January 7 .2ÛÛÛ * J
Curl up with a good book
Tis the season to hibernate, so here’s a roundup
of quality queer fiction to read between the covers
MEN2000
WfW Olii
M en
on
M en 2000
Edited by David Bergman and Karl Woelz . Plume,
2000; $12.95 softcover.
low can one go wrong with an anthology?
| Truth is, there are some lousy pieces in
Men on Men 2000— but that’s just my
opinion. With 20 stories from which to choose,
readers of all predilections are sure to he satis
fied.
AIDS and HIV, coming of age and discov
ering sex, love and loss, cultural homophobia
and co-parenting— the list of issues tackled
goes on and on. My likes and dislikes aside, all
the authors are capable, all the stories are apro
pos. Men on Men 2000 is a fine addition to the
series, which was begun in 1986 under the edi
torship of George Stambolian.
The collection includes a number of up-
and-coming writers, as well as an excerpt from
a novel-in-progress contributed by that queer
lit crony Edmund White. (Personally, I find
him highly overrated.) There’s even a piece
written by a guy, Jeff Kuhr, who is straight— or
at least married, according to his bio.
Kuhr’s “We’re All Chicken Here” is mostly
about death— a dead, loveless relationship, as
well as physical death from HIV— and is
among the better selections in this eighth vol
ume of Men on Men. — Christopher D. Cuttone
O utburst
By R.D. Zimmerman. Delta, 1999;
$11.95 softcover.
I nnuendo
By R.D. Zimmerman. Delacorte Press, 1999;
$21.95 hardcover.
j.D . Zimmerman won a 1999 Lambda Liter-
I ary Award for Outburst, which has recently
l been released in paperback. But his latest
Todd Mills mystery, Innuendo, is much better, if
you ask me.
Both books follow investigative reporter
Todd Mills and his police detective boyfriend
on their quests to uncover the truth. (Truth
being the essence of both their professions, as
well as a sometimes thorny issue for the mod
em homosexual.)
Although Zimmerman makes a
emous closet and the struggles faced
laudable effort to toss around journal
by gay youths complicate the
ism and law enforcement jargon, he
reporter’s and the cop’s investiga
misses the mark on the ethics of both.
tions. For much of the book, the
Mills and his boyfriend share infor
killer’s identity seems obvious, which
mation more than they should and
raises the tension level as other char
seem unable to avoid becoming per
acters
unknowingly interact with the
W I N T K It
sonally involved in the crimes they’re
suspect and makes for a dramatic
investigating.
ending.
At this point in his Todd Mills
One of the characters in /nnuen-
series, Zimmerman has mastered the
do is a famous and closeted actor
tricks of mystery writing— which is not to say
named Tim Chase, who’s married to an equally
he’s using a formula. The author employs differ famous and closeted actress. This thinly veiled
ent techniques in each book to create suspense
caricature of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman is
not, however, simply a means for Zimmerman
to berate stars who stay in the closet and don’t
use their fame to aid the struggle for gay rights.
Chase’s predicament is ultimately cast as a sad,
unfair reality imposed by a homophobic indus
try and audience, rather than self-serving
duplicity.
You won’t miss anything if you read /nnuen-
do before Outburst or the other novels in Zim
merman’s series. Both are compelling and
enjoyable, but Innuendo is more exciting over
all, if only because it has more sexy parts.
—CDC
HIBERNATION
C omfort
and J oy
By Jim Grimsley. Algonquin Books of Chapel
Hill, 1999; $21.95 hardcover.
\ im Grimsley’s previous novels include the
| Southern Gothic My Ekowning— not gay
- at all— and Dream Boy, a gay coming of
age story. In those, as well as his newest, Com-
and confusion. And, good queer that he is,
Zimmerman’s books aren’t just thrill rides; they
include unsubtle (but not unpalatable) social
commentary of a sort that is absent from classic
trench coat-and-fedora mysteries.
In Outburst, a murder suspect’s unconven
tional gender identity— and Mills’ struggle to
portray it compassionately in the news— adds
another layer to a story of cop killing and
revenge. Even as the evidence piles up, the
trans character is too sympathetic for the read
er to believe she’s guilty. Still, moments before
the climax, Zimmerman raises nagging doubts.
(1 recommend listening to your instincts; had I
heeded mine, I could have caught the killer
halfway through the book.)
Innuendo also tangles murder with queer
social issues. In this case, Hollywood’s cav-
L
I
Cycle
i
Serving the com m unity fo r 17 yearn
2330 NW Flanders
Suite 207
2 2 6 -6 6 7 8
at
N ight
By Shani Mootoo. Grove Press, 1999;
$12.50 softcover.
finalist for the 1997 Giller Prize, the Chap-
ters/Books in Canada First Novel Award
and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, Cereus
Blooms at Night took the international literary
world by storm when it was first published by
Press Gang Publishers in 1996.
Set on a fictional Caribbean island in the
town of Paradise, Mootoo’s stunning novel
unravels the epic life story of Mala Ram-
chandin and her infinitely complex family.
When Mala, an elderly woman considered by
many in Paradise to be crazy, is suspected of
murder, a judge finds her unfit to stand trial
and sends her to Paradise Alms House.
Tyler, a male nurse with his own complex
past, slowly becomes her confidant, and it’s
through his narration that M ala’s story is magi
cally woven.
‘Really
S tu ff
W orks
N
Offering general internal
medicine and excelling
in sexual health care
C ereus B looms
Continued on P age 38
C o ve n try
W estoyer H eights
fort and Joy, Grimsley’s evocative writing style
inspires a medley of book review clichés: “lush
prose,” “emotional tour de force,” etc.
Comfort and Joy chronicles the flowering of
a relationship between two gay men, viewed in
retrospect as they prepare to meet each other’s
families for the year-end holidays. As in real
life, it isn’t all hugs and kisses.
Even for the two lovers themselves, the
road to acceptance is arduous. The fear of inti
macy— a manifestation of internalized homo
phobia for one man, childhood trauma for the
other, and the unequal serostatuses of both— is
an aspect of the gay male psyche that ought to
be scrutinized; Grimsley does so with honesty
and sensitivity.
The prolonged emotional tension leaves the
reader a little melancholy, though one could
argue the ending is a happy one. Comfort and
Joy is engaging and worthwhile, especially for
those who are cynical about love.
—CDC
Antiques < & / =
Treasures/ 'i t
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