James Chaarani is a Toronto-based writer and journalist. He identifies as a Lebanese-Canadian whose parents immigrated to Canada and raised him in a Muslim family.
Fiction
Between the Head and the Hands: A Novel
Toronto: ECW Press, 2023.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
When Michael Dawouk is disowned by his Muslim family for being gay, he turns his back on the religion and culture he grew up with. He is forced out onto the street, only to be taken in by a former high school teacher who offers him room and board in exchange for sex.
Michael is soon left with nothing to believe in, until he meets Wyatt, a successful Texan businessman who takes him under his wing. But what Michael can’t see is that his mentor is just as lost as he is. Searching for the connection and belonging he lost when he left home, Michael immerses himself in temporary pleasures — nights of danger, intrigue, and meaningless sex — until he begins to crave a kinder form of love.
Links
Publisher ECW Press