Vol. IX No. 2 · February 28, 2009
THE LIVES THAT LATE THEY LED
EDWARD CARPENTER: A LIFE OF LIBERTY AND LOVE is a hardcover from Verso. This a UK import. There are photos throughout, extensive notes and an index. EDWARD CARPENTER: A LIFE OF LIBERTY AND LOVE - $39.95 |
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 D.
BRENTON SIMONS is President and CEO of the New England Historic
Genealogical Society. His current book is BOSTON BEHELD: ANTIQUE
TOWN AND COUNTRY VIEWS. His previous book was the delightful and
informative WITCHES, RAKES, AND ROGUES: TRUE STORIES OF SCAM, SCANDAL,
MURDER, AND MAYHEM IN BOSTON, 1630-1775.BOSTON BEHELD is a unique collection of more than sixty works of art from the 18th and 19th centuries, depicting the development of the core city of Boston and its environs. Well-researched and beautifully published, with color plates throughout, BOSTON BEHELD is a treat for those who love Boston, seek more about its past and will enjoy these representations of the city before it became modern. BOSTON BEHELD is an oversized hardcover from the University Press of New England, published in association with the New England Historic Genealogical Society. BOSTON BEHELD - $35.00 |
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 LINDA
WILLIAMS is Professor of Film Studies and Rhetoric at UC, Berkeley.
She has written extensively about media and its cultural influences.
Her latest book is SCREENING SEX.For many years, a chaste or a passionate kiss was all audiences got for a sexual expression in the movies--excluding, of course, the entire career of Miss Mae West--but, starting in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the American cinema "grew up," and the movies became more explicit in matters sexual. Williams explores how sex acts have been represented on screen for more than a century and, just as importantly, how we have watched and experienced these representations. Williams also reflects on the nature of watching sex on small screens at home compared to watching the same on large screens in public places. Williams has written the definitive study of sex at the movies, a formidable achievement. SCREENING SEX is a trade paperback from Duke University Press. It includes black and white reproductions from some of the movies she discusses, extensive notes and an index. SCREENING SEX - $24.95 |
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 JACK
SPICER was forty years old when he died in 1965. (Frank O'Hara also
died at age forty, one year later.) At his death, he left behind a trunkful
of papers and manuscripts and a few copies of the seven small books
that had been published in his lifetime.Known as a West Coast poet, Spicer had a national reputation among the literary world, though his work ran somewhat contrary to his contemporaries in the New York School and the San Francisco Renaissance--the Beats included. But his reputation has remained and been enhanced. It has taken over forty years to get his work collected, but that is exactly what PETER GIZZI and KEVIN KILLIAN have done in MY VOCABULARY DID THIS TO ME: THE COLLECTED POETRY OF JACK SPICER. Killian is also co-author, with LEWIS ELLINGHAM, of the 1998 title, POET BE LIKE GOD: JACK SPICER AND THE SAN FRANCISCO RENAISSANCE. MY VOCABULARY DID THIS TO ME is a hardcover from Wesleyan University Press. MY VOCABULARY DID THIS TO ME - $35.00 |
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 SMILE
AS THEY BOW is a novel by NU NU YI. The author was born in
1957 in a village near Mandalay. Her first publication was in 1984.
Since then she has written more than fifteen novels and hundreds of
short stories. A famous writer in Burma, she currently lives in Yangon
(Rangoon).Her novel is set as the weeklong Taungbyon Festival comes to pass. Thousands of villagers show up at a tiny hamlet near Mandalay in order to celebrate a colorful public event, the occasion inspired by the nats, an event central to Burmese traditions--and, as it turns out, a largely gay event. At the center of the festivities is Daisy Bond, an elderly transvestite medium famous for his sharp tongue and dramatic public performances. Daisy's boyfriend is Min Min, who is also his assistant for his act. A young street girl makes a pitch for Min Min's affections and Daisy comes to face his worst fears. SMILE AS THEY BOW was suppressed by the military junta in Burma for over a decade. This is Nu Nu Yi's first book to be published in translation. The translation from the Burmese is credited to two: THI THI AYE and ALFRED BIRNBAUM. SMILE AS THEY BOW is a hardcover from Hyperion, a wonderful short book, 146 pages. SMILE AS THEY BOW - $21.95 |
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 CHRISTOPHER
AND THE BOYS is the latest title from HOWARD ROFFMAN. His
black and white photos continue and refine his extensive work, celebrating
the young man's body. There are solos and duos in the collection; some
of the photos are set against spectacular backgrounds.CHRISTOPHER AND THE BOYS is a hardcover from Bruno Gmunder. CHRISTOPHER AND THE BOYS - $64.00 |
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 HOLLYWOOD BABYLON: IT’S BACK Volume 1 has clearly been inspired by the classic works by Kenneth Anger, who pretty much put his personal imprint on this genre. But events in Tinseltown change daily and an update of the scandals was overdue.. This has been provided by DARWIN PORTER and DANFORTH PRINCE. This book is nothing less than a wonderful, gay, gossipy, well-researched deep dish. There are photos on every page, many I had never seen before, many with chatty sidebars about various stars and what they had to say or what others had to say about them. Hollywood, famous for its glamour, has always had a down and dirty side, and Porter and Prince give their readers a pretty good eyeful of how careers are made in the berg. And how they play out. The hurly-burly of the show-biz world takes its toll. HOLLYWOOD BABYLON is a hardcover from Blood Moon. HOLLYWOOD BABYLON: IT’S BACK Volume 1 - $24.95 |
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 RICHARD
ALTHER is the author of the novel, THE DECADE OF BLIND DATES.Peter Bauman, a 45-year-old divorced gay painter, turns to the want ads in search of a new partner--this just before the launch of the Internet. He dates a colorful cast of characters--a physician, a rabid Republican, and a Texas-two-stepping, tattooed punk. There is also the handsome, but somewhat stern Maine woodsman. Also the British aristo who declines further intimacy after his diagnosis with HIV-AIDS. Peter has come to gay life later than others and has to negotiate this new terrain and a new identity. His best friend, Barry, supports him every step of the way, as do his ex-wife, his daughter and his son. Peter, after his long search, finds his soul mate. THE DECADE OF BLIND DATES is a trade paperback from iUniverse. THE DECADE OF BLIND DATES - $17.95 |
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 DAVID
LEDDICK continues his impressive series on the male body with
THE NUDE MALE: 21st CENTURY VISIONS. This book includes 250 images,
featuring the work of 140 established and emerging photographers and
illustrators. A few of the reproductions are in black and white; the
overwhelming majority are in color.THE NUDE MALE is an oversized trade paperback published by Universe. THE NUDE MALE - $39.95 |
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 ADRIAN:
SILVER SCREEN TO CUSTOM LABEL is a charming and affectionate account
of the designer by CHRISTIAN ESQUEVIN.Gilbert Adrian, known in his screen credits as simply "Gowns By Adrian," was the chief costume designer at MGM from 1928 to 1941. It must have been lots of hard work, but lots of fun as well. It was filmdom's Golden Age, and Adrian stitched up the frocks for the famous--Garland, K. Hepburn, Norma Shearer, La Crawford, Loretta Young, Lana Turner, Harlow and others. His most famous work was done for none other than the great Greta Garbo. After he left MGM, Adrian opened his own couture and ready-to-wear business. His house line featured many of his signatures from his film work, elegant designs characterized by asymmetrical drapings, broad shoulders, dolman sleeves, slim skirts, uniquely patterned fabrics and splashes of color. His goal was to design American fashions for American women. Clothes designers come and go; it's a tough business. Thanks to the flickering movies, many now on DVD, but always best on the huge screen, Adrian's work lives on and somewhat amazing. Lucky guy. ADRIAN: SILVER SCREEN TO CUSTOM LABEL is a hardcover from The Monacelli Press. ADRIAN: SILVER SCREEN TO CUSTOM LABEL - $50.00 |
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RE:PAST
Out-of-print, first editions or curios from the Calamus collection
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Isn't
SHEILA ROWBOTHAM just the right person to write a comprehensive
biography of Edward Carpenter? And she does it quite nicely in
EDWARD CARPENTER: A LIFE OF LIBERTYY AND LOVE. Rowbotham
comes out of the progressive movements in the UK in the 1960s and
70s. Her choosing Carpenter as a subject for a biography makes a
nice fit. Carpenter came of age in the mid 1800s. His background
was comfortable and he had a very good education. He was actively
homosexual in his twenties, and his politics and criticisms of Victoria
society developed very quickly. He was a critic of capitalism; he
was also an advocate of women’s suffrage, free love, nudism, and
prison reform. His entire career anticipated the sexual revolution
of the 1960s. He made the acquaintance of so many prominent people
of his age: Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Robert Graves, E. M. Forster,
Isadora Duncan and Emma Goldman. When Carpenter came into his inheritance,
which was quite considerable, he wound with a nice property at Millthorpe.
He traveled to the USA and to Asia. He had his many affectionate
relationships with men, but he settled down with George Merrill,
whom he first spotted on a train. And soon thereafter, Merrill pursued
Carpenter after another train trip and then they made their arrangements
and stayed a couple until Merrill’s death in 1928. Carpenter died
the following year.
