Bøger af Edmond Manning

English attorney Alistair Robertson can't quite believe an astonishing tale of kingship and transformation he hears at Burning Man, the annual counter-culture art festival in the Black Rock desert. Who are the Found Kings? Is "being kinged" as magical as it sounds? Determined to find the mysterious garage mechanic named Vin who helps men "remember who they were always meant to be," Alistair catches his quarry amid the extravagant sculptures, fire worshipers, mutant cars, and lavish costumes. After searching for three years, he'll finally get to ask the question burning inside him: "Will you king me?" Wandering together through the desert, Vin Vanbly and Alistair explore Burning Man's gifting culture and exotic traditions, where they meet the best and worst of their fellow burners. Alistair's overconfidence in Vin's manipulative power collides with Vin's obsessive need to save a sixteen-year-old runaway from a nightmarish fate, and the two men spiral in uncontrollable, explosive directions. In this fourth adventure of The Lost and Founds, beneath the sweltering summer sun and the six billion midnight stars, one truth emerges, searing itself on their hearts: in the desert, everything burns.

Edmond Manning, author of The Lost and Founds series has made a few mistakes in his life. Well, more than a few. But with his characteristic ability to embrace the weird and the wonderful, he prefers to think of them as "experiences." Why label an adventure a regret if everything works out in the end? Whether getting high from an airplane stranger's candy, attempting to deceive the DMV with magic, or discovering he might be the central figure in an unfolding teen horror flick, Manning reflects on a lifetime of questionable decisions in this memoir and confessional. In the essay, Dear Penthouse, Manning ponders the appropriate response to a late-night booty call from an irritating neighbor. The Best New York Sandwich documents his day being homeless in New York City. Soft reflections about The Final Blessing from his father, and thoughts of growing older, are interspersed with odd tales of a family that believes in Moon Recession Birthdays. Manning leaps from personal lunacy to handling homophobia to sheer wonder at the beauty of everyday people which makes for a giggly, surprising, and occasionally sweet-sad journey through a gay man's collected tales of a life filled with glorious mistakes.

After discovering a blog revealing a mighty tribe where "every man was the one true king and every woman was the one true queen..." thirty-five-year-old, unemployed Daniel realizes he's tired of being a Lost King. He wants more. But more what? His quest to uncover the secret will drag him beyond his comfortable seclusion, into the cornfields of DeKalb and thunderous, chaotic New York City. After a hotel hookup with a sensual Englishman, the murderous rage Daniel fought to repress is finally unleashed. In the final story arc in The Lost and Founds series, Daniel faces the ultimate choice: what would you risk to become a Found King? His fate depends on a seedy escort named Fitch, benevolence from the mysterious king named DC, and love from the elusive Vin Vanbly, who may-or may not be-dead. This is the end. But is it the end for Daniel?

After years of lying, scheming, and dangerous manipulation, Vin Vanbly finally gets what's coming to him: love. How can he survive unstoppable, uncontrollable love when his very nature demands he control everything? Clues about his one true love-tantalizingly hinted at in each of the books in The Lost and Founds series-come together in four life-changing stories. In No Kings, a sex hookup with a parking lot stranger reveals more about Vin's life as a Lost King and his destiny than he could have dreamed. In King Fitch, Vin meets the last king in his long legacy, one final weekend before he withdraws from the world to an anonymous Latin American jungle. The Lost Ones recounts a terrifying kidnapping by street thugs from Vin's past. In King Malcolm the Restorer, Vin's mysterious relationship with his older brother-and the soul-crushing secret which drew them together-is finally revealed. Through it all, Vin Vanbly struggles to survive. But what if he is destined for more than mere survival? Is he finally ready to embrace the truth and remember who he was always meant to be? Once there were a tribe where every man was the one true king and every woman the one true queen...

In a trendy San Francisco art gallery, out-of-towner Vin Vanbly witnesses an act of compassion that compels him to make investment banker Perry Mangin a mysterious offer: in exchange for a weekend of complete submission, Vin will restore Perry's "kingship" and transform him into the man he was always meant to be. Despite intense reservations, Perry agrees, setting in motion a chain of events that will test the limits of his body, seduce his senses, and fray his every nerve, (perhaps occasionally breaking the law) while Vin guides him toward his destiny as 'the one true king.' Even as Perry rediscovers old grief and new joys within himself, Vin and his shadowy motivations remain enigmas: who is this off-beat stranger guiding them from danger to hilarity to danger? To emerge triumphant, Perry must overcome the greatest challenge alone: embracing his devastating past. But can he succeed by Sunday's sunrise deadline? How can he possibly evolve from an ordinary investment banker into King Perry?