lambda Literary Award winner in the Gay Romance category; Next Generation Indie Awards finalist in the LGBTQ+ category: "Excellent Sons: A Love Story in Three Acts"
- Lambda Literary Award finalist; IPPY (Independent Publishers) Gold Medalist in the gay fiction category: "Unbroken"
Press and Media Mentions
- HE DID IT! “Excellent Sons” brought home the 2022 Lammy for Gay Romance. P.S. we told you his book was awesome! Read on for our review…
- Larry Benjamin’s latest novel — which recently won the prestigious Lambda Award for LGBTQ+ literature – we can recap here. Basically, it’s a love story in three acts, with the middle act being a spectacularly bawdy retelling of Pinocchio whose main character was a magical faux phallus come to life in human form, then lost in the seedy underworld of adult entertainment.
- Black LGBTQ authors on the state of book bans and how to rally against them
- Wedding: Larry Benjamin and Stanley Willauer Jr.
