Three New Looks at Struggling With Emotions, Addiction, and Intimacy

Alexander McQueen: Blood Beneath the Skin
by Andrew Wilson

Although he is remembered the world over as one of the most brilliant minds in fashion, Alexander McQueen was also a man living with HIV, a topic discussed in-depth in award-winning journalist Andrew Wilson’s new biography of the late artist, Alexander McQueen: Blood Beneath the Skin. Wilson’s volume, published by Scribner, has already been met with plenty of accolades in the U.K. and explores the inner workings of McQueen’s career and personal life through his relationships with loved ones and the power of the women in his life. With details collected from interviews with McQueen’s surviving family members, Blood Beneath the Skin gives readers an unprecedented look into the life and times of one of fashion’s most complicated figures and all the events that led to his tragic suicide in February 2010. Wilson portrays McQueen as not only a genius but also a human being grappling with HIV, a history of abuse, and the same complicated emotions we all feel from time to time.

If You Feel Too Much
by Jamie Tworkowski

While too many self-help books offer vague and useless advice that leaves readers feeling confused, If You Feel Too Much serves up real-world anecdotes that make you realize struggle is part of the universal human experience. The debut effort by Jamie Tworkowski, founder of the famed suicide-prevention organization To Write Love on Her Arms, If You Feel Too Much  is a collection of essays delving deep into many emotions that we regularly feel but too often ignore. Whether you’re dealing with a major loss or searching for inspiration, there is definitely an entry in Tworkowski’s book that will tug at your heartstrings (in a good way). The most notable of these entries is the 2006 essay “To Write Love on Her Arms,” which inspired the founding of his organization. At age 35, Tworkowski exudes wisdom beyond his years, and If You Feel Too Much is proof of that.

Love Together: Longtime Male Couples on Healthy Intimacy and Communication
by Tim Clausen

One of the biggest challenges many couples—gay or straight—face when they first get married is how to keep their relationship healthy and thriving for many years down the road. While there is obviously no single answer, Tim Clausen’s newest book  seeks to help answer a question that plagues so many men who date men: How do we stay together over the long term? Featuring real-life success stories of male couples who have been together for 20, 30, and more than 40 years, Love Together gives readers an honest look at what it’s really like to be (and stay) in a monogamous relationship. In an age of rapidly increasing separation and divorce rates, keeping the intimacy and communication going in your love life is critical, and Love Together can help show you how.