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.