Getting Life in Perspective:

Toby has four recent books out: an updated, revised and expanded edition of his classic soft sci fi romance novel
SECRET MATTER -- with its quirky and mystical spin on what it means to be gay. Click on the title for info.
An historical novel, written in collaboration with historian/anthropologist Walter L. Williams,
set in the Old West TWO SPIRITS: A Story of Life With the Navajo. A collection of gay positive stories
contributed by more than 30 writers (including San Antonians Bill Goodman & Sterling Houston) titled CHARMED LIVES.
And his beloved spiritual romance novel GETTING LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE has just been rereleased by Lethe Press.

Contact Us Table of Contents Search Site Also on this website: Toby Johnson's books: TWO SPIRITS: A Story of Life with the Navajo, a collaboration with Walter L. Williams GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe SECRET MATTER: updated, revised & expanded edtion from Lethe Press with Afterword by Mark Jordan GETTING LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE PLAGUE: A NOVEL ABOUT HEALING. CHARMED LIVES: Spinning Straw into Gold: Reclaiming Our Queer Spirituality Through Story Books on Gay Spirituality: White Crane Gay Spirituality Series   Articles and Excerpts: Read Toby's review of Samuel Avery's The Dimensional Structure of Consciousness Funny Coincidence: "Aliens Settle in San Francisco" The Simple Answer to the Gay Marriage Debate Why gay people should NOT Marry Wedding Cake Liberation Gay Marriage in Texas What's ironic Shame on the American People The "highest form of love"  The cause of homosexuality What is homosexuality? What Jesus said about Gay Rights The purpose of homosexuality What the Bible Says about Homosexuality Mesosexual Ideal for Straight Men Varieties of Gay Spirituality Waves of Gay Liberation Activity Why Gay Spirituality: Spirituality as Artistic Medium Easton Mountain Retreat Center "It's Always About You" The myth of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara Joseph Campbell's description of Avalokiteshvara You're Not A Wave Emptiness & Religious Ideas Experiencing experiencing experiencing Going into the Light Meditations for a Funeral Meditation Practice The way to get to heaven Advice to Travelers to India & Nepal Nate Berkus is a bodhisattva Curious Bodies What Toby Johnson Believes The Joseph Campbell Connection Campbell & The Pre/Trans Fallacy The Nature of Religion Being Gay is a Blessing Freedom of Religion The Gay Agenda Gay Saintliness Gay Spiritual Functions The subtle workings of the spirit in gay men's lives. The Sinfulness of Homosexuality  "The Evolution of Gay Identity" "St. John of the Cross & the Dark Night of the Soul." Avalokiteshvara at the Baths.  Eckhart's Eye Let Me Tell You a Secret Religious Articulations of the Secret The Collective Unconscious Driving as Spiritual Practice Meditation Historicity as Myth Pilgrimage Next Step in Evolution Teenage Prostitution and the Nature of Evil Allah Hu: "God is present here"   Adam and Steve The Life is in the Blood Gay retirement and the "freelance monastery" Seeing with Different Eyes What are you looking for in a gay science fiction novel? The mystical experience at the Servites'  Castle in Riverside The Great Dance according to C.S.Lewis The Techniques Of The World Saviors Part 1: Brer Rabbit and the Tar-Baby Part 2: The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Part 3: Jesus and the Resurrection Part 4: A Course in Miracles The Secret of the Clear Light Understanding the Clear Light Mobius Strip Finding Your Tiger Face How Gay Souls Get Reincarnated About Alien Abduction In honor of Sir Arthur C Clarke The D.A.F.O.D.I.L. Alliance Psych Tech Training The Rainbow Flag Toby's friend and nicknamesake Toby Marotta. About Michael Talbot, gay mystic About Guy Mannheimer About Dennis Paddie About Sterling Houston About Michael Stevens Our friend Tom Nash Second March on Washington The Gay Spirituality Summit in May 2004 and the  "Statement of Spirituality"   Book Reviews Be Done on Earth by Howard E. Cook Pay Me What I'm Worth by Souldancer The Way Out by Christopher L  Nutter The Gay Disciple by John Henson Art That Dares by Kittredge Cherry

Purchase options at bottom of page   Getting Life in Perspective Toby Johnson's beloved "gay spiritual, fantastical romance novel" is back in print from Lethe Press Sweet, sexy, wise and thoroughly entertaining, this mytho-historical novel, featuring two lovable apparitions from late 1800s America, interweaves a heart-warming story of youthful romance and adventure with an ageless life-affirming and gay-positive spiritual message       ...along with just a touch of the Twilight Zone. Lethe Press Paperback, 244 pages ISBN 978-1-59021-126-7 $14.95 “There is a fresh naivete in [Toby Johnson’s] style that rings pleasantly in the ear, like the memory of a ‘boy’s book’ enthusiastically devoured at age 12. Against the sour punk of so much of today’s gay male fiction, Getting Life in Perspective is a treat.”    —Marvin Shaw, reviewer “What can I say? This magical creation made me cry and laugh and muse and‚ more significantly, it made me remember the essential innocence, spirit and purpose of love. Love always presents a unique personal view; if allowed, it can expand perspective beyond mere imagination‚ Getting Life in Perspective jump starts memory, gives rebirth to hope and literally sings. It is an irreverent-reverent chant to love.”                                                              —Wil Biggers, White Crane Journal “The narrator of this clever and fast-moving novel creates two characters who tell their story of gay life and relationships the way it might have been in turn of the century America. Weaving the spiritual messages of Edward Carpenter and Joseph Campbell into the plot adds a provocative and timely theme… a thoughtful book as well as simply great good fun.”                                                                               —Michael Shernoff, gay therapist        Rainbow Reviews wrote: “Getting Life in Perspective” by Toby Johnson is an amazing novel. With everything from Walt Whitman to Joseph Campbell to the mystics of the Far East, this story is dense with teachings, philosophies, and life lessons. It truly has the potential to change your life. This book is about gay spirituality and gay sexuality and the universal life experience. It is told in an engaging and emotional way. The characters are vivid, the environment colorful, and the events totally believable. There are many layers within this story. It is wonderful how the author creates two different eras ~ 1890s and the 1980s; yet, these separate times emphasize the commonality/ the universality of all eras. Within this book is the story of two gay young men finding themselves and their love in the 1890s. They tell their story to a gay man living in the 1980s who is struggling to come to terms with his own mortality and the AIDS epidemic to help illuminate his own life. All this is told in a way to help enlighten the reader’s connection with the universal themes of life, love, mortality, sexuality, and spirituality. It should be noted that because of the serious way the author treats the subject matter, this book is not for anyone desiring a light, escapist read; but, for those willing to make the effort, it is very rewarding!                                                                     --Review by Matthew Steve Williams, a British reviewer, loved Getting Life in Perspective. Here's an excerpt from his review on Suite101.com. It's such a good review. We urge you to go read the rest of it -- AND to explore Steve's site. A Powerful Romance Particularly successful is the relationship between the two spirits of Tom and Ben. Their association, starting as far back as the 1890’s, is an enduring love affair that survives minor indiscretions on each character’s part, and seems unshackled by the confines of mortal time, sustained by a true and fundamental bond between the two, a kind of emotional depth that is scant in most literature today. What was most fulfilling was that, in having the character of Rick, our modern novelist, look back into the lives of these two creations, the reassurance could be found that, yes, this was something as achievable now as it was then, that a bond could be forged as strong as theirs, and so the trick is played: the reader becomes the student just like the character Rick himself does, his omniscience over his characters turning on its head as they take on a life of their own, and teach him what he needs most to know. Tackling Hard Issues In Getting Life in Perspective we find a story that tackles sexuality – not just homosexuality, but what underpins all primal energies in the human psyche – and which has countless references to Joseph Campbell, to the Hindu faith, and to such poetic mystics as Walt Whitman, and for anyone looking for an introduction into such metaphysics, this book, with its lovely allegories, would be an excellent place to start. For once, this is not a story trapped in the apparent superficiality of gay culture, but rather a novel that celebrates the thinking man’s brand of decadence, and as such, it is perhaps possible to say that, in time, this title from Lethe Press… might become a classic amongst gay fiction, and maybe even fiction as a whole.                                             ... to read the entire review -- AND to explore Steve's site - - - Getting Life in Perspective is available from the author (signed, if you'd like) at retail price but with free postage--and can be purchased by credit card through Paypal. (Click the author link for that page) San Antonians, please buy from Zebraz, your local gay community bookseller, located at 1608 North Main Ave., San Antonio TX 78212. Their website is ZEBRAZ.COM On the Internet: Getting Life in Perspective is available from amazon.com And from gay booksellers, like Lambda Rising. (Search on "Toby Johnson") Getting Life in Perspective is available for the amazonKindle ebook device. Getting Life in Perspective is also published in Large Print Format, 460 pages, $20.00

Toby Johnson, PhD is author of eight books: three non-fiction books that apply the wisdom of his teacher and "wise old man," Joseph Campbell to modern-day social and religious problems, three gay genre novels that dramatize spiritual issues at the heart of gay identity, and two books on gay men's spiritualities and the mystical experience of homosexuality. In addition to the novels featured elsewhere in this web site, Johnson is author of IN SEARCH OF GOD IN THE SEXUAL UNDERWORLD and THE MYTH OF THE GREAT SECRET (Revised edition): AN APPRECIATION OF JOSEPH CAMPBELL.

Johnson's Lammy Award winning book GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness was published in 2000.

His Lammy-nominated book  GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe was published by Alyson in 2003.