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Benediction
Ben Schmidt is a globe-hopping, gay, San Franciscan, who, despite being a recovering alcoholic heads the marketing department for an up and coming software firm. Add in relationships with sexy artist/neighbor Jake another relationship with the very hot, very Argentinian Eric, mix liberally with the excitement of an upcoming festival tour for the movie that he's directed, and we should have a very happy man. But when an at work rivalry escalates and Jake finds out that he’s got prostate cancer his life takes an unplanned detour. Great sex, love, professional and artistic success. What does it all mean when faced with what could well be a terminal illness?
310 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Jim Arnold
5 books39 followersJim is the author of the award-winning novels Benediction (2009). The Forest Dark (2013), Kept (2016) and Benefits (2019).
Jim also directed the critically-acclaimed documentary short Our Brothers, Our Sons, about generational differences around HIV/AIDS in gay men, (nominated for Best Documentary at the 2002 Turin International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival).
Jim has worked extensively as a free-lance journalist and has published in Frontiers, Variety, Prime Health & Fitness, Age Appropriate and other periodicals, online and in fiction anthologies. He began his career in musical theatre and holds a BA in journalism and film from Marquette University, and has studied film production/writing in the MFA program for Cinema/TV at the University of Southern California, the Writers Program at UCLA, and at Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco.
He blogs at www.jimarnoldblog.com/blog
Jim is a veteran entertainment and non-profits PR executive, having held communications management positions at Paramount Pictures, Dolby Laboratories and the American Lung Association in California.
Other Useful Information:
Jim’s a 4th Generation California Native whose ancestors came for the Gold Rush and stayed despite not finding any! He’s also a cancer survivor who has run a marathon and can literally do cartwheels. An unusual talent is that he can rollerblade backwards so don’t be shy about asking for a demo. A former teenage church organist, Jim now tries not to irritate his neighbors when playing standards from the American songbook on the piano.
Jim also directed the critically-acclaimed documentary short Our Brothers, Our Sons, about generational differences around HIV/AIDS in gay men, (nominated for Best Documentary at the 2002 Turin International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival).
Jim has worked extensively as a free-lance journalist and has published in Frontiers, Variety, Prime Health & Fitness, Age Appropriate and other periodicals, online and in fiction anthologies. He began his career in musical theatre and holds a BA in journalism and film from Marquette University, and has studied film production/writing in the MFA program for Cinema/TV at the University of Southern California, the Writers Program at UCLA, and at Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco.
He blogs at www.jimarnoldblog.com/blog
Jim is a veteran entertainment and non-profits PR executive, having held communications management positions at Paramount Pictures, Dolby Laboratories and the American Lung Association in California.
Other Useful Information:
Jim’s a 4th Generation California Native whose ancestors came for the Gold Rush and stayed despite not finding any! He’s also a cancer survivor who has run a marathon and can literally do cartwheels. An unusual talent is that he can rollerblade backwards so don’t be shy about asking for a demo. A former teenage church organist, Jim now tries not to irritate his neighbors when playing standards from the American songbook on the piano.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 28, 2011
Ben Schmidt is in his early forties, lives in SF Castro, a creative film director,a professional marketing executive, has a beautiful boyfriend living upstairs in a different apartment(a perfect arrangement in my opinion),and plays from time to time with an attractive Latino until it all falls apart. Ben is diagnosed with prostate cancer and unravels as a result - he's a recovering alcoholic who chooses to relapse and other regrettable choices as well.
The main characters in "Benediction" are fully developed and the narrative clever. I thought the internal process (emotional & mental) regarding the cancer diagnoses extraordinarily layered and complex. The Badlands(a bar & dance venue in San Francisco Castro for the hot younger crowd)demographic and invisible comment by Ben spot on - the need to still be desirable when no longer in that demographic poignantly relatable especially in light of his current situation. Yet there were moments when I had difficulty sympathizing with Ben's plight as a result his self destructive behavior and inability to cope - perhaps because the author did such a fine job of creating such a clearly intelligent man - I wanted him to stop wallowing in self pity and make better choices, which means the author successfully engaged me in becoming invested in Ben's struggles.
Overall, "Benediction" is an absorbing novel that captures one man's journey through a health crisis and emotional minefield. Is he a sympathetic character? No, not always, but that is the real humanity and beauty of Ben's story. I read the book in just a few hours, but there were times when I was slogging my way through it,and felt completely exhausted when I finished - however, it was worth every minute.
The main characters in "Benediction" are fully developed and the narrative clever. I thought the internal process (emotional & mental) regarding the cancer diagnoses extraordinarily layered and complex. The Badlands(a bar & dance venue in San Francisco Castro for the hot younger crowd)demographic and invisible comment by Ben spot on - the need to still be desirable when no longer in that demographic poignantly relatable especially in light of his current situation. Yet there were moments when I had difficulty sympathizing with Ben's plight as a result his self destructive behavior and inability to cope - perhaps because the author did such a fine job of creating such a clearly intelligent man - I wanted him to stop wallowing in self pity and make better choices, which means the author successfully engaged me in becoming invested in Ben's struggles.
Overall, "Benediction" is an absorbing novel that captures one man's journey through a health crisis and emotional minefield. Is he a sympathetic character? No, not always, but that is the real humanity and beauty of Ben's story. I read the book in just a few hours, but there were times when I was slogging my way through it,and felt completely exhausted when I finished - however, it was worth every minute.
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June 14, 2013Free on Amazon!!!
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December 2, 2009It's really difficult to disconnect the author, Jim Arnold, from his character, Ben Schmidt. They have so many traits in common and Ben comes out so strong from the page of Arnold's novel, that it was really like reading a personal journal more than a fictional novel.
Ben is a wanna-be-director, with actually a first movie going out on Festivals all around the world, a nice work in San Francisco, an handsome boyfriend,Jake, living in the attic of the Victorian house where he has a first floor apartment, and an affair on the side with Eric, and nice guy who is always ready to have sex when Ben wants something different than maybe too perfect Jake. At mid-forthy Ben seems to have the perfect dream life for every modern gay man, but he is not happy. He has a constant desire to ruin his own happiness, and his relationship wth Jake is a perfect example of that: Ben has the chance to have a perfect life and he is trying to destroy it. If nothing else happened, I think Ben would have never understood that. It was his own right to destroy his life since he has the power to do so.
But then that power is taken off from him. Ben discovers to have prostate cancer. And it's bad. Suddenly his life is crashing around him and he has no power on that. He can't do anything if not wait for the next tragedy to struck. And life is no more good for him. When he is down and without chance to fight back, everything he thought due in his previous life is put at risk: his job, his boyfriend, his passing lovers, even his apartment, with the small threat of mice. When Ben had everything, he didn't know what he really wanted, now that he is on the edge to loose everything, he will have the chance to understand what is really important for him. In a way tragedy helps Ben, freeing him from all the unnecessary things, he will have an enough clear view to see what it really matters.
I didn't expect to enjoy the romance in this book like I did, and truth be told, at first I didn't like so much Ben. But in a way he got better with the story, and I liked that he didn't come out as an hero. There is nothing of heroic in Ben, he is a real man struggling against the world with only the strength of a normal man. And he doesn't cling on his friends, he tries to find the strength inside him. I liked that, amidst all the tragedy, Ben realized that love was the answer, not for the cancer, but at least to give a reason to his life.
Benediction is not an easy book to read, above all if you had an experience with cancer. It's not all roses for Ben, it's not that, since he has cancer, everything else has to go smoothly for him, it's not that people who dislike him suddenly step back. Ben has not only to fight the cancer but also all the other small and big trouble people have in their everyday life. He has to continue to worry for everything he worried before and plus he has the cancer. That is the strength of Ben, being able to face all and take the right decision.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1439248575/?...
Ben is a wanna-be-director, with actually a first movie going out on Festivals all around the world, a nice work in San Francisco, an handsome boyfriend,Jake, living in the attic of the Victorian house where he has a first floor apartment, and an affair on the side with Eric, and nice guy who is always ready to have sex when Ben wants something different than maybe too perfect Jake. At mid-forthy Ben seems to have the perfect dream life for every modern gay man, but he is not happy. He has a constant desire to ruin his own happiness, and his relationship wth Jake is a perfect example of that: Ben has the chance to have a perfect life and he is trying to destroy it. If nothing else happened, I think Ben would have never understood that. It was his own right to destroy his life since he has the power to do so.
But then that power is taken off from him. Ben discovers to have prostate cancer. And it's bad. Suddenly his life is crashing around him and he has no power on that. He can't do anything if not wait for the next tragedy to struck. And life is no more good for him. When he is down and without chance to fight back, everything he thought due in his previous life is put at risk: his job, his boyfriend, his passing lovers, even his apartment, with the small threat of mice. When Ben had everything, he didn't know what he really wanted, now that he is on the edge to loose everything, he will have the chance to understand what is really important for him. In a way tragedy helps Ben, freeing him from all the unnecessary things, he will have an enough clear view to see what it really matters.
I didn't expect to enjoy the romance in this book like I did, and truth be told, at first I didn't like so much Ben. But in a way he got better with the story, and I liked that he didn't come out as an hero. There is nothing of heroic in Ben, he is a real man struggling against the world with only the strength of a normal man. And he doesn't cling on his friends, he tries to find the strength inside him. I liked that, amidst all the tragedy, Ben realized that love was the answer, not for the cancer, but at least to give a reason to his life.
Benediction is not an easy book to read, above all if you had an experience with cancer. It's not all roses for Ben, it's not that, since he has cancer, everything else has to go smoothly for him, it's not that people who dislike him suddenly step back. Ben has not only to fight the cancer but also all the other small and big trouble people have in their everyday life. He has to continue to worry for everything he worried before and plus he has the cancer. That is the strength of Ben, being able to face all and take the right decision.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1439248575/?...
December 13, 2014
An interesting book, won in the Goodreads Beneditcion contest. At first the character was kind of likable with the flaws that make humans human, as the book progressed the story was good, while in other parts the main character was not likable, with taking what he had for granted.
November 19, 2013
Really interesting book won it at Goodreads giveaways!Is not what I was expecting at all overall its was a good story but not what I look for in books. Now I would recommends it for people that are interested in these type of books I think they would enjoy it!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews