GEORGE TOOKER was born in 1920. He is now 88. His paintings are icons in contemporary American art. He came of age in the 1930s; he studied with Paul Cadmus, and he learned how to work in egg tempera, a painterly technique developed in the Renaissance which produces a luminous quality yet requires meticulous application. Tooker was also briefly lovers with Cadmus and worked with Cadmus and Jared French in a famous collaborative. Tooker's youth as a painter was when the influence of French surrealism was at its paramount. There's a touch of this in his work. He followed Cadmus  in a sort of jagged representationalism. After his conversion to Roman Catholicism, his work takes on an ethereal quality combined with his central theme, American alienation through the massification of culture. Tooker's catalogue is, of course, much larger than his signature pieces, all fascinating.

This latest book, GEORGE TOOKER, is the first representative overview of Tooker's work in thirty years. This book is the companion to the recently touring exhibition of Tooker's work. The essays included offer new research and analysis on Tooker's career and painting. Eighty from Tooker's catalogue are reproduced. The contributing authors are: ANNA C. CHAVE, THOMAS H. GARVER and JONATHAN WEINBERG.

GEORGE TOOKER is a hardcover from Merrell, $60.00. ISBN: 9781858944562

George Tooker in 1981, standing before his work, The Seven Sacraments. at the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi in Windsor, Vermont.

About every ten years or so, there is published a big new book about the Roman emperor Hadrian. The latest one, just out, is HADRIAN: EMPIRE & CONFLICT by THORSTEN OPPER. Hadrian was emperor from 117 to 138. His reign was known for his ruthless military adventures and his interest in architecture and his love of Greek culture. Not only was the great wall in Britain built in his name, but Hadrian also built his famous villa, which was a greater project than his predecessor Trajan’s home and others earlier. This beautifully edited book is lavishly illustrated. The section on Antinous, Hadrian’s beloved, is fascinating. It seems that there are great numbers of statues of Antinous from this period, only exceeded by statues of Augustus and Hadrian. How did that happen? Hadrian lived for sixty-two years; he was emperor for nearly twenty-one.

HADRIAN is a hardcover from Harvard University Press, $29.95. ISBN: 9780674030954

E. PATRICK JOHNSON took on an ambitious project in compiling SWEET TEA: BLACK GAY MEN OF THE SOUTH: AN ORAL HISTORY. Traveling through every southern American state, he interviewed more than seventy black gay men, ranging in age from 19 to 93. His subjects were from all walks of life: lawyers, hairdressers, ministers, artists, doctors, architects, students, professors and corporate executives. Some were retired, some unemployed. The result is an in-depth presentation of a rich, complex and diverse society. Johnson has organized SWEET TEA around the various themes that emerged from his subjects’ narratives.

            A consistent theme is the disputation of the idea that gay subcultures only flourish in big northern cities. Johnson also deals at length with the topic of how black gay men negotiate their sexual and racial identities with their southern cultural and religious identities. He suggests that these men reveal themselves through the performance of “southerness,” the catalogue of which includes politeness, coded speech and religiosity, among others, and through this performance legitimate themselves as members of both southern and black cultures.

            Other chapters explore the mens’ family relationships—coming out is a consistent part of the interviews—unique experiences and shared ones, the role of religion and the historic black church, as well as their love and sexual relationships. Johnson’s is a fascinating book, perhaps unique in its field. Though a professor at Northwestern, Johnson sent 2008 on tour, giving live performances of “Pouring Tea,” a one-man show based on the interviews he collected for SWEET TEA.

SWEET TEA is a hardcover from the University of North Carolina Press, $35.00. ISBN: 9780807832097

Based on new data from the National Survey of Male Relationships, Swain offers strategies for gay male coupling. His key is the "Alpha" vs. "Beta" style--included are tests to see which you are.

DYNAMIC DUOS is a trade paperback from Alyson Books, $16.95. ISBN: 9781593500672

Early in 1913, G. H. Hardy, at 37, considered the greatest British mathematician of his time, received in the mail a mysterious envelope covered with Indian stamps. Hardy was  charismatic and somewhat eccentric. Inside the envelope was a letter from a self-professed mathematical genius who claimed to be on the brink of solving the most important unsolved mathematical problem of all time.

Hardy takes the bait and is determined to find out more about this extraordinary individual and, if he can, relocate him to Cambridge to finish his work. Leavitt's is a novel of wide scope and intellectual depth.

THE INDIAN CLERK is new in trade paperback from Bloomsbury, $16.00. ISBN: 9781596910416

Father Mychal was born in a family of poor Irish immigrants. As a boy, he shined shoes in Penn Station. He joined the Franciscan order and, in time, was ordained a priest. He was appointed to the office of chaplain to the Fire Department of New York. He was gregarious, had the gift of gab and was well-liked with the Fire Department. He was known as "Father Mike." Judge struggled with his own addiction issues, getting sober through AA. He came to accept his sexual orientation, and Daly reveals his close and long lasting relationship with his close friend.

On 11 September 2001, Father Mike rushed to the World Trade Center, at the emergency command post, where he was killed in the falling debris while ministering to the first responders. There was a Reuters photograph of his body being carried from the rubble; they called it an "American Pietà."

THE BOOK OF MYCHAL is a hardcover from St. Martin's Press, $27.95. ISBN: 9780312301207

He does try to fit into the competitive teen culture, but it's failure after failure. He does play soccer but his teammates reject him. Being a teen, he knows the hormones are raging, and he sees his peers pairing off for sexual adventures. Charlie is alone with his fantasies.

Suddenly, there is a new guy at school. He joins the soccer team and enters Charlie's life. Suddenly, Charlie is a star, at least with his new friend. But even cool guys have problems and their new friendship is going to have speed-bumps.

THE SCREWED-UP LIFE OF CHARLIE THE SECOND is a trade paperback from Kensington, $15.00. ISBN: 9780758227089

RICHARD STEVENSON returns with a new Donald Strachey mystery, DEATH VOWS. Gay marriage in Massachusetts was the first in the nation and a cause for great celebration. But Stevenson's story takes a dark twist; the institution of gay marriage may be fine and dandy--except when it leads to murder!

This is Stevenson's ninth in his classic series, with Strachey and his loving foil, Timothy Callahan, in perfect form in a witty, ripped-from-the-headlines thriller.

DEATH VOWS is a trade paperback from MLRPress, $14.99. ISBN: 9781934531334

Blake has been an actor, director and film producer in the gay adult film industry. It's been quite a ride. He started in the slums of Nottingham, England, where, at 16-years-old, he worked as a male stripper (nice to hear they have male strip clubs in Nottingham). Hard work and years of experience got him to Hollywood, CA, into the pantheon of gay porn stardom.

He has appeared in over sixty films, making him the most successful British male gay porn star in history. Blake has won numerous awards, and he owns his own production company, Big Blue Productions.

OUT OF THE BLUE includes a signature of color photos. It is a trade paperback from Running Press, $14.95. ISBN: 9780762433889

BACKSTAGE PASS is an oversized hardcover, all photos, published by Universe $55.00. ISBN: 9780789315663