The Louisiana Library Association has selected Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation as the recipient of its prestigious Louisiana Literary Award. This is the first time an LGBT+ themed book has won the award. Published by Liveright, Tinderbox is the third book written about the tragic arson and positions the fire in … [Read more...] about Tinderbox Author Robert Fieseler Wins Louisiana Literary Award
Book Review
Book of the Month: Full Wolf Moon
My book for the month of March is a thriller written by Lincoln Child called Full Wolf Moon. Child is an author of techno-thriller and horror novels. Though he is most well-known for his collaborations with Douglas Preston (including the Agent Pendergast series and the Gideon Crew series, among others), he has also written several solo novels. Child and Preston's first … [Read more...] about Book of the Month: Full Wolf Moon
Buying Gay: How Physique Entrepreneurs Sparked a Movement
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
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
Book Review: Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder
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
Book of the Month: The First Wife
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
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
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
Book of the Month: Walking the Dead
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
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
