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Reg. Forms at It's My Pleasure. In Other Words and Artichoke Music, or online at www.motherlodemusic.com
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siem pre que...
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IT S T H A T TIM E A G A IN !
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Our < j LfSNflM
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AT THE PORTLAND METRO CLUB
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DAHCE T O Y O U R EAVORITE HITS
fR O M THE PAST <3 PRESENT
$5 C O V ER
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Lugar: Cascade A ID S Project
Llame a Rafael 503-223 -5907
fun S e r v ic e & a r
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A rea
( s m o k i n g a r e a a v a il a b l e )
-S P O N S O R E D IN PART B Y -
TERRI PO PEJO Y 8 CEUA LYON
O F THE RE/M A X E Q U ITY (¡R O U P
T he B ig B ook
M isunderstanding
by Jim Gladstone.
Harrington Park Press,
2002; $17.95 softcover.
of
H j
T h e B i g B o o k of
E Misunderstanding
praise, damning condemnation and
the vacuous lingo of PR-speak. Rcxli
exploits this technique to create mul
tiple perspectives, extracting much
humorous irony and providing greater
insight into not only Viola hut also
the cast of nutty characters who never
fail to want something from her.
W ith this and his previous novels,
Rodi probes deeply into the psycholo
gy of gay archetypes— always incisive,
always funny and always touching.
He reveals human frailty and depth at
the core of the outwardly tough and
superficial.
— Kevin Moore
tis first novel by
journalist Jim Glad
stone begins with its
22-year-old gay narrator,
Josh, standing over a
. noval
sink debating whether
to swallow a Kittle of
pills and asking, “Do 1
have to end my life to
end my childhood?”
GLADSTONE
It’s a tantalizing start,
R ainbow B oys
one that keeps the reader anxious to discover
by Alex Sanchez. Simon & Schuster, 2001; $17
what led him to this point of desperation. The
softcover.
answer, however, is ultimately dissatisfying, if
not bewildering.
ainbotv Boys, a refreshing new novel by
The Big Book of Mis understanding is set in sub
Alex Sanchez, tackles the subject of gay
urban Philadelphia, where the middle-class Roy-
male teen
altons unsuccessfully try to figure out how to
agers in a typical
love one another despite their differences. The
public high school.
father, Harris, is a successful lawyer so desperate
W hat could he an
to give each family member (wife Becca and
utterly depressing
sons Josh and Lewis) the kind of experience he
series of pitiful
craved growing up that he ends up stifling them.
sketches or simply
Eventually they each leave him (for career, for
a too-sweet
school, for freedom), and he is left to face his
romantic fable is
cnimbled life by himself.
instead sim ultane
It’s a hit of a stretch to believe a well-
ously painful and
intentioned hut smothering father is sufficient
optimistic.
cause for suicide, and Gladstone doesn’t precisely
Sanchez’s plot
articulate what drives Josh to such despair. What
moves swiftly with
sustains the hook, however, is the tender writing
increasing energy
and the evocation of incidents Kith real and
and tension. The
refreshing. (One particularly sweet moment
style is clear and simple, using a series of rotat
involves the father refereeing a nightly game he
ing third-person vignettes reflecting viewpoints
calls the Royalton Varsity Bcllyfights in which
of each of the main characters. Although the
Josh and his brother Kiunce on their bed and
novel falls into the young adult genre, the story
hump bellies until one of them loses his balance.)
will appeal to people of all ages, especially any
There is no shortage of Kxiks on family dys
one trying to understand what it means to he
function, and Gladstone tries to break new
young, gay and male in the United States.
ground by exposing the dark undercurrent
Jason is a handsome jock who has a girl
beneath a loving family. But it’s hard to muster
friend hut is wrestling with secret gay feelings.
a lot of sympathy for someone who suffers from
Kyle is a swimmer who passes for straight, hut
having been loved too much.
— Floyd Sklaver he’s a hit of a loner and feels like an outsider.
Kyle is secretly in love with Jason and believes
Jason is straight.
B itch G oddess
Finally, there’s Nelson, the out queer Kiy in
by Robert Rodi.
school— “Nelly” to his peers. W ith his “weird”
Plume, 2002; $13
hair, stylish dress and effeminate characteris
softcover.
tics, he’s the schools whipping hoy. Nelson
pines
for Kyle and feels jealous every time Kyle
hat makes a
gets around Jason.
gay man’s
A Lambda Literary Award nominee in the
W Wl female icon
Children/Young Adult-category, the Kxik raises a
most? Robert Rodi
lot of interesting questions appealing to young
breaks it down in
people. Will Kyle make a connection with Jason?
Bitch Goddess, a bit
Will Nelson find tme love? W hat is the future of
ing yet ultimately
the proposed gay-straight alliance in the scKxil?
redeeming satire of
How will Kyle come out to his parents?
pop culture’s idols
Drawing on his own life experiences and his
and the gay men
knowledge of youth, Sanchez captures the
who love them.
emotional pain— loneliness, shame and long
Failed novelist E. Manfred Harry is hired to
ing— of being a gay Kiy in surroundings where
ghost the biography of B-movie actress turned
a casually homophobic attitude reigns.
scandalous celebrity Viola Chute (think Joan
W hile th e story moves to its satisfying
Collins with the soul of Tonya Harding),
conclusion, the characters become so
recently rescued from obscurity by her role as
endearing one would like to know what will
the ironically sweet-natured ingenue of a prime
happen to them next; the good news is
time soap opera (think Dynasty).
Sanchez is writing a sequel. Rainbow Boys is
Her story told threxigh varitxjs snippets of
modem media— e-mails, faxes, interviews, let
a superb first novel, one th at m ight well
ters, transcripts, etc.— Viola appears inextricably
becom e a classic.
—Jack Turteltaub
hound to a swirl of gossip, innuendo, gushing
jn