July ta. 2Û03 ’
eatingout
eating out
eatingout
“*35
eatmgout
B uying D ad :
O ne W oman ’ s
S earch for the
P erfect S perm
D onor
by Harlyn Aizley;
Alyson Publica
tions, 2003;
$14.95 softcover
en minutes
after we
have
slowly inserted
and retracted both vials I
think I feel something moving
inside me.... Then I get anxious.
The incredible hugeness of what
we’re doing hits and surprised me
like all along I had thought we
were buying a car.... Its perhaps
the biggest, most life-altering,
Harlyn Aizley reads from Buying Dad: One Woman’s Search
irreversible thing you can do.”
for the Perfect Sperm Donor 7 p.m. July 23 at In Other
In Buying Dad: One Woman’s Words, 3734 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.
Search for the Perfect Sperm
it: We want to know if, how, why and to what
Donor, Harlyn Aizely moves through the
extent the sexual orientation of artists has a
process of a lesbian couple getting pregnant as
bearing, inherent or otherwise, upon the cre
smooth as a baby through the birth canal. Up
»»
ation of their work.
and down the roller coaster of “sexual science,
There is no final, all-encompassing answer
the ride is as unexpected as it is intimate as
to that query, but Triihin uses it as a spring
Aizley and her partner, aptly named Faith, take
board to delve into various lives and ideas.
baby steps toward motherhood.
The reader indifference to the homosexuality
As it starts off with the basics, I felt like 1
present in the personal experiences and pub
was in sitting on a facing couch with Ellen
lished works of Oscar Wilde, Thomas Mann,
DeGeneres and Sharon Stone. But as Aizley
James Baldwin, Francis Bacon or Elizabeth
moves into private anecdotes and details, it
Bishop may not be so certain after reading the
becomes more like you’ve been let in on a big
author’s well-reasoned explorations, while
secret. “Part of me wishes there had been can
those who pick up the btxik exclusively for its
dles, more ritual, not Faith leaving me splayed
gay interest will be treated to a fresh, informa
with a syringe poking out of my vagina while
tive reminder that no one easily generalized
she flossed and brushed her teeth.”
gay experience has ever existed.
Not only is Aizley candid in a way only
“Soon in the Western world being gay will
hormones could induce, but she lets it all hang
no longer involve difficulty and discrimina
out. From revealing her fears of motherhixxl,
tion," To i bin writes in the intnxJuctory piece.
uncontrollable gas and seeing friends fight
over idyllic sperm donors, to letting the reader “Therefore, how we read the past, and read
into the past, and judge the past are likely to
see the human side of her relationship, Aizley
become
matters of more open debate. The
is first honest, then informative.
temptation to make anachronistic judgments
Beyond the entertaining, neurotic madness
and ask anachronistic questions is hard to
of the narrator’s voice, this book is a bit of a
avoid.”
learning journey for those of us who’ve always
Toibin manages it; in fact, his meaty com
wondered how two vaginas can create a baby.
mentaries on the forbearing Baldwin, the
An interesting nugget culled from the Fxx>k:
near-mas<Khistic Wilde and the detached
There are two ways for lesbian couples to get
Mann are more interesting than his worthy
pregnant—ICI (intracervical) and IU1
treatments of painter Francis Bacon, filmmak
(intrauterine). Translation: ICI=turkey baster,
er Pedro Almoddvar and poet Mark Doty—
lUI=doctor inserted. Who knew?
more contemporary gay artists for whom there
To complement the dry humor and blunt
was little to no need for double lives or cre
honesty about buying a dad is the other
ative solutions.
painfully ironic parallel story of Aizley s moth
Triibin writes of Franz Kafka, “This is not
er dying of cancer, which adds a rich element
to suggest that gay readers want Kafka to be
to the book.
read as a gay writer only.. .but as a figure
It’s no surprise that Aizley does,
whose work was sufficiently
indeed, get pregnant. (She probably
affected by his homo-
would’ve had a harder time selling her
sexuality.. .to be read as
we-threw-in-the-towel manuscript.) But
a parable about a gay
fortunately for her (and for eager
man in a hostile city, as
mother readers) the baby not only
well as a nonbelieving
turned out great, so did Buying Dad.
Jewish man, as well as a
—Gina Daggett
20th century man.”
These contradictory,
L ove in a D ark T ime : A nd
elusive artists require the
O ther E xplorations of
most thoroughness and dis
G ay L ives and L iterature
ipline from queer would-be
by Colm Toibih; McClelland &
reclaimers, and Toibin sees
Stewart, 2002; $24.99 softcover
the complex and delicate
operation of reading their
he best thing about Irish nov
works as “gay literature" not
elist Colm Toibin's collection
as a sticky chore, but a provo
of essays, Love m a Dark Time, is the way his
cation to increased subtlety and deeper
knowledgeable, opinionated and insatiably
understanding.
engaged prose reveals he wrote the book for
—Christopher McQuam JM
the same reason most of its audience is reading
T
T
■
Pizza, Salad, Sandwiches
and Oregon Microbrews
sold here
Free Delivery (60fh-Rivcr, Gliun-Woodstock)
Caci»
3701 SE Hawthorne
503-231-0901
i
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