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Place Envy: Essays in Search of Orientation
Growing up in places where his family had no past, and met mostly by silence from his Holocaust-refugee grandparents, Michael Lowenthal longed to be from somewhere. Then he realized he was gay and felt displaced from his own displaced family. Place Envy—his first book of essays after five acclaimed books of fiction—chronicles his quest for orientation in the as an agnostic Jew, as a queer traveler and lover, and as a writer who can tell or twist the truth. Yearning for a queer lineage, he obsesses about an uncle who perished at Bergen-Belsen but then finds, in his grandmother’s German hometown, a more surprising legacy. He lives with a Pennsylvania Amish family; accompanies blind gay men on a Mexican cruise; plays jazz with Sun Ra, the Afrofuturist who claimed to hail from Saturn; and pursues a clarifying love affair in Brazil. Collectively, these essays recount Lowenthal’s many journeys of dislocation and to foreign countries and subcultures and to the riskiest shores of family and self.
292 pages, Paperback
Published February 9, 2026
3 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Michael Lowenthal
28 books41 followersMichael Lowenthal is the author of the novels Charity Girl (Houghton Mifflin, 2007), Avoidance (Graywolf Press, 2002) and The Same Embrace (Dutton, 1998). His short stories have appeared in Tin House, the Southern Review, the Kenyon Review, and Esquire.com, and have been widely anthologized, in such volumes as Lost Tribe: Jewish Fiction from the Edge (HarperCollins), Bestial Noise: The Tin House Fiction Reader (Bloomsbury), and Best New American Voices 2005 (Harcourt). Three of his stories have received "Special Mention" in Pushcart Prize anthologies. He has also written nonfiction for the New York Times Magazine, Boston Magazine, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Out, and many other publications.
The recipient of fellowships from the Bread Loaf and Wesleyan writers' conferences, the MacDowell Colony, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and the Hawthornden International Retreat for Writers, Lowenthal is also the winner of the James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize. He teaches creative writing in the low-residency MFA program at Lesley University.
Before becoming a full-time writer, Lowenthal worked as an editor for University Press of New England, where he founded the Hardscrabble Books imprint, publishing such authors as Chris Bohjalian, W.D. Wetherell, and Ernest Hebert. He studied English and comparative religion at Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1990 as class valedictorian.
Lowenthal lives in Boston, where he is an active former board member of the literary human rights organization PEN New England.
The recipient of fellowships from the Bread Loaf and Wesleyan writers' conferences, the MacDowell Colony, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and the Hawthornden International Retreat for Writers, Lowenthal is also the winner of the James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize. He teaches creative writing in the low-residency MFA program at Lesley University.
Before becoming a full-time writer, Lowenthal worked as an editor for University Press of New England, where he founded the Hardscrabble Books imprint, publishing such authors as Chris Bohjalian, W.D. Wetherell, and Ernest Hebert. He studied English and comparative religion at Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1990 as class valedictorian.
Lowenthal lives in Boston, where he is an active former board member of the literary human rights organization PEN New England.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 20, 2026
I’ve never been much of an essay reader, but of course I had to get this book — Michael Lowenthal is one of my all-time favorite writers. And this feels like the perfect addition to his body of work, because so many of these essays contain — and are — the seeds of what later became some of his novels, some of my favorite books.
When I first got my copy, I was sure I’d finish it in a weekend. But that didn’t happen. Some of these pieces affected me deeply. They stirred up memories I had to sit with and process — and that’s exactly why I love his writing.
Each book feels as though it was written just for me. Not only are they compelling stories filled with characters I recognize and relate to, but they awaken something in me — emotionally and creatively. His words make me examine my own life. They make me want to write.
And that is the power of a truly great writer.
When I first got my copy, I was sure I’d finish it in a weekend. But that didn’t happen. Some of these pieces affected me deeply. They stirred up memories I had to sit with and process — and that’s exactly why I love his writing.
Each book feels as though it was written just for me. Not only are they compelling stories filled with characters I recognize and relate to, but they awaken something in me — emotionally and creatively. His words make me examine my own life. They make me want to write.
And that is the power of a truly great writer.
March 3, 2026
In his collection of stories, ‘Place Envy: Essays in Search of Orientation,’ writer Michael Lowenthal, known for his fictional books, explores times in his younger days where he sought out areas to be gay and to not be gay, at least not overly. What we get from the acclaimed four-time novelist and short story writer is an exploration of how LGBTQ people are often forced to navigate spaces that are either unfriendly or unfamiliar, or at least unwelcome.
In “Out of Nowhere,” he tries to unravel the hidden history of a potentially gay ancestor, who is almost completely forgotten amid the chaos of Jewish refugee life during World War II. Being Jewish is a consistent source of cultural distance in most spaces, while his being gay proves to be a bit of a barrier amid his family gatherings.
A highlight of the collection is “Ligature,” about his time spent on a Pennsylvania Amish farm as a project during his college days at Dartmouth. Lowenthal dons the traditional garb, participates in many of the farming activities and duties, but is held back from attending church services until he has proven his mettle.
His homosexuality is never brought up, except with another student who leaves abruptly after coming out to Lowenthal. Afterward, he ponders whether he should’ve come out as well, if an erotic attraction was expected, and how he would handle that.
In “Unmolested,” he returns to a favorite summer camp known for its carefree, clothing-optional attitude in its earlier days for both teenagers and adults. But after a sexual abuse scandal (after his departure), Lowenthal is called back as a guest-counselor (and former high-achieving teen) to revive the prestige of the camp.
He realizes that one of the younger teenagers is gay, and the teen soon comes out in a burst of confusion. After Lowenthal admits that he is also gay, he longs to become a kind of mentor, but the young boy sends him sexually provocative letters. Lowenthal pulls away. He feels bad about it, but also has to save his own reputation with the new rules of no counselor ever being alone with a teenager. It’s an arduous situation that he handles well, while also confessing an attraction to teenage boys.
Traveling
Most of the essays reference the fact that he is writing about the experiences (for example, he references his novel, “Charity Girl,” in the essay “Out of Nowhere”) and in some essays, shares his doubts and regret about doing so.
Such as the case with “What I Left Out,” a rumination on his 2010 trip to Nanjing, China for a tourism story for The Advocate. The problem is that later, C. Winter Han, a sociologist and author of a book of essays on Asian identity, includes Lowenthal’s article as an example of white colonialist fetishization. In revisiting his trip, Lowenthal describes the more personal moments that he had, including a brief relationship with an Asian man, but admits to having a limited perspective.
His longtime boyfriend, novelist Scott Heim, is often in the periphery, and Lowenthal’s process of figuring out what to write about serves as a kind of defensive source while being a subjective narrator.
“Writing fiction based on real people warped my recollections,” he writes. “The made-up versions started to dislodge the ones I’ve known.”
In “Estrangeiro,” the couple’s non-monogamy agreement is brought up in context of Lowenthal’s trip to Brazil. Initially the recipient of a fellowship for a writing workshop, he ends up visiting a few more times to reconnect with Uilliam, a younger gay man who hit him up with the offer of a beer in a nightclub.
The two share a passionate relationship, but have problems finding a place to be alone together. Also, the financial difference between Lowenthal and his young amore poses questions of sincerity. Is the young Brazilian man taking advantage of him, or the other way around?
The entire experience puts Lowenthal’s relationship with Heim in question, since they both have different desires after many years together.
These and other stories, including a cruise ship vacation with a group of gay blind men, and a family trip to Buchau, Germany to retrace his ancestors’ lives, including a possibly gay one, offer insight into his own life, his heritage, and his quiet curiosity about other lives.
In “Out of Nowhere,” he tries to unravel the hidden history of a potentially gay ancestor, who is almost completely forgotten amid the chaos of Jewish refugee life during World War II. Being Jewish is a consistent source of cultural distance in most spaces, while his being gay proves to be a bit of a barrier amid his family gatherings.
A highlight of the collection is “Ligature,” about his time spent on a Pennsylvania Amish farm as a project during his college days at Dartmouth. Lowenthal dons the traditional garb, participates in many of the farming activities and duties, but is held back from attending church services until he has proven his mettle.
His homosexuality is never brought up, except with another student who leaves abruptly after coming out to Lowenthal. Afterward, he ponders whether he should’ve come out as well, if an erotic attraction was expected, and how he would handle that.
In “Unmolested,” he returns to a favorite summer camp known for its carefree, clothing-optional attitude in its earlier days for both teenagers and adults. But after a sexual abuse scandal (after his departure), Lowenthal is called back as a guest-counselor (and former high-achieving teen) to revive the prestige of the camp.
He realizes that one of the younger teenagers is gay, and the teen soon comes out in a burst of confusion. After Lowenthal admits that he is also gay, he longs to become a kind of mentor, but the young boy sends him sexually provocative letters. Lowenthal pulls away. He feels bad about it, but also has to save his own reputation with the new rules of no counselor ever being alone with a teenager. It’s an arduous situation that he handles well, while also confessing an attraction to teenage boys.
Traveling
Most of the essays reference the fact that he is writing about the experiences (for example, he references his novel, “Charity Girl,” in the essay “Out of Nowhere”) and in some essays, shares his doubts and regret about doing so.
Such as the case with “What I Left Out,” a rumination on his 2010 trip to Nanjing, China for a tourism story for The Advocate. The problem is that later, C. Winter Han, a sociologist and author of a book of essays on Asian identity, includes Lowenthal’s article as an example of white colonialist fetishization. In revisiting his trip, Lowenthal describes the more personal moments that he had, including a brief relationship with an Asian man, but admits to having a limited perspective.
His longtime boyfriend, novelist Scott Heim, is often in the periphery, and Lowenthal’s process of figuring out what to write about serves as a kind of defensive source while being a subjective narrator.
“Writing fiction based on real people warped my recollections,” he writes. “The made-up versions started to dislodge the ones I’ve known.”
In “Estrangeiro,” the couple’s non-monogamy agreement is brought up in context of Lowenthal’s trip to Brazil. Initially the recipient of a fellowship for a writing workshop, he ends up visiting a few more times to reconnect with Uilliam, a younger gay man who hit him up with the offer of a beer in a nightclub.
The two share a passionate relationship, but have problems finding a place to be alone together. Also, the financial difference between Lowenthal and his young amore poses questions of sincerity. Is the young Brazilian man taking advantage of him, or the other way around?
The entire experience puts Lowenthal’s relationship with Heim in question, since they both have different desires after many years together.
These and other stories, including a cruise ship vacation with a group of gay blind men, and a family trip to Buchau, Germany to retrace his ancestors’ lives, including a possibly gay one, offer insight into his own life, his heritage, and his quiet curiosity about other lives.
Review of advance copy received from Author
These are terrific essays: moving, unflinchingly candid, wide-ranging, yet, as a collection, satisfyingly cohesive; when I finished the second half of the first essay, which is tucked like a surprise gift at the end of the collection, I felt all the themes Lowenthal explores come thrillingly together. I especially enjoyed the author's self-interrogations, his poignant search for self, and his moral wrestling matches, as well as his humor and bawdiness and longing and insights into gay life in particular. Of course, in a book ostensibly about "place," I loved how vividly he brought to life places as disparate as Amish country, Brazil, Dartmouth College in the late 80s, Taiwan, and a blind gay cruise to Puerto Vallarta. This book would make a nice companion to Edge of the World: An Anthology of Queer Travel Writing (ed. Alden Jones, 2025).
Read
March 17, 2026As a fan of Lowenthal's previous work (the novel Charity Girl in particular), I was eager to learn that this essay collection was on the way, particularly when I discovered that elements would focus on Lowenthal's German-Jewish heritage (and his recovery thereof). Those essays in particular held my attention, as did others that alighted on formative moments in Lowenthal's literal and life journeys (his sojourn with a Pennsylvania Amish family is one such standout). Together, the essays indeed, powerfully and provocatively, "chronicle [Lowenthal's] quest for orientation in the world: as an agnostic Jew, as a queer traveler and lover, and as a writer who can tell or twist the truth."
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
wonderful writing in essays that explore the gay amd queer experience.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews