Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1987)
LA M B D A RISIN G BOOK REPORT - 6 Introducing the Lambda Rising B ook Report L. Page "Deacon" Maccubbin You hold in your hands the culmination of a dream-though, at times, it seemed as though "nightmare” might better describe the processes we went through to publish this first issue of the LAMBDA RISING BOOK REPORT. There were the usual frustrations experienced by any new publication: compu ter breakdowns, missed deadlines, last min ute design changes, a frantic search for money to pay the printer, long hours of copy editing, and many nights hunched over a desk until the wee hours of the morning. It took months just to settle on a name for the publication. For a while, the working (and obvious) title was “ Lambda Rising Review of Books” but that imparted a stuffi ness that we wanted to avoid. Good literature can be both educational and entertaining and we did not want to alienate potential readers ■ Publisher's P erspective ----------------------------- Each issue, we will call on noted and accomplished gay and lesbian authors to share their wisdom and their foibles with you. We will also open our pages to the tyros who we feel have important comment or thought to contribute even though their voices may occasionally quiver. You’ll find in-depth reviews of current literature as well as short synopses of new releases. You will be informed of the latest news concerning gay and lesbian book publishing, writing and the literary scene. And we hope you’ll be enter tained by our comic strip and our crossword puzzle. Over the past thirteen years, we’ve watched the gay and lesbian book market grow and mature. When we opened our first Lambda Rising bookstore in 1974, we were lucky to find 300 titles with which to fill our shelves. Tbday, our customers, both in-store and around the country, can choose from many thousands of titles in nearly every by adopting a grey, “ halls of ivy” style, literary snobbery. Rather the exuberant enthusiasm of a high school English student in uncovering a modern day Ocsar Wilde than the dull, grey Puritanism of a graduate student’s doctorate on metered relationships in Shakespeare's fifth and sixth sonnets. We wanted this publication to be lively and exciting like the literature we cover, like the community we serve. And so the dream became reality as the LAMBDA RISING BOOK REPORT, a contem porary review of gay and lesbian literature. Our goal is to keep you abreast of the latest in literature of interest to lesbians and gay men, their families and friends. From the most erudite philosophical studies to the hottest new fiction, from important sociological studies to romantic lesbian love stories, we will report on the current state of the gay and lesbian literary market and, hopefully, add to your enjoyment and education in the process. category. In 1974, there were only a couple of tiny gay presses in existence. Tbday, there is a growing number of well-founded, energetic gay and lesbian publishing hou ses providing an outlet for our authors. Equally important, mainstream publi shers now recognize the value and import tance of having good gay and lesbian literature in their catalogs. And there is a rapidly expanding network of gay and lesbian bookstores throughout the coun try, each doing their part to make our literature available to an increasing num ber of readers. It is in this atmosphere of growth and expansion that the LAMBDA RIS ING BOOK REPORT has been born. We remain enthusiastic and excited about the future of gay and lesbian literature-and the future of the gay and lesbian commun ity, as well. We hope you share our opt imism. BEST SELLERS W O M E N S PAPE R B AC K S 1. LEAVE A LIGHT ON FOR ME, by Jean Swallow. (Spinsters/Aunt Lute, $8.95) Four M E N S PAPERBACKS 1. MEN ON MEN, edited by George Stambolian. (New American Library, $9.95) An extraordinary collection gathering the gifted voices in today’s gay fiction. women, four lives, work through anger and love, passion and hope. 2. MURDER AT THE NIGHTWOOD, by Kathering V. Forrest. (Naiad, $8.95) A dead 2. SAFE SEX, by John Preston & Glenn Swann. (New American Library, $8.95) Playing safe and stroking the largest, most important sex organ-the brain. blonde’s open blue eyes beseech and disturb LAPD detective Kate Delafield. 3. HIGH HEARTS, by Rita Mae Brown. (Bantam, $4.50) A high stepping gender chameleon joins the Confederate cavalry and outdoes her husband in battle. 3. I’VE A FEELING WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE, by Ethen Mordden. (New American Library, $7.95) Dorothy, Aunty Em will never understand New York’s gay milieu. 4. AN EMERGENCE OF GREEN, by Katherine V. Forrest. (Naiad, $8.95) A woman is caught in a hard fought battle between her husband and her lesbian lover. 4. THE CATHOLIC, by David Plante. (New American Library, $7.95) Spirituality and passion, quilt and eroticism somehow nuture and yet constrain each other. 5. LOVE OF GOOD WOMEN, by Isabel Miller. (Naiad, $8.95) Rosy the Riveter types discover their capabilities, each other, and escape their domestic prisons. 6. DYKES TO WATCH OUT FOR, by Alison Bechdel. (Firebrand, $6.95) Cartoons about dyke delights and foibles, the mores and quirks of the lesbian milieu. 7. LONG TIME PASSING , edited by Marcy Adelman. (Alyson, $7.95) Stories of pre-lib 5. CANARY, by Nathan Aldyne. (Ballantine, $2.95) The fourth Valentine mystery: This time his clients are having their neckties pulled a little too tight. 6. HOME IN YOUR HAND, by Lee Lynch. (Naiad. $7.95) Fine stories about romance, erotocism, problems, love, and friendship in lesbian lives. Keith Hale. (Alyson, $6.95) Adolescent first loves, innocent and bright, timid yet steamy, are shattered by an outrageously cruel world. 7. GAY LIFE, edited by Eric Rofes. (Doubleday, $12.95) An informative, humorous, and above all human, guide to living the gay lifestyle. dykes which show their terrible courage, unkillable hope, their dignity. 8. CODY, by 8. IN THE LIFE, edited by Joseph Beam. (Alyson, $7.95) AT LAST! Stories and essays encompassing the lives of men who are proudly gay and proudly black. 9. THE HANDMAID’S TALE, 9. I’M LOOKING FOR MR. RIGHT..., by Gregory Flood. (Brob House, $6.95) AIDS, 10. DYKEVERSIONS, Lesbian Writing Collective. (Women’s Press, $9.95) Original short 10. LION WARRIORS, by Don Harrison. (Knights Press, $8.95) Unbridled male passion by Margaret Atwood. (Fawcett, $4.95) A breeder maiden tells of horror and hypocrisy in a disturbingly realizable Falwellian utopia. fiction by talented women writers celebrating lesbian lives. W O M E N S C LO TH BO U N D 1. SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE..., by Jane Wagner. (Harper & Row, $15.95) A compendium of pop history and a Broadway hit starring Lily Tbmlin. 2. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS. (Abrams, $35 oo) A beautiful book about a monument to how far women artists have come, how far they have to go. 3. ESSAYS OF VIRGINIA WOOLF: VOL. ONE, by Virginia Woolf (Harcourt. Brace, Jovanovich, $19.95) A literary achievement by the last great English essayist. 4. ILLUSTRATED GARDEN BOOK, by Vita Sackville-West. (Atheneum, $22.50) Only have a window box? Plant the beauty of Sissinghurst Castle in your mind. 5. ICE AND FIRE, by Andrea Dworkin. (Wiedenfield & Nicolson, $14.95) An explosive story of a woman's search for self in a labyrinth of drugs and sex. true love, safe sex, and other spiritual concerns of the modern gay male. makes for the ultimate sword and sandle epic you wished for as a boy. M E N ’S CLOTH BOUND L BUDDIES, by Ethan Mordden. (St. Martin's, $16.95) Stories of friends, lovers, fathers, sons, gay and straight, black and white, loving each other. 2. THE ORTON DIARIES, by Joe Orton. (Harper & Row, $19.95) A comic master looks at a crazy world with plenty of “ skip to the loo” escapades thrown in. 3. GAY PRIEST, Malcolm Boyd. (St. Martin's, $14.95) Gay, and a priest through and through, his courage, candor push the Church toward compassion, justice. 4. LITTLE DOG LAUGHED, by Joseph Hansen. (Henry Holt, $15.95) Dave Brand- stetter is in South America and in more trouble than ever before. 5. PINK TRIANGLE, by Richard Plant. (Henry Holt, $19.95) The most comprehensive work to date about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals. Best-sellers were determined by sales figures from Lambda Rising's Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland bookstores, as well as figures from nationwide mail order sales. compiled by Tony Dean SODOMY! Ah ha. THAT GOT YOUR ATTENTION! On May 24th, 1610 it was the attention of many people in Jamestown, VA. On that day so long ago. Gov. Thomas Gates read to the people “ No man shall commit the horrible, detestable, sin of sodomy upon pain of death....” And in June...‘ She went up 5,000 feet where she played around a little and came back, making a poor landing.” It was her first solo flight. “ She" was none other than Ame lia Ear hart Governors and aviators aside, many gay and lesbian authors were born during these two months, and what better way to celebrate your birthday or a friend's than with a book written by a great author born on t j day. Here are a few of those prolific t »pie along with some of the titles for which i ey're known. - M AY MAY SARTON MAY 9, 1912 Special Tbachers/Special Boys Anger Journal of Solitude Letters from Maine Bridge of Years Magnificent Spinster Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing Grain of Mustard Seed House by the Sea Shower of Summer Days Small Room Burnt Ones Twyborn Affair Flaws in the Glass Vivisector PETER FISHER MAY 19, 1945 Gay Mystique PATRICK WHITE MAY 28, 1912 WALT WHITMAN MAY 31, 1819 City of Orgies Leaves of Grass Portable Walt Whitman OTHERS BORN IN MAY William Inge. May 3,1913 Michael Lally, May 25, 1942 Sasha Lewis, May 12, 1947 Ralph Waldo Emerson, May 25, 1803 Jill Johnston, May 17, 1929 Frederick Prokosch, May 17, 1908 - JU N E - ALLEN GINSBERG JUNE 3, 1926 Iron Horse Journals: Early Fifties Kaddish Planet News Fall of America Plutonion Ode First Blues Reality Sandwiches Gates of Wrath Straight Hearts Delight Howl Continued on page 9