This
year,
fall
book
releases
are
a
gay
potpourri,
ranging
from
new
“boyfriend
fiction”
to
friction
at
the
intersection
of
the
queer
community.
Sneaking
in
before
summer’s
end,
“The
Black
Tower,”
by
gay
writer
Louis
Bayard,
comes
out
Tuesday.
This
historical
mystery
follows
Eugène
François
Vidocq,
a
detective
and
police
chief
in
the
Parisian
underworld
of
1818.
Bayard
will
be
celebrating
his
debut
in
Washington
at
Politics
and
Prose
on
Sept.
6.
After
Bayard’s
release
party,
booksellers
across
D.C.
will
host
several
September
events,
including
a
book
signing
by
local
gay
writer
Ken
Seifert.
The
event
will
take
place
at
Lambda
Rising
on
Sept.
17
for
his
self-published
novel
“The
Rising
Storm.”
Also
debuting
in
September
is
a
compilation
called
“CRISIS:
40
Stories
Revealing
the
Personal,
Social
and
Religious
Pain
and
Trauma
of
Growing
up
Gay
in
America,”
edited
by
local
writer
Mitchell
Gold.
“CRISIS”
features
the
personal
stories
of
high-profile
gay
personalities
coming
out
in
the
heartland
of
America,
coupled
with
supportive
insights
from
family,
friends
and
clergy.
Contributors
include
Joe
Solmonese,
Human
Rights
Campaign
president;
Tammy
Baldwin,
gay
congresswoman;
and
Brian
Graden,
president
of
entertainment
for
MTV
and
VH1.
Soon
after,
Chicago
writer
Drew
Ferguson
will
release
his
debut
novel,
“The
Screwed
Up
Life
of
Charlie
the
Second.”
Neither
erotica
nor
literature,
Ferguson’s
novel
is
a
candid
glimpse
of
a
gay
teenage
boy
suffering
an
extreme
Napoleon
Dynamite
complex
—
boyfriend
fiction
at
its
best.
For
the
more
literary-minded,
“The
Letters
of
Allen
Ginsberg,”
edited
by
Bill
Morgan,
will
be
released
in
mid-September.
Ginsberg
corresponded
with
men
like
Jack
Kerouac
and
Philip
Glass
and
his
collection
of
letters
is
something
of
a
historical
epistolary
novel,
documenting
his
work
and
acting
as
a
guide
to
the
Beat
generation.
October
will
bring
contributions
from
a
few
female
writers.
A
bildungsroman
memoir
called
“Sex
Talks
to
Girls,”
by
Lambda
Award-winning
writer
Maureen
Seaton
will
hit
the
shelves
early
in
the
month.
Within
this
fictionalized
autobiography,
Seaton
has
recast
herself
as
“Molly”
and
records
her
antic-filled
evolution
from
meek
girl
to
full-fledged
gay
woman.
Amy
Sedaris,
who
has
been
likened
to
deadpan
Martha
Stewart
(give
or
take
a
few
cocktails),
will
release
the
first
paperback
edition
of
“I
Like
You:
Hospitality
Under
the
Influence.”
In
a
voice
that’s
both
sardonic
and
sincere,
apron-sporting
Sedaris
includes
recipes,
conversational
ice-breakers
and
hospitality
tips
for
hosts
with
the
most.
In
November,
dykon
graphic
novelist
Alison
Bechdel
will
release
“The
Essential
Dykes
to
Watch
Out
For,”
a
selection
of
strips
from
her
previously
published
collections
and
60
of
her
newest
strips.
Local
die-hard
fans
can
see
Bechdel
on
Oct.
17
at
the
Novello
Festival
of
Reading
in
Charlotte,
N.C.,
where
she
will
talk
about
her
work
and
sign
copies
of
“Fun
Home:
A
Family
Tragicomic.”
Also
set
for
a
November
release
is
a
fresh
collection
of
short
stories
written
by
new
gay
writers.
“Cool
Thing:
the
Best
New
Gay
Fiction
from
Young
American
Writers,”
edited
by
Lambda
Award-winning
novelist
Blair
Mastbaum,
is
an
anthology
that
includes
contributors
who
are
writers,
poets,
filmmakers
and
modern
gay
aesthetes.
At
the
end
of
November,
Lambda
Award-winning
writer
Michelle
Tea’s
long
anticipated
omnibus,
“Trans-forming
Community,”
will
be
released.
The
book
explores
the
relationship
between
transgender
and
queer
communities.
December
brings
a
critique
of
evangelical
views
and
commentary
on
the
current
debate
about
gay
marriage,
“Thou
Shall
Not
Love:
What
Evangelicals
Really
Say
to
Gays,”
by
anthropologist
and
gay
Christian
Patrick
Chapman.
Chapman
provides
an
exhaustively
researched,
point-by-point
argument
against
the
rationales
conservative
Christians
rely
on
to
condemn
homosexuality.
In
stark
contrast
—
and
always
popular
as
gifts
—
come
three
hardcover
coffee
table
books
of
male
erotic
photos
from
German
publisher
Bruno
Gmunder.
“Virility,”
a
hefty
$77
tome
featuring
the
photos
of
Fred
Goudon
is
slated
for
November
while
“Michael
Lucas’
Gigolos”
(Gmunder,
$49.99)
and
“Christ-opher
and
the
Boys”
(Gmunder
$64)
are
set
to
drop
in
October.
