SCOTT POMFRET has an intriguing CV. At Calamus Bookstore, we last saw Scott when he read with his partner, also named Scott, at a reading in promotion of one of their series of novels, written by Scott & Scott.

His new title, SINCE MY LAST CONFESSION: A GAY CATHOLIC MEMOIR, is his own work. What I find so admirable with so many writers is how they find the time to write. Pomfret's day job--though I suspect evening hours will find him at his desk--is as a trial attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and with events developing as they are these days, that could be a very busy desk. He also serves as a lector at Saint Anthony Shrine. His partner, the other Scott, seems to have no religious impulse in him, and the partner's grandmother, a Protestant, seems to hold some very old-fashioned anti-Catholic biases.

Pomfret takes the culture of his religion very seriously and his smart and entertaining book is essentially a long conversation with his experiences with his faith and with many individuals he encounters in his religious community. Some of Pomfret's story reads like the salmon swimming upstream--most salmons make it!--and some of it reads like a very bright man giving a very cold analysis of an organization he thinks might be better with some modern updating. It's good material and Pomfret hits just the right notes.

SINCE MY LAST CONFESSION is a hardcover from Arcade, $26.00

SCOTT POMFRET, pictured right, read recently at Calamus; we have signed copies of his book.

As they move into high school, their friendship grows deeper and more complicated. They share their furtive looks at the photos in PLAYGIRL. They mull over which celebrities might be gay. There are crushes on girls and boys; Jack really wants to figure out who he is. He would like to find real love, but he also wants to be popular and appear completely normal.

BAND FAGS is a coming of age novel filled with all the joy and angst of maturing and coming to terms with the end of innocence in the decade of the 1980s.

BAND FAGS is a trade paper from Kensington, $15.00

Like his previous publications, Sedaris works in the essay form, so compatible with his own narrative style in his public appearances. He brings his unique gifts to stories that include a parasitic worm that once lived in his mother-in-law's leg, an encounter with a dingo, and the recreational use of an external catheter. Sedaris also tells us his story of buying a human skeleton and his attempt to quit smoking.

WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN FLAMES is a hardcover from Little, Brown, $25.99

Paul Lemoyne is eighteen when he leaves the hinterlands for the capital. His first sexual encounter is in a men's room and he quickly finds his way about the underground gay scene in London. He gets a job at the seedy Palace of Varieties, where the onstage acts are tired and tacky, but the backstage sex action is non-stop. Paul starts as a stagehand, moves on to being a successful rent boy and reluctant thief. He falls into the clutches of a butch, sadistic impresario, Albert Abbott, and he's not sure his country-boy act can help him. Lear's style mixes page-turning plot, droll humor and explicit sex.

THE PALACE OF VARIETIES is a trade paperback from Cleis, $14.95

Moore brings her talents to writing about her late father, Paul Moore, Jr. Paul Moore was born in 1919 to a wealthy family. During adolescence, he had a religious awakening. During WWII, he enlisted in the Marines and fought in the battles in the Pacific theatre. After the war, he became a young Episcopal priest, working in the inner city. He ended his career as Bishop of New York. His pulpit was at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He used his ministry to promote progressive causes within the church and in society. Honor was one of nine children in the family. One of the central themes in her memoir is coming to terms with her discovery that her father, in addition to his family and church obligations, had many male lovers over the years as well. Moore also struggles with her own sexual orientation. This is a very intimate and moving portrait of a remarkable father by a daughter who loved him very much. Photos throughout.

THE BISHOP'S DAUGHTER is a hardcover from Norton, $25.95

ALL ABOUT THE BOYS is a collection of the photography by MICHAEL ANDREW, featuring young Russian, Czech and Slovak men in romantic and erotic poses.

ALL ABOUT THE BOYS is a hardcover from Bruno Gmünder, $42.99

Day was the number one female movie star for years in the 1950s. She had a stellar recording career. In later years, she had her own TV show. Born Doris Kappelhoff, she has maintained her reputation as "the girl next door," sweet, sincere and American as apple pie. As Kaufman reveals, the truth is complex and as fascinating as her public career, and covers American popular culture from the 1940s until today.

We meet major entertainment personalities from these decades, get the story on how she got ripped off for $22 million because of her husband's gullibility, share her grief after the death of her only son. Day and Rock Hudson apparently had lots of fun while making their three fluffy comedies together, and she remained a great friend until Hudson's death. In her retirement, Day turned her energies to animal care and protection. Kaufman's first book was RIDICULOUS: THE THEATRICAL LIFE AND TIMES OF CHARLES LUDLAM.

DORIS DAY is a hardcover from Virgin Books. It includes black and white photos, a bibliography, notes and an index, $29.95

Reuter visits a dozen US cities--Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC--and explores the gay community in each city and how the community interacts and has changed the larger urban environment. There are lots of color and black and white photos throughout, details from the last forty years, documenting the survival and growth of these urban spaces.

GREETINGS FROM THE GAYBORHOOD is a small hardcover from Abrams Image, $19.95

Robinson's mission in the church has focused on issues of social justice and a ministry to those not primarily addressed by men of the cloth--women, prisoners and the gay community. Robinson's work has challenged all Christians to contemplate even more deeply the messages of the Gospels. Robinson has done AIDS work in the USA and Africa and made affordable housing one of his priorities. He has two grown daughters and is the grandfather of two.

IN THE EYE OF THE STORM is a hardcover from Seabury Books, $25.00

Their latest title is TOM: THE COMPLETE KAKE COMICS. Finland had self-published his erotic cartoons in stand alone full-sized chapbooks. There wound up being twenty-six in this series. This is the first time they have all been collected in one volume. The editor was DIAN HANSON. The reproductions throughout from the Kake series are all in black and white. The last chapter is a selection from Tom's scrapbooks, mostly pictures of men in jeans, leather and uniforms. Hanson wrote the introduction. Taschen is famous for their attractive publishing and this volume is a worthy addition to their list.

TOM: THE COMPLETE KAKE COMICS has a stiff, flexible paper cover, is 704 pages, and is priced at $29.99

Myrna Lamb is the author of

THE ASTROLOGY OF GREAT GAY SEX
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FINDING MR. RIGHT AND AVOIDING MR. WRONG

Reading and Discussion,
Friday, July 25th  7 PM
at Calamus Bookstore

Published by Hampton Roads, $16.95