Autobiographical

• Journeys & Arrivals: On Being Gay and Jewish (1996)

• Writing a Jewish Life: Memoirs (2005)
  Writing a Jewish Life chronicles novelist Lev Raphael's struggle to claim both his religious and sexual identities, and the happiness he subsequently found. Until he reached his mid-20s, the author felt alienated from other Jews, ambivalent about his homosexuality; or as he puts it, "twice strange ... in each [community], different, lesser, ashamed." A son of Holocaust survivors, Raphael grew up in an unmistakably Jewish but nonreligious home. However, as an adult he initiated his own affiliations with Judaism: He had a bar mitzvah at age 30, went to Israel twice, and fell in love with a Jewish man. It was "coming out as a Jew,'' he writes, that "ultimately made it possible for me to come out as a gay man and then work at uniting the two identities." Attesting to his journey is the contrast between his confused childhood and the joyful domestic life he now shares with his lover, Gersh, and their two sons.

Fiction

• Winter Eyes (1992)
  A haunting and remarkable novel, Winter Eyes is a tale of family secrets, silence, relevation -- and the hope for healing and change. A spell-binding achievement, Winter Eyes richly fulfills the promise Booklist saw when it hailed Dancing on Tisha B'av as the debut of "a bright new talent in American fiction."

• The German Money (2003)
  Paul Menkus has spent his life running -- from New York, the city of his birth; from his beautiful beloved; from contact with his own brother and sister; but mostly from his mother, a holocaust survivor of unparalleled coldness. Her shattering inability to offer warmth and approval, or even remotely show love, has scarred each of the Menkus children -- Dina has fled the country and married a devout Catholic; Simon has led a sexually profligate life addled with drugs. Upon their mother's mysterious death, the children dutifully return home in search of answers to the family's legacy of unhappiness. But only more questions confront them: Why and how did this healthy woman die? Why did she divide their inheritance so that Paul, the errant son to whom she hadn't spoken in years, was singled out to receive the largest share, the dreaded "German money," a bequest of a million dollars accrued from German reparations to survivors... a gift as cynical as it is generous.
  
  Navigating the rocky shores of family memory, picking up the pieces of a life torn apart by his parents' history, Paul discovers the unthinkable, and in doing so finds the courage to stop running from a legacy which is painful to embrace but impossible to forget.

Nick Hoffman Mystery Series

1. Let's Get Criminal: An Academic Mystery (1996)
   Curiosity turns to obsession at the State University of Michigan. Professor Nick Hoffman can't understand how his supercilious new office mate Perry Cross beat out other candidates for the brand new position in Canadian Studies. How did Cross get hired when he's under-qualified? Just as troubling, Nick discovers that Cross's past intersects with his own in disturbing ways. When Cross is found dead and the verdict is murder, Nick becomes a prime suspect since he was one of the last people to see Cross the evening he was killed. Nick has no choice but to investigate on his own.

2. The Edith Wharton Murders: A Nick Hoffman Mystery (1997)
   Nick Hoffman, desperate to get tenure, has been saddled with a thankless task: coordinating a conference on Edith Wharton that will demonstrate how his department and his university supports women's issues. There's been widespread criticism that SUM is really the State University of Men. Problem is, he's forced to invite two warring Wharton societies, and the conflict between rival scholars escalates from mudslinging to murder. Nick's job and whole career are on the line unless he can help solve the case and salvage the conference.

3. The Death of a Constant Lover (1999)
   Mayhem at the State University of Michigan: Is it murder...or another faculty meeting?
   
   Filled with caustic humor about university life and written with literate style and grace, The Death of a Constant Lover escalates Nick Hoffman's involvement with mayhem and faculty meetings. When the son of a professor is murdered on a campus bridge, Nick's presence at the scene puts him right where he can't afford to be: in the middle of trouble. With his tenure review coming up, he's been warned by his department chair to avoid bad publicity.
   
   But Nick is forced to wade in deeper anyway, inexorably drawn into yet another risky investigation in the surprisingly cutthroat world of academia. He may be surrounded by academics with deadly agendas, but he's armed with the hope that his wit and insight will be enough to avert the death of his career...and maybe his own as well.

4. Little Miss Evil (2000)
   The fourth novel in the highly acclaimed series by Lev Raphael begins on a high note. It appears that Nick's career is finally moving in the right direction, and the celebrity that comes with solving murders has brought him more students than he can possibly handle. But things are never calm at the State University of Michigan: Nick's partner's career seems to be taking a downturn, a new faculty member is causing a lot of nasty talk, and cryptic messages are showing up in Nick's mailbox. What turns up next is a corpse -- and some very unsettling thoughts for the reluctant sleuth.

5. Burning Down the House: A Nick Hoffman Novel (2001)
   Nick Hoffman's State University of Michigan is a place where the Borgias and the Marx Brothers would be equally at home. Heading into the Christmas season, SUM is being torn apart by bizarre attempts to make it more diverse while an autocratic new provost pushes for a White Studies program and Nick faces not only a tenure battle but conflicting requests for support in a battle for department chair.
   
   As if it weren't enough that his professional life is a mix of seasonal chaos and departmental warfare, Nick's personal life also takes a turn: He discovers that he's attracted to the outrageously sexy Juno Dromgoole and disturbed by these disorienting new feelings in his life. He also finds himself the target, along with Juno, of a vicious harassment campaign that escalates into stalking, assault, and attempted murder. There's certainly no shortage of suspects, only of solid clues. The decisions Nick faces may change his life forever... if he survives.

6. Tropic of Murder (2004)
   It's winter, but academic madness is in full bloom at the State University of Michigan. Untenured professor Nick Hoffman is desperately trying to keep out of the way as three senior professors battle to be the chair of his department. They all hate each other and all demand his support in an atmosphere of intense crisis. The situation implodes when an emergency meeting turns the department upside down. Nick is left desperate to make a quick getaway, so his partner Stefan suggests an idyllic week at a Caribbean Club Med. The island of Serenity, however, proves to be anything but serene. Once again, Edith Wharton scholar Nick Hoffman, who grew up in New York City and was never even mugged, finds himself face-to-face with murder.

7. Hot Rocks (2007 release)
   Fitness = Death when Nick Hoffman heads back to the gym right after a vacation, finding himself caught in a Desperate Housewives-type mystery. Michigan Muscle is a state-of-the-art health club adjacent to the State University of Michigan. Boasting luxurious facilities, the latest equipment, and topnotch personal trainers, it's a palatial complex for fitness. But every palace has its intrigue, and when Nick stumbles across a dead trainer, he's drawn into a web of passion and privilege unlike anything he's ever experienced before. The prime suspect because he's the one who discovered the body, Nick has to work this mystery out to its bitter end.

Short Stories

• Dancing on Tisha B'Av (1990) -- Winner, 1990 Lambda Literary Award's Gay Men's Debut Award

• Secret Anniversaries of the Heart (2006) -- Nominated, 2006 Lambda Literary Award for Male Fiction
  When Lev Raphael published the controversial story collection Dancing on Tisha B'av, he broke new ground in the publishing world. Never before in one book had an American writer dealt with the conflicts between homosexuality and traditional Judaism, linked the chilling mind diseases of antisemitism and homophobia, and borne witness not only to the legacy of Holocaust survivors but the suffering and conflicts of their children. Winner of the prestigious Lambda Literary Award, Raphael opened the door to a new kind of American Jewish fiction.

  Secret Anniversaries of the Heart unites the best stories from Dancing on Tisha B'av with 12 new stories, including one never before published. Here we encounter tales of antisemitism on the college campus, of self-hatred and body obsession, and of survivor parents whose only response to the Holocaust is to isolate themselves, unconsciously committing a kind of emotional suicide.

  In a collection that encompasses over 25 years of his award-winning stories, Lev Raphael proves himself a visionary like James Baldwin and shares Anita Brookner's gift for dramatizing the pain of seemingly quiet lives in stories that are both passionate and precise.

Education and Self-Help

• Stick Up for Yourself: Every Kid's Guide to Personal Power & Positive Self-Esteem (Date?) with Gershen Kaufman and Pamela Espeland
  Stick Up For Yourself! is the ultimate resource for any kid who's ever been picked on at school, bossed around, blamed for things he or she didn't do, or treated unfairly -- and for any kid who sometimes feels frustrated, angry, powerless, or scared. Simple words and real-life examples show how children can stick up for themselves with other kids (including bullies and teasers), big sisters and brothers, even grown-ups. Kids learn how to build relationships, become responsible, manage their anger, grow a "feelings vocabulary," make good choices, solve problems, set goals, and "store" happiness and pride. Questions from real kids are paired with answers about how to handle specific situations calmly, confidently, and effectively. A special note to parents and teachers explores the "self-esteem backlash" and explains what self-esteem really is -- and why kids today need it more than ever.

• Teachers Guide to Stick Up for Yourself: A 10-Part Course in Self-Esteem and Assertiveness for Kids (Date?) with Gershen Kaufman and Gerri Johnson
  Positive self-esteem is based on facts and truths, achievements and competencies. It is the single most important psychological skill we can develop in order to thrive in society. Without self-esteem, kids doubt themselves, cave in to peer pressure, feel worthless and inferior, and may turn to drugs or alcohol as a crutch. With self-esteem, kids feel secure inside themselves, are more willing to take positive risks, are more likely to take responsibility for their actions, can cope with life's changes and challenges, and are resilient in the face of rejection, disappointment, failure and defeat.
  
  The Teacher's Guide is a step-by-step curriculum for use in upper elementary through middle school. Created for the classroom, this course can also be used in other group settings, including counseling groups, after-school programs, youth groups, clubs, and community programs -- anywhere children and youth need help becoming their best selves.

• Dynamics of Power: Fighting Shame and Building Self-Esteem (1983) with Gershen Kaufman
  How are we to feel a sense of competence and power in the world? Can we learn to cope with life's stresses as well as its uncertainties? Are satisfying interpersonal relations, with peers or partners, possible?
  
  Dynamics of Power answers these questions, and shows how psychological health and self-esteem depend on overcoming shame and developing personal power.
  
  Based on a unique course developed at Michigan State University, this book teaches essential skills for building self-esteem. It provides a comprehensive curriculum for psychological health which can be implemented directly within our educational system. The principles and tools contained in this program directly combat addiction, violence and stress-related disorders by reversing the very conditions responsible for them: shame and powerlessness.

• Coming Out of Shame: Transforming Gay and Lesbian Lives (1996) with Gershen Kaufman
  Most gay men and lesbians grow up learning that to be gay is to be sick, to be unnatural, to be a sinner. By adolescence, such negative attitudes have produced and reinforced a single, powerful emotion: shame, the feeling that you're inferior and judged as "bad," not for what you do but for who you are -- gay. In Coming Out of Shame, Gershen Kaufman and Lev Raphael expose the role shame has come to play in gay and lesbian lives. Rarely discussed but vastly important, shame powerfully shapes each individual's development of self-esteem, identity and intimacy -- three areas in which gay men and lesbians have been extremely vulnerable to the crippling effects of shame. Tracing the historical and cultural sources of gay shame, Kaufman and Raphael reveal how gay men and lesbians have internalized shame, resulting in self-loathing and destructive behaviors.
  
  The hallmark of shame is silence, and by breaking the silence around the dynamics of gay shame, Kaufman and Raphael offer a way to "come out" of shame and begin the journey toward wholeness and self-acceptance. Filled with the experiences of those struggling to overcome shame, Coming Out of Shame includes strategies for storing self-esteem, creating a positive gay identity, healing scenes of shame, and developing partnerships in intimacy. Self-affirming and inspirational, Coming Out of Shame guides the transformation of gay shame into gay pride and empowers gay men and lesbians as no other book has done.

• A Teacher's Guide to Stick Up for Yourself: A 10-Part Course in Self-Esteem and Assertiveness for Kids: Every Kid's Guide to Personal Power and Positive Self-Esteem (2000) with Gershen Kaufman and Pamela Espeland

Other

• Edith Wharton's Prisoners of Shame: A New Perspective on Her Neglected Fiction (1991)

See also:

• Paws and Reflect: Exploring the Bond Between Gay Men and Their Dogs (2000) by Neil Plakcy and Sharon Sakson
  The truth is, our dogs are our children. We don’t have to straighten their teeth or send them to college, but we love them, feed them, groom them, sometimes even dress them up, just like we'd do with little boys and girls. Most dog owners, straight or gay, would probably feel the same way.
  
  Even though advances in society and social norms have made it more common for gay men to have human children, for many gay men, our dogs play an even more important role in our lives. They love us unconditionally; they comfort us when we are in pain; and because it's most likely that we will outlive them, they teach us to cope with loss.
  
  We decided to parlay our backgrounds-- Neil as a gay writer and dog owner, Sharon as a journalist, dog show judge and award-winning breeder of Whippets and Brussels Griffons-- to explore this connection. We asked talented writers to contribute their thoughts, and Sharon interviewed celebrities and ordinary men about their relationships with their dogs.
  
  With contributions by Alistair McCartney, Andy Zeffer, Brian McCormick, Charles Busch, David Mizejewski, Donald Hardy, Edward Albee, G. Russell Overton, Hal Campbell, J.R.G. DeMarco, Jack Morton, Jay Quinn, Jeffrey Ricker, Jonathan Caouette, Justin Rudd, Kevin Anderson, Lev Raphael, Matthew Phillips, Michael Wallerstein, Neil Plakcy, Randall McCormick, Randy Allgaier, Ron Nyswaner, Sharon Sakson, Stephen Kwielchek, Steve Berman, and Victor Banis

• Something Inside: Conversations With Gay Fiction Writers (1980, 1999)  by Philip Gambone, Compiler and Robert Giard, Photographer
  In the last twenty years, gay literature has earned a place at the American and British literary tables, spawning its own constellation of important writers and winning a dedicated audience. No one though, until Philip Gambone, has attempted to offer a collective portrait of our most important gay writers. This collection of interviews attempts just that, and is notable both for the depth of Gambone's probing conversations and for the sheer range of important authors included. Virtually every prominent gay author writing in English today is here, including Alan Hollinghurst, Allen Barnett, Andrew Holleran, Bernard Cooper, Brad Gooch, Brian Keith Jackson, Christopher Bram, David Leavitt, David Plante, Dennis Cooper, Edmund White, Gary Glickman, John Preston, Joseph Hansen, Lev Raphael, Michael Cunningham, Michael Lowenthal, Michael Nava, Paul Monette, Peter Cameron, and Scott Heim.