Literary Nonfiction. LGBT Studies. Memoir. A PASSIONATE ENGAGEMENT is both a love story and a story of political activism. In this remarkable memoir, Ken Harvey reveals his own experience of coming out as a gay man, of meeting and falling in love with the man who would become his husband, and of growing into a social and political activist. Much of the story is filled with the kind of sensitive writing that Harvey demonstrated in his earlier work, but this book also shows a different side as he moves from the fictional to nonfictional, as he puts himself bluntly in the middle of the conflict. As the book progresses, the reader moves with Harvey from outside observer to inside participant of the political struggle for same-sex marriage. His shift is significant, and a reader can't help but be moved along with him. This is a timely and important book, one that puts a truly human face onto this important social movement.