Patriarch: My Extraordinary Journey from Man to Gentleman

by H.L. Sudler

What have you learned from your life? What will you take with you when you die? Through this heartfelt, humorous, inspirational, and oftentimes brutally honest collection of essays, PATHS Humanitarian Writing Award winner H.L. Sudler embarks upon a journey of self-discovery in his quest to define what it truly means to be a patriarch in the wake of his father's death. Searching for answers among tales of love and war, triumph and losses, religious awakening and personal evolution, Sudler begs the reader to gaze deeply into themselves and beneath fears, flaws and anger, and across borders. For him, from man to gentleman and ultimately to patriarch.

186 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2012

About the author

H.L. SUDLER was born in 1967 and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has served as publisher of Café Magazine, editor of the Rehoboth Beach Gayzette, as well as a contributing writer for numerous anthologies and such publications as Page & Author, Nuance Magazine, Au Courant Magazine, A&U Magazine, and the Lambda Book Report.

He has been published in Spirited: Affirming the Soul and Black Gay/Lesbian Identity (Redbone Press), Mighty Real: An Anthology of African American Same-Gender Loving Writing (Lulu), Off the Rocks: An Anthology of GLBT Writing, and Darker Than Night: An Anthology of Horror.

His short story The Way of All Flesh was selected for the PATHS Humanitarian Writing Award and he is the author of a collection of essays titled PATRIARCH: My Extraordinary Journey from Man to Gentleman, as well as a thriller novel series titled Summerville, and Return to Summerville. From Man to Gentleman: A Beginner's Guide to Manhood is a coffee table styled book that teaches young men how to become gentlemen, while his fifth book, The Looking Glass: Tales of Light and Dark, is a collection of short stories. His sixth is a recipe book titled CafeLiving's Favorite Cocktails (written with Keith Vient), and his first novella is titled Sandman. He is currently at work on a novel called Mayhem.

Sudler resides in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

[Zero]

This set of essays is a work of art. It is one moment tragic and the next a revelation of joy. The honesty and vulnerability the author offers reminds one of what it is to be human, nothing special, nothing added. So well-written and put together Patriarch is a book for these complex times. If for no other reason, this book needs to be offered to all people because it has the power to make us all a little kinder.

[Jackie]

This is the second time I have read this book, and did not realize it until I was finished.
The book is a memoir of a man's journey into manhood.
Full of sexual content, about being gay.

I didn't realize until I got to 3 pages from the end, that read, "While the essays in this book are meant for men of all ages, not all of it will apply to every man."

Since I am a woman, it gave me some insight into the thinking and actions of the male species.

I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads Giveaway on 6/22/2015.
I read it 5/10/16 and now 2/3/25