Vol. VII #2 ·
February 26, 2007
GARY INDIANA is not a big fan of the current
Governor of the state of California. In his book, SCHWARZENEGGER
SYNDROME: POLITICS AND CELEBRITY IN THE AGE OF CONTEMPT, Arnold's
career as a former gay-stroke-rag icon, body-building freak, vitamin
entrepreneur and film industry commodity gets analyzed. His triumphal
procession to the office in Sacramento came amidst a circus of dubious
civic housecleaning.
Indiana posits that Arnold reinvents himself for
each new opportunity, and that he and his cabal have artfully hidden
his personal history of sexual swinishness, fatuous racial slurs,
intimidation of journalists and rampant steroid consumption. This
is an acid-drenched account of Arnold's will to power, which worked,
and a meditation on the fusion of that scary thing, politics and
Hollywood celebrity. Arnold follows in the tradition of his predecessor,
Ronnie (who once noted that facts were "stupid things"); Indiana
offers the impact of make-believe fame on a democratic system and
the damage it does. This short book (140 pages) is a powerful indictment.
SCHWARZENEGGER SYNDROME is a hardcover from
the New Press, $19.95
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 I
saw JOHN AMAECHI being interviewed on CNN's Paula Zahn' show.
He didn't get much time, but made his point in a bright and engaging
way. Amaechi is in the news because he has a new book out--MAN IN
THE MIDDLE, which he wrote with CHRIS BULL.Amaechi was
born in England. He was a chubby lad and being a jet-setting NBA star
seemed like a distant dream. He had many obstacles to overcome to achieve
his hoop dreams. His father abandoned his family. He was cut from his
first college team. He suffered a life-threatening injury. There was
the history of abusive coaches. His mother died. He also had to hide
a deep personal secret: that he was gay.
His basketball career started at Penn State University. He played
pro with teams in Orlando, Houston and Salt Lake City, as well as in
Greece and France. Despite his fears of being outed, Amaechi has lived
an active and activist life throughout his career, mentoring children
and adopting two. He writes: "The NBA locker room was the most flamboyant
place I've ever been. The guys flaunted their perfect bodies. They bragged
of their sexual exploits. They primped in front of the mirror, applying
cologne and hair gel by the bucketful. They tried on each other's $10,000
suits and shoes, admired each other's diamond-studded rings and necklaces.
It was an intense kind of camaraderie that felt completely natural to
them but was a little too close for my comfort. As I surveyed the room,
I couldn't help chuckling to myself: And I'm the gay one." But perhaps
not the only one.
MAN IN THE MIDDLE is a hardcover from ESPN Books. I
found it odd that there are no photographs included, $24.95
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 For
JENNIFER BAUMGARDNER, bisexuality has always been more than just
"the sexual non-preference of the '90s." In her new book, LOOK BOTH
WAYS: BISEXUAL POLITICS, she takes a close look at gay and bisexual
people on the national cultural stage. Even after the openings that
came with the women's movement, the gay movement and AIDS activism,
she asks why it is that bisexuality continues to be marginalized by
both straight and gay cultures.Baumgardner is candid about her own
bisexual history and the struggle she has undergone to reconcile the
privilege she's garnered as a woman who is perceived as straight and
the empowerment and satisfaction she's derived from her relationships
with women. LOOK BOTH WAYS is an exploration of the lessons learned
and the freedoms gained by writers, artists and activists who have refused
the either/or paradigm defended by both gay and straight communities.
LOOK BOTH WAYS is a hardcover from Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
$24.00
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 JOE
OPPEDISANO's TESTOSTERONE is a collection of very stylized
photographs of male subjects in a variety of poses and settings. Some
have a romantic twist; many are from the darker side.Oppedisano writes
in his Artist's Statement: "The photos in this book come from a long
line of inspirations and influences--aesthetic, sexual, human--but primary
to their essence is the epiphany I had at the age of sixteen when I
saw my first Tom of Finland drawing and realized I could never look
at men the same way again. A little while later the same feelings
were stirred when I got my hands on a copy of Colt Magazine. The way
the men were portrayed: larger than life, strong, masculine, and not
just sexy, but sexual creatures. They were beasts, almost gods. And
I was obsessed."
TESTOSTERONE is a slightly oversized hardcover, published
by Bruno Gmünder, $77.00
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 In
SEXUAL POLITICS: THE GAY PERSON IN AMERICA TODAY, author SHANNON
GILREATH posits that each gay person in American society has been
established in his position by his interpersonal sexual relationships
that have become politicized and used as instruments of domination.
One's status is determined by the awareness of one's sexual identity
or identification.Gilreath argues that social definition on the basis
of sexual orientation is quintessentially political, that it is at the
heart of American politics today. There is another view of sexual politics,
one that understands that the gay rights movement is progressive social
engineering. Gays rearrange the political discourse, and even the most
closeted person, it turns out, is not apolitical. Gilreath's argument
is for further emergence of a gay and lesbian ethos of public attentiveness
to reshape public norms that configure private lives.
SEXUAL POLITICS is a hardcover from the University of Akron
Press, $24.95
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 When
CHRIS BEAM first moved to Los Angeles, she thought she might
put in a few hours volunteering at a school for gay and transgender
kids. Instead, she found herself drawn more deeply than she could have
ever imagined into the pained and powerful group of transgirls she discovered.
In her book, TRANSPARENT, Beam introduces us to four of her "kids"--Christina,
Domineque, Foxxjazell, and Ariel. Beam earns their trust and shows us
their world, a dizzying mix of teenage drama and the challenge of how
to change your body on a few dollars a day. This is a story of struggle,
about young people trying to bridge the gap between the way they feel
inside and the way the world sees them.
Beam writes this story with passionate engagement and a sensitivity
of what the trans-gendered youths are going through.
TRANSPARENT is a hardcover from Harcourt, $25.00
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 KAYE
BALLARD has a show business career that spans over sixty years.
Her new book is HOW I LOST 10 POUNDS IN 53 YEARS: A MEMOIR. You
will find on her CV stints in burlesque and vaudeville, gigs in nightclubs
and with big bands. Add on the movies, television and Broadway. I think
it was Ballard who introduced, in THE GOLDEN APPLE, the
great hit, "Lazy Afternoon," written by John LaTouche. She put in her
time at the Actor's Studio at the same time as Marlon Brando and Marilyn
Monroe. She graced the cover of LIFE magazine in its heyday.
She was backstage with Lenny Bruce when he was shaking things up at
the hungry i.Ballard has a great memory of her highlights in a fabulous
show business career. Her book is full of stories of the many troupers
she worked with, partied with, and crossed paths with. Her co-author
is JIM HESSELMAN. The foreword is by JERRY STILLER.
HOW I LOST 10 POUNDS IN 53 YEARS is a hardcover from Back
Stage Books. There are black and white photos throughout and an index,
$24.95
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 MICHAEL
LOWENTHAL's third novel, CHARITY GIRL, just published,
has been getting great press. Many reviewers reveal that they had no
knowledge of Lowenthal's subject--that during the First World War, women
suspected of transmitting sexual diseases were quarantined. There were
15,000 of them.CHARITY GIRL is the story of Frieda Mintz.
She's a 17-year-old Jewish woman who works as a bundle wrapper at Jordan
Marsh, a large department store. She's gone off to start her own life,
rebelling against her mother's attempt to marry her off to a man twice
her age. She spends one night with a US Army private, before he is shipped
out to the front. She becomes infected and is tracked down and is shipped
to a detention center, where she is subjected to invasive exams, a stern
matron, and a diminishing sense of her self-worth.
Through Frieda's story, Lowenthal lays out the diagram of the dimensions
of public health policy before the era of the miracles drugs--Lowenthal's
story is set in a time that also suffered the ravages of the world-wide
epidemic of the influenza. The political and moral dilemmas he explores--the
public good vs. individual freedoms--are still very much with us today.
CHARITY GIRL is a hardcover from Houghton Mifflin Company,
$24.00
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 ALTERNATIVES
TO SEX is STEPHEN McCAULEY's fifth novel. It is a story about
a life's search--for true love, good sex, and great real estate.
William Collins works as a realtor in a community outside Boston. Property
is hot, but Collins isn't hitting his mark. Why? Well, he's busy with
other obsessions--compulsive ironing, binges of cleaning house and computer
cruising. He's also trying to collect rent from his tenant, a passive-aggressive
type. His best friend, Edward, a flight attendant, is also on his mind.
William is fully aware that his habits have slipped into the negative
territory. He decides to do something about it. Enter Charlotte and
Samuel, wealthy suburbanites. They're looking for a swank in-town apartment.
William thinks maybe he can learn something from them. But what they
learn from each other just might tank a budding friendship and, not
to mention, spoil a good sale. McCauley comes through once again with
a sharp novel full of smart dialogue from an ensemble of charming characters.
ALTERNATIVES TO SEX is new in trade paperback from Washington
Square Press, $14.00
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 Local
author JOHN LAURITSEN has just published his latest book. It
is: THE MAN WHO WROTE FRANKENSTEIN. It is sure to create controversy,
if it already hasn't.Lauritsen argues that it was not Mary Shelley,
the young second wife of Percy Bysshe, who was the author of the great
romantic-era classic, FRANKENSTEIN, but Percy himself. Lauritsen
acknowledges that the work is an achievement of profound and radical
ideas, and, given the times as well as for personal reasons, Percy had
to conceal his authorship. Lauritsen has three central theses: that
FRANKENSTEIN is a major literary work which has been often underrated
and trivialized through misinterpretations; that Percy was the author;
and that male love is the dominant theme of the work.
THE MAN WHO WROTE FRANKENSTEIN is a trade paperback from Pagan
Press, $16.95
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FRIDAY 9 March
at 7 PM
JUDAH LEBLANG and SHEA MULLANEY will read at Calamus Bookstore. Leblang is a local writer, teacher
and storyteller. His radio commentaries have aired nationally on 160
NPR and ABC network stations.
SHEA MULLANEY is a local
poet. His debut collection of poetry, FOLLOW THE WOLF MOON,
was published by MJS Publishing, a Colorado Press, in 2006.
FRIDAY 13 April
at 7 PM
 
The Rev. MICHAEL S. PIAZZA is
a pastor, author and social justice activist. He is the founder and
President of Hope for Peace & Justice. He also serves as Dean and National
pastor of the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, Texas. An earlier title of
his is HOLY HOMOSEXUALS. He has two recent titles:
QUEERIES: QUESTIONS LESBIANS AND GAYS HAVE FOR GOD and THE REAL
ANTICHRIST: HOW AMERICA SOLD ITS SOUL. Rev. Piazza will read from
his work and lead a discussion on Friday, 13 April at 7 PM.
FRIDAY 27 April
at 7 PM
BRIAN MALLOY will read
from his latest novel, BRENDAN WOLF, Friday 27 April at
7 PM. This is Malloy's second novel; his first, THE YEAR OF ICE,
was well received
FRIDAY 18 May
at 7 PM
 Local
author JOHNNY DIAZ will read from his novel BOSTON BOYS CLUB
on Friday, 18 May, at 7 PM. DIAZ is a reporter for the Boston
GLOBE and his book will be published in late April.
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FEATURED DVDs
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 Set
in Brazil, THE LONGING features Erik and his two German
friends as they spend their days snorkeling, watching Brazilian
soap operas and having sex on a live webcam. Erik meets Miguel,
and the plot turns into an homage to the tawdry yet addictive
telenovelas. $19.99
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 FIRST
OUT is a collection of award winning gay-themed short films.
Included are: DIFFERENT, A GOOD SON, IS ONE OF YOU EDDIE?, MEET
JOE GAY, and THE NEIGHBORLY THING, $24.95
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BARGAIN BOOKS
 THE
LAYING ON OF HANDS is a collection of three stories
by ALAN BENNETT, the remarkable playwright and essayist.
This volume includes not only the title story but "Father!
Father! Burning Bright," and "Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet."
The is the 2002 first edition, published by Picador USA,
$5.95
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 SAMUEL
R. DELANY has one of the most fascinating collections
of titles. His memoir, THE MOTION OF LIGHT IN WATER,
is his recollection of life in New York City in the 1960s,
than which there can be nothing more fun. Those were the
years when Delany started his career. This is the remaindered
bookclub edition, $7.95
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RE:PAST
Out-of-print, first editions or
curios from the Calamus collection
Call (617) 338-1931 for ordering information
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