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L ighting up Portland s Broadway
Continued from Page 5 3
waiting for 200-plus pages of sexual and gender
explosion. Or at least I thought so.
Perhaps I am too hopeful and not realistic
enough to like a book that thrives on buildup
and struggle, only to result in quiet resolution.
Perhaps metaphors of fast cars, slamming doors,
and rock ’n’ roll (all of which Summer uses fre
quently) are only present to entice a reader
enough to plow through the novel.
Paige Bergman, the promising heroine
introduced in the first chapter, turns into the
narrator at the beginning of Chapter 2, and
Summer allows Paige’s attributes to engulf the
novel in a shy, apprehensive narrative.
There are moments of promise in
this book that are effortlessly thrown
away. Funny how much this is like
Paige’s own adolescence, which she
spends unassertively chasing the
middle-aged, furiously dynamic
housewife Fiona Gallagher.
Indeed, 1 felt tricked as I
closed the book at the end.
Where was all the drama I was
craving? Why did Summer set
up such a thought-provoking
first chapter and then slowly
chip away at any sort of reader
interest?
1 realize that I should per
haps be more reasonable in
my expectations about the
possiblities for a closeted
1970s dyke, but Summers
treatment of Paige’s case is all too
bland. Also, I wonder if I’m the only one who
finds the last chapter a bit cryptic and unneces
sary? I doubt it.
— M uffie White
T he W orld I n U s : L esbian and G ay
P oetry of th e N ex t W ave
Edited by M ichael Lassell and Elena Georgiou.
St. Martin’s Press, 2000; $29.95 hardcover.
f you expect poetry to he calm, polite and
well-mannered— watch out! The World In Us
just might make you come. Staggeringly per
sonal poems commingle with gut-wrenching
poems of loss and missed opportunity. Angry
and terse works seethe across the page from
squirmingly erotic works.
This is an essential read: contemporary, uni
versal and ambitious. Some of the finest poets
of our generation— finest poets, not just finest
queer poets— are collected here. Women and
men are equally represented, 23 poets each,
people with almost every kind of poetic style,
personal perspective and heritage. They range
from well-established writers such as New York
School poet Eileen Myles and Lambda Award
winning writer Michael Lassell to young, up-
and-coming queer voices such as Pushcart Prize
nominee Mark Bibbins and novelist-poet
Robyn Selman.
Aren’t familiar with these names? It doesn’t
matter. These are poems that speak of the uni
versal queer experience. You will find yourself
embedded in these pages. Check out the shiv-
eringly sexual prose-poem “I Suck” by lesbian
feminist poet Chrystos:
My tongue is slow looking far the path
down into the lights o f need I am her pleasure,
focused I’m 'erased into the fruit o f her flow er-
ing, colors spmning I follow her through fear
Or take a look at doctor-tumed-writer
Rafael Campos belly-punching poem about
cultural loss, “Belonging”:
• ■ .N o beach o f skulls
To pick over, nothing but the same damn sun,
Indifferent but oddly angry, the face
My father wore at dinnertime.
No amount of excerpts, however, can do
this anthology justice. The poems, like the
queer experience itself, are widely varied,
diverse and unapologetic. These poems come
shaped, rhymed, in prose and slivers, formal
and informal, beat and classical, utterly literate
and totally slammed. These poems speak of
love and death and resentment and injustice
and triumph and loss.
A finer collection of queer poetry has not
been gathered in the last 20 years, and we can
only hope it’s a good sign for queer poetry in
the future. Get your hands on this book.
Read these poems to your
. lover. Memorize your
favorite parts. Quote
them during your coffee
break.
These are, after
T he to
all, our most intricate,
C om p lete
shining, beautiful queer
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G ifts
fo r R o m a n ce
in a n
E le g a n t S e ttin g
G ood V ibrations :
T he N ew C omplete
G uide to V ibrators
By Joani Blank with Ann
Whidden. Down There Press,
2000; $8.50 softcover.
any Just Out readers
are probably familiar with
the San Francisco Bay
area company Good Vibrations.
Since its inception in 1977, Good Vibra
tions has unabashedly provided sex toys to the
masses. Today, everything from strap-ons to
“come cups” (vibrators intended for penile
use), from instructive videos on G-spot stimu
lation to tasty tubes of lube can be purchased
from the retailer.
The company boasts two stores, plus an
award-winning catalog and Internet site.
Founder Joani Black is committed to informa
tive and self-affirming sex education.
Dedicated to the art of “buzzing off,” The
New Complete Guide to Vibrators is written with
no holes barred. It even contains an amusing
history of the devices, quoting a 1920s ad that
promises “all the pleasures of youth will throb
within you.”
If you’re in the market for a vibrator, espe
cially if you’re a novice, this book will help you
make a match— it thoughtfully includes a
chapter for first-timers. If you’re a seasoned
vibrator owner, however, you still might glean
new facts and suggestions. This book should
appeal to everyone— straight or queer, male or
female, none or all of the above. This book is
inclusive and genuinely celebrates sex.
It’s a quick 72-page read, and each vibrator
discussed has an accompanying illustration,
which helps explain the assorted functions of
the multifaceted range of vibrators available in
this age of technical wizardry. The book does
plug Good Vibrations to a certain extent, bat
why not? The company pioneered— and con
tinues to promote— a worldview of sexual
freedom.
— MW
■ C atherine S ameh is the manager o f In Other
Words W omen’s Books and Resources in Portland.
C hristopher M c Q uain is a Portland water
and bookworm.
G lenn W illiams makes poetry, prose, plays,
periodica and pom m Portland.
M uffie W hite is a studio art major at Reed
College who is living her own coming-of-agc dyke
tale.
ft* 4 My P¿C/iU+yt
A Place of Romantic Invention
503 280 8080
w w w .telep o rt.co m / -p leasu re