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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 19, 1996)
ju s t o u t ▼ July 1 9 , 1 9 9 6 ▼ 19 S ummer R eaders , S ome A re N ot Continued from page 17 short story. Although it is a little on the short side, it’s definitely not light reading: It’s the fiction alized autobiography of a gay teenager living in 1950s Canada (scary!), who is obsessed with fireworks, carnivals and self-de structive behavior. As in those ancient and bulky masterpieces Pilgrim’s Progress and Vanity Fair, the midway is not just set dressing, it is a metaphor for life. Of course, this is the C liffs Notes version with a more James Dean- esque protagonist, so don’t be put off by the literary allusions. Flashpoint: Gay Male Sexual W ritin g ed ited by M ichael Bronski. Richard Kasak, 1996; $12.95. Finally, erotica with a brain! This collection of short fiction was compiled with cul tural analysis in mind. Of course, it’s not all erotic (unless you’re so depraved that simply reading the word “intercourse” is enough to make you “pitch a tent,” or you’ve been sublimating your desire for so long that you can only get off intellectually), be cause sex itself isn’t always that way. One thing all the stories do is to show the adaptation of major intellectual and literary trends to a gay experience and lifestyle. Penguin Book o f Interna tional Gay Writing edited by Mark Mitchell. Penguin, 1996; $ 14.95. That old saw about never judging a book by its cover is only half true with this anthology. The two suggestively posed hunky sailors on the cover are not to be found inside— at least not until after you’ve waded through the historical selections and appropriations, which range from Plato to Camus. There is also quite a bit of new work included, some of which is rather steamy. The introduction by David Leavitt should provide you with enough assurance of this book’s quality. moments by a prolific writer of nov els and other fare lately admitted to the lesbian literary hall of fame. Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg. Beacon, 1996; $27.50. A history of “people who defy cultural barriers of sex and gender.” Photos and more of the story Feinberg began in Stone Butch Blues. A nd Say Hi to Joyce: The Life and Chronicles o f a Lesbian Couple by Deb Price and Joyce Murdoch. Doubleday, 1996; $12.95. Includes the best of Price’s pioneering out gay columns for the mainstream media and the story behind them as told by Murdoch. eroiaaeu 'c i GAY MEN’S NONFICTION Becoming Gay: The Journey to Self-Acceptance by Richard Isay, MD. Pantheon, 1996; $23. Attention self-help groupies: Dr. Isay has writ ten another insightful psychoanalytic treatise (is that an oxymoron?) on the psycho-social development of gay men. For the cautiously curious, Isay’s discussion of coming out and denial and the psychological effects of HIV and AIDS will raise some issues worth consideration, but it should all be taken with a grain of salt. (Warning: after reading this book, the hem of your Freudian slip may be showing.) A n Evening at the Garden o f Allah: A Gay Cabaret in Seattle by Don Paulson with Roger Simpson. Columbia University Press, 1996; $34.95. Fascinating history of the hub of gay life in Seattle after World War II. Oral history of drag performers and patrons; a chapter on lesbi ans. (LL) Stud: Architectures o f Masculinity edited by Joel Sanders. Princeton Architectural Press, 1996; $19.95. If you know what “architecton ics” means, you probably already own this book; if you’re serious (or pretentious) about art, it may be of interest (to your coffee table); if you have a genuine interest in the fabrication of male Edited. wSh fot?och;<:tfc>n Posi script by Mathilda M. Hi:;* Margaret C. Anderson Three-Hand fa x and Other Spells by Staszek. Permeable Press, 1995; $9.95. Seattle author Stan Henry’s first book-length collection (of previously published works) includes the "true” story of an infamous—though anonymous—Paul Dahlquist model, which is the most erotic and least challeng ing piece in the book. The real meat of this book is not the stories’ occasionally bizarreeroticism, rather it is the continually disturbing excavation of the characters’ psyche(s) and the relentless pursuit of a broader philosophical understanding of personal psychology. And it’s funny too, even while per forming mental acrobatics. Traitor to the Race by Darieck Scott. Plume, 1995; $10.95. Between the dedication and the prelude there is a quote from Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye—a tough act to follow, and reason enough to believe this is a powerful book. Scott paints a vivid picture of homophobia and self-ha tred in the black community and the doubly difficult predicament of the protagonist, who is both gay and black and is involved in an interra cial relationship. Members of the “religious white” should be Clock work Oranged by being tied up and forced to listen to this book over and over and over... LESBIAN HUMOR LESBIAN NONFICTION Heterosexual Plots and lesbian Narratives by Marilyn R. Farwell. NYU Press, 1996; $ 17.95. A collec tion of essays from this erudite but accessible professor at the Univer sity of Oregon. Discusses the nature of modem and postmodern lesbian literature. The Diaries o f Sylvia Townsend Warner edited by Claire Harman. Virago, 1996;$ 19.95. Anotherclas- sic. Rich, varied, complex. Open to any page and find a beautifully writ ten gem of one of life’s precious identity and the construction and gendering of space (from fashion trends to skyscrapers), you should definitely read it. One of the featured authors is Matthew Barney, a former football player and J. Crew model, whose installations and short films (currently showing at the SF MOMA) make one wonder what really goes on in the locker room. Truth Serum: Memoirs by Bernard Cooper. Houghton Mifflin, 1996; $21.95. Amy Tan likes this book (even though it’s not an unbearably sad story about how traumatizing it is to be a mod ernized, Americanized child of traditional Asian parents), and here’s why: Though it’s no Por trait o f the Artist as a Young Man, this coming- out story has all the essential coming-of-age ingredients found in much of Tan’s work and tells the age-old cross-cultural tale of the I ife-long struggle to understand one’s self and place in the world. j Liliane in Butchy Dykes by Leanne Franson. 1995; $1.50. Available from Franson at PO Box 274, Suce Place du Parc, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H2W 2NB. No. 25 of the Liliane comic books really gets at the essence of butch. Roberts' Rules o f lesbian Living by Shelly Roberts. Spin sters Ink, 1996; $5.95. A little book of truisms all our own. One of my favorites: “If male homo sexuals are called ‘gay,’ then fe male homosexuals should be called ‘ecstatic.’ ” The B utches o f M adison County by Ellen Orleans. Laugh Lines Press, 1995; $7.95. Not hav ing had the pleasure (?) of seeing the film that was obviously in spired by Orleans’ book, I can’t compare the two. But I'll het you’ll like this book version better.