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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2005)
february18,2005 139 BOOKS Walking Higher: Gay Men Write About the Deaths of Their Mothers Edited by Alexander Renault; Xlibns Corporation, 2004; $24-99 softcover Gripping stories tions of “tools” and masturbation techniques, “Wednesday, 2 a.m.” is one of the tamest tales in the collection. Two “straight” guys get it on in a car in the middle of the night while a gay man enjoys the scenery from his hidden perch on a fire escape. Moving on to “Diving the Pit,” a homy man meets a dark and dangerous punk kid in a mosh pit. When they retire to a private spot, they partake in a golden shower, robust rim ming and other indixir sports. “Memories of War,” the most tender of these yams, portrays a meeting of the groins that is not just a onetime encounter between strangers. Two soldiers meet on a North Caroli na military base, do the nasty in one of the guys’ apartments and—gasp!—continue to connect in the coming weeks. For those who prefer monogamy to chance encounters with garbage men, Tangled Sheets is surely the wrong cup of tea. Ford creates an absurd, borderline-offensive fantasy world where just about every guy has a well-chiseled hxly and an enor mous cock. Also perplexing is the fact that there are no repercussions to unsafe sex. But let’s face it: Ford describes such diverse carnal interludes that just about every hot-blooded gay man will get some kicks from these stories. You just might have to do a lot of cringing before you find your sweet spot. JF1 Gay men write about the deaths of their mothers and erotic encounters with others by S tephen B lair 11T he death of a mother changes a I person on a fundamental level,” I writes Alexander Renault, editor relationships with our moth of Walking Higher. In this touching, and ers. To his credit, Renault sometimes gut-wrenching, essay collec includes a variety of cultural tion, 30 U.S., Canadian and Irish gay perspectives. In “Cancion men reminisce about their mothers’ Para Mi Ama (Mother’s indelible impact on their lives. With Song),” RigoBerto Gonzalez emotions ranging from sadness to bitter affectionately describes his ness, they grapple with their mothers’ Mexican mother’s attempts deaths from cancer, suicide, alcoholism to learn English and her and other causes. obsession with the Blondie ElMTIS .!>< ALtXA..'£k Rl*AULT Renault discloses the rationale for hit “The Tide Is High.” In this project in his introduction. During “Mistaken Identity,” Ken I the past two decades, he says, many gay men Saragosa writes about the straight mother-gay predeceased their mothers because of AIDS. son experience from a Japanese American Now that the disease is treatable, more gay perspective. men outlive their parents. What better time for Max Pierce’s “Escape from the Valley of the gay men to reflect on their bond with their Dolls” is perhaps the most unsettling essay in mothers? the collection. His beautiful mother, a huge fan So why are dead fathers excluded from this of Hollywtxxl melodramas, overdosed on Sec discussion? Since gay men typically have more onal when he was just a boy. To pay tribute to turbulent relationships with their fathers than her love of sacrificing movie characters like with their mothers, maybe Renault was con Stella ITallas, Pierce writes: “Mama died so that cerned that the inclusion of father-son dynam I might live. In that sense she gave me life, not ics would have turned this btxtk into a celebra once, but twice.” tion rather than a memorial. Walking Higher may appear to be of interest Overall, the essays in Walking Higher are only to gay men who have lost their mothers. sensitive and well-written. And, for better or But the bwk’s universal themes should appeal for worse, they push us to re-examine our own to readers from all demographics. Tangled Sheets: Tales of Erotica by Michael Thomas Ford; Kensington Books, 2005 ; $ 1 4 softcover nytime. Anywhere. Anybody. These are the ground t M rules in Tangled Sheets, a new collection of erotic tales by self-described pornographer Michael Thomas Ford. In 2004, the author published a how-to manual called Ultimate Gay Sex and won a Lambda Literary Award for Last Summer, a novel set in Provincetown. The prolific Ford has also conjured up dozens of down- and-dirty short stories that first appeared in steamy magazines like Blueboy and Honcho. This book includes previously pub lished material along with stories that have never before seen the light of day. The amorous acrobatics in Tangled Sheets may titillate or repulse, depending on your erotic proclivities. Despite its explicit descrip 1 STEPHEN B lair is a Portland free-lance writer who once grew his hair long because Karen Black told him it would look great. SisterSpirit Presents PaganFaire XV Saturday, March 19, 2005 10am-5pm , . t to Dance 503-236-5129 Cha Cha Miller Hall at the Foresty Center . 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