A fictional memoir encompassing a period of time in rural, wild west America from 1946 – 2025 when men were men . . . and sheep and homosexuals were rightly nervous.
View the Book Trailer
The prose is thoughtful and fluent, illuminating the subtle undercurrents
BookLife Prize, October 6, 2025
that drive interplay between the story’s characters. Curnes’s representation of the relationship between Ronald and Mitch is an intriguing study on the complexities of human attachment.
Read the Full 5-Star Review by Tissie Lilaclicorice Here
Paul Knobloch for Reader Views 12/2025 [See full review here]
“In a book that mixes psychological thriller and scathing noir with dark, deadpan humor and social satire, the author looks at the relationship between three central characters: siblings Ronald and Harlan Simpleman, and the younger Mitch, a dynamic and successful author with whom both brothers have been intimately involved.”
“When you’re dealing with darkness, you need a little levity, and this book certainly does deliver. But what most pleases me about Simpleman is that we are at a point now where we can write strong, complex queer characters in ways that are not didactic, preachy, or watered down like DEI videos and bad straight-to-Netflix dreck. We still have many battles to fight, but as the son of a gay man and someone who has been involved in queer rights and legalizing gay marriage, I am glad to see that books like this can be written, and I am glad to see that queerness can be addressed more honestly in a book that portrays characters who are infinitely more complex than any identity designation could suggest. There was never a moment in the book where the author felt that he needed to defend queerness, gay marriage, or any other issue not related to plot and character, and this means we have the freedom to write about our queer brothers and sisters with much more nuance, compassion, and truth.”
About the Book Cover Art
“Men Through the Ages”
Greg Dow, SFCA
24” x 36” Acrylic on Canvas
Honourable Mention – 2019 Federation of Canadian Artists Juried Exhibition “Painting on the Edge”
(From the private collection of the Author)
From the Back Cover:
No man is that simple.
Ronald Simpleman is not about to take the fall for the faults of the fathers. He may be a pansy, but he’s no patsy. While his conscience has been in full-blown crisis mode for three quarters of a century, this self-exiled hermit feels like it might be finally safe to ease out of hiding.
Misguided in childhood through the fault of his father, just as his grandfather had misled his dad, Simpleman has been burdened by secrets he’s lugged around since he was a kid. Lying low as a recluse on family acreage clinging to the sloped outskirts of Crested Butte, he has managed to outlive ten presidents and at least so far, outsmart those who may be after him.
Now, with what might be his final winter upon him and too little time left to expunge his guilt-ridden soul, Simpleman believes he just might get away scot free as he rounds up his closet skeletons for the short trip to his final resting place in the Simpleman Family plot.
Available now at these online booksellers and through your local bookstore:
