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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2001)
aprii 20.200L» Ju s t o u t 3 g l e s L e a Something fon everyone NEWMAN A book to match every orientation read s from a u th or o f Heather Has Two Mommies Girls Will Be Girls Sat, April 28, 7:30pm IN OTHER W O R D WOMEN'S BOOKS AND RESOURCES S A f f in it y by Sarah Waters. Riverhead Books, 2000; $24.95 hardcover. ithout a doubt, Affinity achieves the same excel- 1 lence as Sarah Waters’ magnificent literary dehut, Tip ping the Velvet. Once again, her intriguing tale comes to us in great style. Awash with beautiful lan guage, Affinity presents a vivid experience of Victorian Britain, disclosing a deep, grim underbel ly. The tremendous carnal sensu ality o f Tipping the Velvet is prac tically impossible to duplicate in Millbank Prison: “At the top of the tower, in a bright, white, circular room, filled with windows Miss Haxby has her office...for the tower is set at the center of the pentagon yards, so that the view from it is all of the wards and barred win dows that make up the interior face of the women’s building.” The mechanics of this tale require a different approach, resulting in an intricate spiritual seduction between the protago nists. Bom into London’s upper class, Margaret is a virtual pris oner of the family house. A mental breakdown following a broken heart prompts her to seek therapeutic diversion in the women’s ward of Millbank Prison. This dank, gray underworld inhabited by thieves and murderers conceals one tiny splash of color, which Margaret feels drawn to through an unexplainable sense o f affinity: “As I watched, she put the flower to her lips, and breathed upon it, and the purple of the petals gave a quiver and seemed to glow.. .here was a single spot of color, that seemed to have come upon the canvas by mistake.” The object of Margaret’s sympathy is the ingenious Selina Dawes, a spiritual medium convicted of fraud and assault after a session that got severely out of hand. Selina manifests a similar feeling of connectedness to Margaret, displaying an uncanny awareness of her most private thoughts and of her life outside the walls. The beauty and mystery emtxxiied by Selina soon turn into obsession, reinstalling passion and a sense of purpose into Margaret’s life. Temporarily, that is. This exquisite mystery is bom out of the blended journals of the lady and the spiritualist. It is an enthralling story that seamlessly jumps back and forth between present and past, talk ing in two different voices, rendering intertwin ing points of view. Whereas Selina’s account covers life prior to Millbank, Margaret’s mainly focuses on the relationship with Selina. The power of this captivating work lies in its clever, irreverent play with the real and the supernatural. Boldly, it offers little to hold onto. Even the protagonist’s writing can he lau danum induced, thereby possibly blurring the boundaries of fictional reality an extra notch. Affinity relies heavily on a human craving for magic and blind faith and is not afraid to use and/or abuse that. Its strong undercurrent of spiritual manipulation and seduction, of power and possession ultimately stretches from the t (D CO O) E CN O ooo O o ' O ■g OC. i o £ O CM 0 cO -c 73 C CM o i ç o O n £ o X LU CO CO co V__ 2 Ô o CL m * $ £ DOWNTOWN AT 927 SW OAK The NW’s best selection o f gay erotica, including: •Every erotic photo book and art book in print • Every book o f erotic fiction and nonfiction •Foreign and domestic mags, always at 10% off •Vintage physique photos and magazines 11-6 MON-SAT, 12-6 SUN, 226-8141 Corner of Sandy Blvd. & NE 64th 3106 NE 64th Portland, OR 97213 Gifts for Romance in an Elegant Setting \%*4 My 503 - 280-8080 www. tel epor t. com / -p lea s u re A Place of Romantic Invention minds of the characters to that of the reader. A tasty yet treacherous read; heware the twists. — Els Debbaut G u e s s A g a in : S h o r t S t o r ie s by Bernard. Cooper. Simon & Schuster, 2000; $21 hardcover. emard Coopers award-winning short sto ries have been printed in every kind of magazine and anthology. But this is the first time some of them have been collected into a single volume. It was damn well worth the wait. Guess Again contains verve, quirk, wit plus robust, meaty insights into the nature of gay— and occasionally not-so-gay— life in the United States. Coopers writing doesn’t always center around being queer, although many of his char- ' acters are. Instead, he looks at the world sur rounding gay life and draws a vivid, personal picture. And as queer writers sometimes ignore the presence of a second gender in our lives (unless it’s a parent), Cooper includes all kinds of people, the kind of people you might find in your life. Take, for instance, the first story, “Night Sky.” There isn’t a homo in sight. Yet he draws a portrait of obsession that is universal. I mean, I can’t he the only queer who want ed to spy on my ex-lover with a telescope. "Night Sky” is a story about the way desire hopscotches our best prospect for love in favor of the one we can’t have. The rest of the collection is queer enough for all of us and includes some really extraordi nary writing. “Graphology”— the story of a wife who, upon her husband’s death, learns of his clandestine homosexual escapades— should shake up any closeted married man. “Intro to Acting” might he the slyest, most W here the S ubarus are ! SUBARU Í h e Beauty o f All Wheel Drive. www.wentworth.subaru.com RATES AS LOW AS ON A LL 2001 *on approved credit 107 SE Grand • 4 Blocks South of the Convention Center • 503-232-2000
