Beauteous Maximus

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic that began in late 2019, the author worked as a solo hairstylist in the front parlor of an old Victorian house in the Pacific Northwest. This work is a collection of intimate, fictionalized stories that were inspired by true events and hundreds of conversations the author had with his customers about what it was like to live through the unprecedented disaster that conquered every nation on Earth. Written in vignettes that are woven through the backdrop of politics and popular culture of the time, this compilation is an honest depiction of the impacts of pandemic life as told through the experiences of a gay man. The events captured in this final volume of the Beauteous Maximus trilogy show how COVID pulled society into the most volatile flashpoints of human conflict. More importantly, Volume Three depicts how the Spirit of Truth can guide us out of darkness and fear by teaching us how to embrace the beauty of compassion.