Washington Blade Books en-us http://washblade.com/rss 2009 - Washington Blade: The Gay and Lesbian News Source of Record - D.C. and National Gay News, Entertainment and Opinion Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT editor@washblade.com Bruni memoir skillful, emotional

By Kathi Wolfe
Friday, September 18, 2009
With unsparing honesty, vulnerability and Augusten Burroughs-like humor, Bruni's “Born Round” tells how he learned to indulge his love of food without undoing everything from his self-respect to his love life.

Bruni, who grew up in a loving Italian family in the suburbs of Westchester County, N.Y., was hooked on food early on. 

“I have neither a therapist's diagnosis nor any scientific literature to support the following claim,” Bruni writes, “So you're just going to have to go with me on this: I was a baby bulimic.”

The seeds of Bruni's love affair with food were planted by his parents, aunts and uncles and his grand ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/9-18/arts/books/15209.cfm Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EST Book brigade
Celeb bios, coffee table erotica, books on film and more among fall releases
By Jaimie Schock
Friday, September 11, 2009
Some MEDIA, books chief among them, have substantially more LGBT-themed options slated for fall than others. If the dearth of gay movies on the horizon depresses you, there's compensation to be had on the printed page.

Just released, “Paul Newman: The Man Behind the Baby Blues” by Darwin Porter exposes the secret life of Newman, who, Porter claims, bedded as many men as women, all while keeping it out of the public eye. According to the book, and a quote by Marlon Brando, Newman and Brando had a sexual relationship, as did Newman and James Dean. These revelations and many like them are explored in-depth in this tell-all book.

In a hilarious series of essays ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/9-11/arts/books/15153.cfm Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EST Smashing convention
New anthology recalls early years of gay liberation movement
By Joey DiGuglielmo
Friday, July 10, 2009
Tommi Avicolli Mecca thinks the gay rights movement has gotten a little, well, boring. A veteran of its rowdiest days at the end of the '60s and into the '70s, he's using the Stonewall anniversary as a springboard for veterans of the Gay Liberation Front to share their memories of that heady era.

“Smash the Church, Smash the State!: the Early Years of Gay Liberation” is a collection of essays by those who have first-hand memories to share of those years. Its title is taken from a chant that was commonly used by queer protesters of the time. It was released in June by the San Francisco-based City Lights Books and retails for $18.95, though many retailers are carrying it ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/7-10/arts/books/14850.cfm Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EST A mother's love
Local therapist pens book about easing coming out process
By Amy Cavanaugh
Friday, May 08, 2009
For Linda Goldman, a therapist, learning that her son was gay led to her own “coming out” as the parent of a gay child.

“It's important for gay youth to realize that parents go through a process of coming out too,” she says. “The range of acceptance or rejection about being gay is very broad. I guess my goal in life … is to expand information and dialogue that dispels myths that eliminate gender bias and stereotypes and create an inclusive world for all gay and straight people.”

Goldman, who resides in Chevy Chase, is the author of “Coming Out, Coming In: Nurturing the Well-Being and Inclusion of Gay Youth in Mainstream ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/5-8/arts/books/14493.cfm Fri, 8 May 2009 05:00:00 EST Sensational secrets
Former gay Hollywood insider spills dirt on Merv Griffin in new book
By Joey DiGuglielmo
Friday, May 01, 2009
Questions about Merv Griffin's sexual orientation dogged the media mogul in his later years. A prolific gay biographer who knew the legendary talk show host says Griffin's homosexuality was an open secret among the Hollywood jet set.

“Merv Griffin: a Life in the Closet,” which arrives in bookstores today, is the latest juicy tell-all from Darwin Porter, a 71-year-old gay writer whose previous books about Marlon Brando and Katharine Hepburn outed them posthumously as bisexual and included explicit tales of the legendary stars' sexual likes and conquests. The Griffin book follows suit and is a namedropping tell-all in which Porter places the “Wheel of Fortune&rdquo ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/5-1/arts/books/14447.cfm Fri, 1 May 2009 05:00:00 EST Biblical bludgeoning
Presbyterian traces change of heart in popular pro-gay Christian book
By Joey DiGuglielmo
Friday, April 17, 2009
Jack Rogers, a theology professor and nearly lifelong Presbyterian, didn't want to get involved with the issue of homosexuality. He'd been opposed to the ordination of gays within his denomination, but was implored by a friend in 1993 to sit on a task force at California's Pasadena Presbyterian Church to study the issue thoroughly.

“It was just not a problem I wanted to take on,” Rogers writes in his book “Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality,” re-released this week in a revised and expanded edition by Westminster John Knox Press. Rogers, who's straight, has become an advocate of full inclusion of gays in both the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Christian c ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/4-17/arts/books/14393.cfm Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:00:00 EST Pink pages
Books with gay Themes abound despite struggling economy
By Kathi Wolfe
Friday, March 06, 2009
The arts — books in particular — are not immune to these hard economic times. Publishing heavyweights HarperCollins and Random House have faced massive losses and uncomfortable layoffs, respectively, due in no small part to dismal sales at mega-bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders. Closer to the gay community, the Oscar Wilde Bookshop in New York City closes its doors March 8, another casualty of an indiscriminate recession.

The news is not all bad, however. Tight wallets tend to seek out the type of inexpensive, easy entertainment that books provide, which helps explain why profits at Netflix and Amazon actually jumped in the last three months of 2008. Here ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/3-6/arts/books/14182.cfm Fri, 6 Mar 2009 05:00:00 EST Party people
Book documents fabulous British '20s group that included gays
By Kathi Wolfe
Friday, February 06, 2009
Scantily clad revelers swam, danced and drank until dawn. “Great rubber horses and flowers floated about in the water,” according to press reports. The police were called in to break up the debauchery.

It may sound like a wild Hollywood night of yesteryear, yet this confab, the “Bath and Bottle Party,” took place in 1928 in London. The gathering was a party staged by a cadre of youthful, witty, pleasure-loving artists and hangers-on known as the Bright Young People during the 1920s.
 
The group, which included writer Evelyn Waugh, author Nancy Mitford and gay fashion photographer Cecil Beaton, came of age at the end of World War I. “B ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/2-6/arts/books/14037.cfm Fri, 6 Feb 2009 05:00:00 EST Glimpsing genius
Enigmatic Sontag unveiled in first volume of published journals
By Kathi Wolfe
Friday, January 30, 2009
Susan Sontag, the renowned queer social critic who lived from 1933 to 2004, rarely wrote about her private life. Most obituaries didn't mention her long-term relationship with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.  Reading Sontag's piercingly intelligent essays on topics ranging from Sartre to photography, it's hard to imagine the erudite “dark lady of American letters” engaging in such earthly pursuits as sex. 

But Sontag comes out from under wraps in “Reborn: Journals & Notebooks, 1947-1963,” edited by her son, the writer David Rieff. It's billed as the first of three planned volumes of Sontag's diaries.

This by turns pretentious, ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/1-30/arts/books/13995.cfm Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:00:00 EST Media maestro
Gay author says PR should stand for perception and reality
By Joey DiGuglielmo
Friday, January 23, 2009
When former NBA basketball player John Amaechi was preparing for the book launch of 2007's “Man in the Middle,” in which he came out as gay, he had three goals — he wanted a New York Times best seller, enough money to afford to live in both the U.S. and his native England and enough buzz to launch a public speaking career in the states.

Howard Bragman, a big-time public relations guru with 20 years of teaching and entrepreneurial experience under his belt, helped Amaechi achieve those goals. Bragman, 52, has distilled his PR prowess in the new book “Where's My Fifteen Minutes” (Penguin, $25.95). During a phone chat from his home in the Hollywood Hill ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/1-23/arts/books/13983.cfm Fri, 23 Jan 2009 05:00:00 EST Better with age?
Gay-penned book explores wisdom that comes with advancing years
By KATHI WOLFE
Friday, January 09, 2009
Few things are more feared in this culture than growing old.  Particularly in the youth-obsessed queer community, where 40 is the new 90. 

Yet elders are leading vital, interesting lives. “How to Live: a Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still on This Earth)” by gay writer Henry Alford, is an illuminating, poignant and amusing collection of interviews with a wide range of older people from playwright Edward Albee to comedian Phyllis Diller to Althea Washington, a Katrina survivor.

Alford, 46, has written for Vanity Fair and other publications. He's the author of the humor collection “Municipal Bondage” and received a Th ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/1-9/arts/books/13885.cfm Fri, 9 Jan 2009 05:00:00 EST The year in gay books
Many strong releases dotted the queer-penned 2008 landscape
By KATHI WOLFE
Friday, January 02, 2009
Despite the impact of the economic crisis on publishing, 2008 was a banner year for queer writers.
Lesbian poet Kay Ryan was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by the Library of Congress. 

“As a poet one is always writing in a sense to the past and to one's betters,” Ryan told the Blade. “So [it's] thrilling to be allowed into their society.”

Gay poet Mark Doty won the National Book Award for “Fire to Fire,” a stunning collection of his previous seven volumes of poetry. 

Gay children's book author Brian Selznick, received the Caldecott Medal for “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” a pictur ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2009/1-2/arts/books/13865.cfm Fri, 2 Jan 2009 05:00:00 EST Poet's prize
Gay writer Mark Doty receives National Book Award
By KATHI WOLFE
Friday, December 26, 2008
“I'm working on making this real,” renowned gay poet and memoirist Mark Doty posted on his blog (markdoty.blogspot.com) recently, the day after he received the National Book Award. “How can it be the case, how does one admit such news?”

Few honors are as prestigious as this literary prize. This year, the awards presented by the National Book Foundation in New York on Nov. 19, came with a bronze statue and $10,000. Along with critical recognition, this honor usually increases sales.

“Awards are always wrong,” Gore Vidal said 15 years ago when he won a National Book Award for non-fiction.

But this isn't the case for Doty, who ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2008/12-26/arts/books/13836.cfm Fri, 26 Dec 2008 05:00:00 EST Blah-battling books
Sedaris, Bechdel collections perfect tonics for holiday blues
By KATHI WOLFE
Friday, December 12, 2008
Holiday shopping's a hassle, Yuletide family drama is a nightmare and the economy's tanking. Who doesn't have the blues?

Fortunately, we can take heart. Two entertaining collections — “Holidays on Ice” by gay humorist David Sedaris and “The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For” by lesbian cartoonist Alison Bechdel — will deliver us from our funk, by making us laugh at our culture and ourselves.

Sedaris became famous in his 30s, when NPR listeners heard his commentary about working as an elf at Macy's one holiday season.  (Sedaris was a snarky elf. “Santa,” he said, “is an anagram of Satan.”) The piece, called ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2008/12-12/arts/books/13716.cfm Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:00:00 EST A writer among men
'Wicked' author Gregory Maguire introduces third in series
By MATHEW STAVER
Friday, December 05, 2008
Writer Gregory Maguire sees the soul in wicked people.

L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” and the classic 1939 movie based on it, have captured the world's imagination. But Maguire always thought there was a better story hiding behind the simplistic battle between good and evil.

“'The Wizard of Oz' really seemed ripe to plunder for me for several reasons,” Maguire says during an interview with Southern Voice, a Blade sister paper. “In the MGM version, Judy Garland and all the rest, it has become part of our cultural consciousness, but in the book form from 1900, there is an awful lot to explore.”
... ]]> http://washblade.com/2008/12-5/arts/books/13682.cfm Fri, 5 Dec 2008 05:00:00 EST Remembering Rimbaud
New biography deftly captures 19th century poet
By KATHI WOLFE
Friday, November 21, 2008
Conventional wisdom holds that poets have little impact on popular culture. But renowned gay writer Edmund White's engaging new biography of 19th century French poet Arthur Rimbaud stands this myth on its head.

White tells the story of Rimbaud who, though he wrote poetry only as a teenager, has influenced creative artists from Marcel Proust to the Surrealists to Bob Dylan to Patti Smith.

In fewer than 200 pages, White makes the elements of Rimbaud's life come alive, especially his battles with his overbearing mother, the moment when his lover, the poet Paul Verlaine, shot him in the wrist, his travels and, most important, his poetry.

Rimbaud, who lived from 1 ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2008/11-21/arts/books/13619.cfm Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:00:00 EST '70s TV 'Wonders'
Gay book series adds volumes on 'Wonder Woman,' 'Charlie's Angels'
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
Friday, November 14, 2008
Gay Gen Xers in the mood for fun, quick reads will get a kick out of two new books in “The Q Guide” series devoted to '70s TV favorites “Wonder Woman” and “Charlie's Angels” — as long as expectations are kept in check.

“The Q Guide to Wonder Woman” is out this month. “The Q Guide to Charlie's Angels” came out in July. Both are by gay author Mike Pingel, a former D.C. resident who's been in Los Angeles 15 years. The books are published by Alyson Books and follow previous “Q Guide” tomes like Jim Colucci's “The Q Guide to the Golden Girls,” Allen Crowe's “The Q Guide to Designing Women&r ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2008/11-14/arts/books/13590.cfm Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:00:00 EST Queer classics revisited
Popular Highsmith suspense series plays villain as hero
By KATHI WOLFE
Friday, November 07, 2008
One of life's guilty pleasures is rooting for the amoral, anti-hero to triumph over morality. “The Complete Ripley Novels” by lesbian writer Patricia Highsmith offers a sublime opportunity to indulge this pleasure.  This republication of Highsmith's five-volume series featuring Tom Ripley, the charming, refined American sociopath who lives in a French village, is a cause for celebration.
 
Highsmith, who died in Locarno, Switzerland in 1995, was born in 1921 in Fort Worth, Texas, and raised in New York City. After graduating from Barnard College and working a stint as a comic book writer, Highsmith attended Yaddo. There, encouraged by Truman Capote, she wrote ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2008/11-7/arts/books/13547.cfm Fri, 7 Nov 2008 05:00:00 EST Stein revisted
Author of lesbian legend bio takes cues from her subject
By GREG HAMM
Friday, October 24, 2008
Gertrude Stein occupies a curious position in America's cultural consciousness. Many recognize her name, and some might even be able to recall a fact or two from her life story, but very few have heard of — let alone read — anything she wrote.

Her story is one of enduring interest: from her expatriate home in Paris she held court over an artistic and literary salon that nurtured the highest minds of Modernism; among her famous friends she counted Picasso, Matisse, Hemingway and Fitzgerald. She managed to secure her own place in the pantheon of Modernist literature alongside the likes of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf without the equivalent achievement of a “Ulys ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2008/10-24/arts/books/13458.cfm Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:00:00 EST Lesbian literature
Linda Suzuki's 'dyke drama' erotica finds diverse outlets
By COLLEEN DERMODY
Friday, October 17, 2008
Looking out the window of her Northwest Washington apartment, playwright Linda Suzuki alternates petting the heads of her yellow labs Buster and Mitchell.

“They think I spend too much time writing dyke drama, lesbian erotica and bad poetry and not enough time taking them for a swim in the creek,” she says. “They're probably right.”

This summer Suzuki published her first book of 10 lesbian-themed plays — “Dyke Drama (and Comedy),” a body of work she began writing in 2004. Those plays have been performed in lesbian, gay and alternative-theater festivals in cities around the country including Washington; New York; Chicago; Boston; ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2008/10-17/arts/books/13422.cfm Fri, 17 Oct 2008 05:00:00 EST