Burning Point [Paperback]

Dennis N. Hinkle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

'With striking honesty, this book describes one psychologist's journey from life-threatening naiveté to the hard-earned enlightenment of integrity. It courageously combines the most intimate personal details of his experiences with outspoken psychological truth. It is a vivid story that grips the reader from the first page to the last.'--Don Clark, Ph.D., author, LOVING SOMEONE GAY

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Growing up in the 1940s and 1950s when the only label for homosexuality was 'pervert' and gay pride meant prison, Dennis Hinkle has written a compelling and powerful memoir of passion denied and love unclaimed. This book is not only for those gay men who will recognize themselves on every page but for any of us who have felt different, fearful that friends and families will find us wanting, afraid to be fully ourselves with another.

"The book gives us a dramatic picture of the emotional anguish that can come to people as they try to make sense of their needs and desires in a world that does not value them. Perhaps more importantly, it is a moving tribute to the joy and triumph that comes with an honest acceptance of one's self.

"Educators, parents, and therapists, indeed every thoughtful reader will find in this book new depths of tolerance and hopefully more creative and committed ways of appreciating and embracing 'difference' as a blessing rather than a burden."

Bonnie R. Strickland, Ph.D., ABPP; former president, American Psychological Association

"With striking honesty, this book describes on psychologist's journey from life-threatening sexual naivete to the hard-earned enlightenment of integrity. It courageously combines the most intimate personal details of his experiences with outspoken psychological truth. It is a vivid story that grips the reader from the first page to the last."

Don Clark, Ph.D.; author, Loving Someone Gay

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Alamo Square Press (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886360081
• ISBN-13: 978-1886360082
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,465,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Honesty and Insight, July 29, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Burning Point (Paperback)

Burning Point, a true story, is the most revealing, intimate, profoundly moving portrait of a man's life that I have ever read. The riviting conflicts of his life are presented in the first chapter, which ends in one of the many unforgettable scenes of the book, establishing the suspense that I felt throughtout Burning Point until its dramatic conclusion. The author, a psychologist, writes beautifully about the central issues of his life with amazing honesty and depth of insight. He is obviously a very talented writer. This book is a real page-turner. Best of all, the many emotions I felt helped me to learn about myself.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting, honest memoir, July 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Burning Point (Paperback)

This book is a memoir that deals with the author's decades-long struggle to understand, and come to terms with, his sexual self. The struggle is described with brutal honesty, against a background of family, the rituals of high school and college, institutions (including the US Army), political life, societal norms, contemporary history, religion, and more. Yet the writing never bogs down, and the reader finds himself impelled along with the author down a turbulent river of discovery. Hinkle recalls or recreates conversations and impressions in an absolutely convincing style. Gay people who read this book will doubtless relate to many of the incidents and emotions he details. Straight people will probably be astonished to discover that what is referred to as one's "sexual orientation" isn't necessarily all that straightforward. All readers will enjoy Hinkle's fine ability to describe his conflict without being either maudlin or self-righteous.

Burning Point is the story of a journey, that moves from the author's childhood and relations with his parents, to betrayal of an early homosexual love, with attendant regret and grief, through a "normal" period of heterosexual marriage and raising a family, and finally into the acceptance and joy of Hinkle's present life.

So this is a story with a happy ending, but it has many dark moments. Hinkle, who is a clinical psychologist, has a great facility with words. Though the situations and feelings he describes are often of the most tortuous and complicated nature, the writing is so straightforward that it is a very easy (though long) book to read. And there's not an ounce of psychobabble present!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Memoir, July 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Burning Point (Paperback)

Dennis Hinkle's Burning Point takes the reader on a spiritual journey into the forbidden passions of gay love. His powerful true story touches the reader in profound ways as he describes the pains of love and loss and of ultimate redemption.

This book also brings to light the isolation and loneliness most men experience as they struggle with cultural ideation. Dennis Hinkle writes with striking insight as he leads the reader into the depths of his spiritual self. This book is bound to change the lives of all who dare to embark on the journey within.