Book Review

Buying Gay: How Physique Entrepreneurs Sparked a Movement.  David K. Johnson.  Columbia University Press, 2019. 320 pages.  $32.00. Before Grindr and Growler and the internet, before X-Tube and a thousand other porn sites, before Blue Rays and DVDs and VHS tapes, before roadside adult “bookstores” and before magazines like Obsession and Blueboy, there were the … [Read more...] about Buying Gay: How Physique Entrepreneurs Sparked a Movement

World Citizen: Allen Ginsberg as Traveller.  David S. Wills.  Beatdom Books, 2019.  169 pages. “Om Shri Maitreya.” “Om Shri Maitreya.” “Om Shri Maitreya.”  So chanted Allen Ginsberg at a demonstration to legalize marijuana in New York City in 1965.  It wasn’t just weed that expanded Ginsberg’s worldview. In World Citizen: Allen Ginsberg as … [Read more...] about World Citizen: Allen Ginsberg as Traveller

Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder.  John Waters.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019. 384 pages. John Waters, filmmaker, actor, writer, & visual artist, is one of those cultural institutions that people either get or don’t get and never the twain shall meet.  Or shall they?  Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder may … [Read more...] about Book Review: Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder

I love a good romance thriller and stumbled upon one recently from Erica Spindler called The First Wife.  These type of books normally would not catch my attention but a lot of the action takes place in Louisiana mostly on the Northshore area.  I tell you, those people across the lake are freaky!   The basic (and I mean basic) premise is a young woman marries … [Read more...] about Book of the Month: The First Wife

Gay Zoo Day: Tales of Seeking and Discovery.  Mike McClelland.  Beautiful Dreamer Press, 2017.   274 pages. Every now and then, I stumble upon a book I didn’t know I was looking for.  Gay Zoo Day by Mike McClelland is one such book.  Imminently satisfying, this debut collection of short stories is breathtaking in its warmth and scope.  Before … [Read more...] about Gay Zoo Day: Tales of Seeking and Discovery

How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don’t.  Lane Moore.  Atria Paperback, 2018.  215 pages.   Good books make you think or feel.  Great books do both.  How to Be Alone is a great book. Moore has transcended an abysmal childhood marked by neglect and abuse.  Nothing unique about that, but what makes Moore’s story so … [Read more...] about How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don’t

I am obviously still celebrating Halloween with my choice for the book of the month in November, In fact, it was a great book to be reading over the holiday.  Waking the Dead by Samuel Bowling is a Shamanic Medium of Stories of life after death. It is quite a fascinating read and Bowling is an excellent storyteller.  I met Samuel at a friend’s house over the summer … [Read more...] about Book of the Month: Walking the Dead

Oranges.  Gary Eldon Peter.  New Rivers Press, 2018.  157 pgs. $18.00. Oranges is Gary Eldon Peter’s debut collection of short stories and traverses, in linked tales, the life of Michael, a gay man from the Midwest who must find his own confusing path to adulthood after personal loss. Michael is confronted with a number of challenges, including coming to terms … [Read more...] about Oranges

Current affairs aside, I love a good political thriller.  And my book of the month for October delivers some perfect escapism from our present reality.  The Fourth Courier written by Timothy Jay Smith is a fabulous read.  The action takes place in post-Cold War Warsaw circa 1992 after the Communist era has ended.  Smith does a wonderful job in setting the … [Read more...] about The Fourth Courier

It’s that time of year again: the temperatures have plunged into the bone-chilling 70s, pumpkin spice has been suffused through all known matter, and Halloween decorations have haunted shelves since August. All you need now is a good, scary book. Come along with me, and I’ll take you on a dark descent through the history of LGBT themes in horror fiction. Late Nineteenth … [Read more...] about Halloween Reading: LGBT-Related Horror Fiction