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BOOKS
Savage sins
tend there is no “other” side to the debate
over public and private morality. They’re not
used to being challenged about virtue or
being told that they’re the unvirtuous ones.
They probably don’t even
know how to respond to a
critic at this point.
Continued from Page 1
wholeheartedly into the task of exposing sin
ners in unexpected places (such as Dubuque,
Iowa) and having a grand old time hanging
out with them.
In between tossing the dice, firing a .45 and
livin’ it up at Gay Pride in Los Angeles, he has
a few things to say to Americas gang of vigi
lante hypocrites and “psychoconservatives.”
Thankfully, Savage does not succumb to
the droning tone of much political posturing.
Described as “part travelogue, part memoir,
part Bork-and-Bennett bitch slap,” Skipping is
like The Daily Show — witty, opinionated,
funny and supported with careful research.
(The facts and figures give Savage a certain
credibility that his counterparts lack. The
Bible is clearly not his only source.)
Skipping is the antidote to the values
rhetoric of the Christian Coalition, Focus on
the Family, Concerned Women for America
and others of their ilk. If you’re tired of being
scolded by this crowd, you’ll feel vindicated as
Savage tours the country, celebrating the art of
sinning from coast to coast. And, though he is
careful to give credit to conservatives where
due, in the end, the “sinners” always come out
on top.
Savage will be in Portland on Nov. 1 to
read from the book and answer your most per
tinent questions. But first he answers ours.
Sarah Leimert: How long did it take you
Dan Savage reads from Skipping Towards Qomorrah Nov. 1 at Powell’s
to research and write the book? How long
did it take to write The Kid?
D S: No, I didn’t. After 10 years of writing
man I couldn’t commit the sin of adul
Dan Savage: It took me about a year to write
tery— cheating on my boyfriend of eight
"Savage Love,” there’s nothing that shocks me
The Kid, and it tcxik about twice that to write
years
would simply be more fornication,
anymore.
Take
Claim
Jumper
[a
restaurant
that
this hook. The Kid was about my life and my
not adultery— for instance, didn’t know
serves enormous portions, on which the “Glut
boyfriend and I deciding to adopt. I didn’t have
I was taking notes the whole time.
tony”
chapter
is
based]:
Yeah,
Americans
eat
to do much research, just live my life and take
too much, and it’s only natural that a restau
notes. For Skipping, I had to do a lot of traveling,
SL : Which was your favorite chap
rant chain would spring up to serve those
sinning and a lot of SMPM— spending my pub
ter to write?
Americans. But is it shocking to me to see peo
lisher’s money. It was exhausting work.
D S : Well, I hate to admit it, but
ple stuffing themselves? No. At least they’re
the one about prostitution. What happened
not, like some people who write me at “Savage
SL : What inspired you to choose the
to me when I rented a big, muscle-bound
Love," vomiting on themselves and their sex
seven deadly sins as a context?
straight guy for an hour kind of blew my
partners immediately after dinner.
D S: I wish I could tell you I had some really
mind— and only my mind. Nothing else got
great, smart, compelling reason to choose the
blown
in that hotel room.
S L : Did you tell people that they were
seven deadlies. But, in all honesty, they were
subjects for your book when you met and
an easy, natural and useful conceit— a g<xxi
SL : Do you think Bill Bennett, Robert
talked to them?
structure that I could impose on the narrative,
Bork, Jerry Falwell or any of the other
D S: Some yes, some no. People I profile at
and using them provided me with great chapter
“ virtuecrats” will respond directly to this
length—
David
and
Bridget,
the
Orthodox
Jew
titles like “Lust,” “Greed” and “Anger.”
book? Have they already?
ish swingers— were told, of course, that I want
D S: They haven’t, and 1 doubt very much
ed to write about them. But people who came
SL: In your research, did you learn any
that they will. They’re too used to moving in
in for quick mentions were not. The preacher
thing new or bizarre about people that you
circles and writing in publications that pre
on the prayer line who advised me that as a gay
didn’t already know?
S L : What are your
thoughts on Dr. Laura’s
book Ten Stupid Things
Women Do to Mess Up
T heir Lives, which poses as
a female liberation guide of
sorts? It seems pretty
inconsistent with her con
servative reputation.
D S : 1 don’t think much
of Dr. Laura, but she makes
some reasonable points in
that book. Women do need
to be better “shoppers” when
it comes to the men they
decide to mate with— pro
vided, of course, that a
woman wants to mate with a
man. One of the things that
has paralyzed politics in this
country is the inability of
anyone on either side to
acknowledge when someone
from the “other side” said
something that’s right on, or
even obvious. Dr. Laura does
say some right on things, but
finding them is like digging
kernels of com out of shit,
you know?
OMI SAV^E
fin e andfriendly objects from faraw ay places
S L : D o you plan to keep
writing books?
D S : I would like to write
a book just for gay men,
something like, Ten Stupid
Things That Gay Men Do to
Mess Up Their Lives. It will
be something of a challenge
keeping it to 10 things.
S L : How is the kid doing, anyway?
D S : Great. He’s 4 1/2 and thriving. He’s a
boy’s boy— by which I mean he’s into guns,
trucks and Batman underwear. He’s such a lit
tle budding breeder. J H
D a n S avage makes an appearance 7:30 p.m.
Nov. I at Powell’s Books, 1005 W. Buntside St.
S arah L eimert is the Editorial Assistant at Just
Out. She has committed five of the seven deadly sms,
hut she's aiming for a perfect “7. ”
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