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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 18, 1997)
j u s t o u t ▼ July 1 8 , 1 9 8 7 ▼ 21 BOOKING INTO SUMMER Continued from page 19 Liberty Square by Katherine V. Forrest. Berkley Prime Crime, 1997; $5.99 paper. The for mer Naiad Press author has brought out her latest Kate Delafield mystery. This time Kate must deal with both her past as a Vietnam veteran and her relationship with Aimee Grant. Delightful brain candy for the mystery fan. Deadline fo r Murder by Val M cDermid. Spinsters Ink, 1997; $10.95 paper. McDermid takes up where her earlier book. Common Murder, left off. Now protagonist Lindsay Gordon must clear the name of a fellow journal ist accused of murder. A mystery and more set in modem Scotland. ¡Mst Rites by Tracey Richardson. Naiad Press, 1997; $11.95 paper. Canadian mystery by the author of Northern Blue about the auto-erotic asphyxiation of a Roman Catholic priest. ne can t help but wonder what the gay male literaryi scene would be like without erotica and coming-of-age stories. On the other hand, who’s complaining? Perhaps because sexuality is so central to the gay male identity, sex and sexual awakening are all the more important and worthy of attention. Or maybe it s an unhealthy obsession with just one part o f the psyche, with the unfortunate consequence o f neglecting other areas. Before choosing sides, check out this yea r’s summer reading list: It offers both brain candy and food for thought, tough questions and some pleasantly distracting answers. Summertime, the season o f vacations, with its extravagant pride parades and shirtless beefy hunks, balmy weather and lazy longer days, is the per fect time for reading (and an unread book is the perfect disguise fo r peering eyes!). —CDC O arious, adolescence, or it might send you into the doldrums all over again wondering why real life never measures up to fantasy. It's a classic com- ing-of-age novel rife with titillating teen escapades and an educational encounter with the dark side. Lesbianism Made Easy by Helen Eisenbach. Flesh and the Word 4: Gay Erotic Confessionals edited by Michael Lowenthal. Crown Publishing Inc., 1996; $20 cloth. A decep tively light and simple title disguises a wordy and highbrow satire of both self-help books and a population known to use them. Us. This is famil iar territory in humor writing these days, as in Ellen Orleans' Who Cares If It’s a Choice?. It’s all here: the quizzes, the mock scenarios, the repeti tion of age-old stereotypes that we can find funny because they are both ghastly and true. Eisenbach does not pull her convoluted punches. Her heavy- handed condemnation of political lesbians as not “real” lesbians w ill probably either attract or seri ously offend readers. If you like your humor vit riolic and complex, you'll like this book. Plume, 1997; $13.95 paper. Lowenthal's antholo gy is a welcome addition to the ranks of queer erotica, a genre that has really taken off in recent years (hell, how many years of Hustler are we competing with?). As with all anthologies, some tales are better than others; highlights in this edi tion include stories by Darieck Scott and Robert Glück, both authors o f excellent novels and two of my personal faves. Kept Boy by Robert Rodi. Dutton, 1996; $23.95 cloth. This argyle-sheathed book is yet another example of the quintessential wittiness of gay men. Rodi is the com edic antithesis of Michelangelo Signorile, dissecting gay culture one arche/stereotype at a time. With novels like Drag Queen, Fag Hag, Closet Case and now Kept Boy, Rodi has captured the ironies and sub tle pathos of queer culture. A Boy Named Phyllis by Frank DeCaro. It’s all here: the quizzes, the mock scenarios, the repetition of age-old stereotypes that we can find funny because they are both ghastly and true. Roberts' Rules o f Lesbian Break-ups by Shelly Roberts. Spinsters Ink. 1997; $5.95 paper. Short, cynical, to the point and often true words of wisdom on the breakup and all it entails. Worth the dip. Penguin. 1996; $11.95 paper. Before reading DeCaro's humorous commentary on growing up gay in the suburban '70s. the only memoir I'd ever enjoyed was Gore Vidal's Palimpsest. The two couldn't be more different: DeCaro's book isn't exactly thoughtless, but it certainly is light reading sure to crack a smile, even when it’s a little sad. This is lemonade made from life’s proverbial lemons. Dream Boy by Jim Grimsley. Scribner. 1997; $11 paper. Not the typical coming-of-age novel, this book is more than just a vehicle for steamy boy-sex. A playwright by trade, Grimsley has crafted an engrossing love story haunted by a sense o f inevitable tragedy. His sensual and soporific language lends emotional weight to a tale of star-crossed lovers. Put this at the top of your list. Some Men Are Lookers by Ethan Mordden. St. M artin's Press, 1997; $23.95 cloth. If you like to believe life is glamorous— at least someone else's, if not your own— check out the latest by Mordden, author of the Buddies trilogy that cap tured both the glitzy facade and the true grit of gay Manhattan in the 1980s. Although the two jacket blurbs comparing this book to the work of Jane Austen give it literary pretensions, one should bear in mind that she was the Jackie Collins o f her day. If you seek substance, skip this soap opera. Hey, Joe by Ben Neihart. Simon & Schuster. 19%; $21 cloth. If you spent your teen years depressed and repressed, Niehart's first novel might be your second chance at a brighter, if vic tant ways, gay life is the same everywhere. Except that when they laugh, it comes out “gack” instead of “ha." Nonfiction Life Outside by M ichelangelo Signorile. Harper Collins, 1997; $25 cloth. With praise from some o f queerdom ’s most esteemed authors (Annistead Maupin, Martin Duberman. Larry Kramer, and. yes, even Chastity Bono), Signorile’s most recent effort is assured a place on every thinking homosexual’s shelf. Critiquing what he calls the “cult of masculinity,” Signorile continues asking questions that don’t have easy answers: Will the first post-Stonewall generation pass on a new maturity to subsequent genera tions? Or will a legacy o f narcissistic attention to physical ideals, excessive drug use and unsafe sex continue to bring on new waves o f anxiety, emo tional insecurity and HIV transmission? Coming Out Every Day: A Gay, Bisexual or Questioning Man's Guide by Bret K. Johnson, Ph.D. New Harbinger Publications, 1997; $13.95 paper. Hot off the press, this self-help workbtxik by a gay psychologist builds on the idea of com ing out as a lifelong process. Complete with true- to-life examples taken from the author’s practice, Johnson's b<x)k leads the way through self-exam ination, conquering shame and guilt, discovering a sense o f pride and joining the larger communi ty. Even if you think you're already out. it's never too late to increase your self-awareness. Bull's Balls by Ralf König. The BK Press, 1997; $15.95 paper. König has written over 20 full-length comic books that have been translated into 14 languages and inspired the largest-gross ing film in German history, but this is the first of his works to be released in the United States. The story of two lovers struggling to keep it together after 10 years. Bull's Balls is sexually explicit and emotionally honest— proof that, in all the impor BULL'S BALLS/ T hl B K P ress Subtitled “An intimate his tory of the sex lives of gay men postwar to present,” Sadownick’s new release is part factual chronicle and part psychological profile. Sex Between Men by Douglas Sadownick. Harper Collins, 1997; $12 paper. The sexy cover belies the seriousness of this lxx>k. meaning it may not be the best choice for the beach (though you can never tan your backside enough). Subtitled “An intimate history of the sex lives of gay men postwar to present," Sadownick's new release is part factual chronicle and part psycho logical profile. It pulls no punches and spares no secrets in its examination of the philosophy, poli tics and pleasure of gay male sex. sexuality and sensibility.
