SOUND MINDS

The Wittgenstein family at the beginning of the 20th Century was one of the richest, most talented and most eccentric in Vienna. The founding father, Karl, had been a wondering and rebellious youth, but returned to Vienna and became an industrial magnate. He married and had eight children; they lived in a palace. Karl was domineering and his children grew up fraught with antagonisms, nervous tensions and lack of sibling camaraderie. Three of Karl's sons committed suicide. Paul, who lost an arm in the Great War, became a world-famous pianist and commissioned leading composers to create works for the left hand only. Ludwig, the youngest, went off to the UK, became a disciple of Bertrand Russell, and years later, was regarded as one of the most distinct, if difficult, philosophers of the 20th Century. Waugh makes the hero of the story Paul, who, after his disfigurement of WWI then had to endure the terror of a Gestapo interrogation and, later, a stretch in a Siberian prison camp.

THE HOUSE OF WITTGENSTEIN is a hardcover from Doubleday. It includes black and white photographs, extensive notes and an index.

THE HOUSE OF WITTGENSTEIN - $28.95

JOSEPH A. MASSAD

Sexual desire has long played a role in how Westerners judge Arab cultures. In the past, many in the West viewed the Arab world as licentious, and in the colonial period, Arab cultures were often viewed as decadent. When the West went through its sexual revolutions--when the status of women and homosexuals changed--the Arab cultures came to be seen as prudish and traditional.

Massad reveals the history of how Arabs have represented their own sexual desires. He has assembled from a massive compendium writings from the 19th Century up to the present in order to track the changes in Arab sexual attitudes and the links to notions of Arab cultural heritage and civilization.

DESIRING ARABS is a trade paperback from the University of Chicago Press, $22.50

DESIRING ARABS - $22.50

BEST LESBIAN EROTICA 09 was edited by TRISTAN TAORMINO. JOAN LARKIN made the selection and wrote the introduction. This annual anthology has been published for a decade.

Contributors include: Rachel Kramer Bussel, Radclyffe, Jean Casse, Jodi Payne, Evan Mora,  Linda, Suzuki, Dylynn DeSaint, Lisabet Sarai, Thea Leticia, Anna Watson and others.

BEST LESBIAN EROTICA 09 is a trade paperback from Cleis Press, $15.95

BEST LESBIAN EROTICA - $15.95

This is a story about two men with a passion for baseball, and for each other. It becomes clear that someone is fixing the games. There is speculation, then suspicion. The question ultimately becomes: what games are these two guys playing on each other? Get ready as the game that regularly mixes scandal and sex goes into extra innings. There's no telling who will come out on top.

TWO BOTTOMS IN THE NINTH is a trade paperback from Alyson Books.

TWO BOTTOMS IN THE NINTH - $14.95

SAM STAGGS has made a reputation giving the back story on some of the great American films. His previous titles include: WHEN BLANCHE MET BRANDO, CLOSE-UP ON SUNSET BOULEVARD and ALL ABOUT "ALL ABOUT EVE." His latest is BORN TO BE HURT: THE UNTOLD STORY OF IMITATION OF LIFE.

The 1959 remake of the Fannie Hurst novel was perhaps the perfect match of material with director, Douglas Sirk, the master of melodrama. No one has ever made a convincing case that Lana Turner was a great thespian but nonetheless she is fascinating to watch on screen. Poor Turner, in and around the time this film was lensed, was to have her own turn in the tank, after the murder of her mobster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato. Ars longa. Staggs has done his homework and gives us the deep background as well as the deep dish.

BORN TO BE HURT is a hardcover from St. Martin's Press; it includes black and white photos, notes and an index.

BORN TO BE HURT - $29.95

Among the contributors are: Gerard Wozek, Shane Allison, Simon Sheppard, Xan West, Jeff Mann, London Dixon, Tulsa Brown, Robert Patrick, Lee Houck, Ryan Field, Vincent Diamond and others.

BEST GAY EROTICA 09 is a trade paperback from Cleis Press.

BEST GAY EROTICA 09 - $15.95

JOHN SIMPSON wrote MURDER MOST GAY. His latest novel is CONDOR ONE.

The story is set during the 2012 Presidential election. David Windsor is the Democratic Party's nominee. Just six weeks before the election, Windsor is outed by his opponent. What should Windsor do? He chooses honesty over media spin and goes on to win the election.

But his situation is precarious. Leading his security is Secret Service Agent Shane Thompson. He becomes the President's shadow, always present and silent, ever vigilant. The two men grow closer and Shane becomes vital to the President's happiness as he is to his personal safety.

CONDOR ONE is a trade paperback from Dreamspinner Press.

CONDOR ONE - $11.99

BEST LESBIAN ROMANCE 2009 was edited by RADCLYFFE. This title is published annually, featuring established and new writers.

Contributors include: Kathie Bergquist, Karin Kallmaker, Shanna Germain, Andrea Dale, Alison Tyler, Kay Jaybee, Jennifer Fulton, Catherine Lundoff, Olivia Presley, Allison Wonderland, Elspeth Potter and others.

BEST LESBIAN ROMANCE 2009 is a trade paperback from Cleis Press.

BEST LESBIAN ROMANCE 2009 - $14.95

RUDY KIKEL has a distinguished career as a poet, essayist, journalist, editor and cultural critic. His latest book is TALKS IN THE BLUE.

Kikel's poems in the book have the charm of good conversation. Incidents in his life have been the inspiration for these texts, and the author is very broad and encompassing in the experiences from which he draws. The simplicity with which he presents his work is part of the charm; in fact the book is an intricately interwoven and very sophisticated evocation of memory. Kikel also demonstrates his considerable gift for story-telling through verse.

TALKS IN THE BLUE is a trade paperback from Orchard House Press.

TALKS IN BLUE - $16.99

BLIND FALL is CHRISTOPHER RICE's fourth novel. It is a story of suspense and sexual obsession.

When Iraq War vet John Houck was in the Marine Corps' elite Force Recon division, he was trained to slip behind enemy lines and kill with his bare hands. His life changed when he failed to protect his friend and captain, Mike Bowers.

Back in California, working construction jobs, and in relationships with women who can't understand his demons, Houck only wants to redeem himself. He sets out to visit Bowers at his isolated mountain cabin. Once there, he stumbles on a gruesome scene--Bowers has been viciously murdered. Houck sees a man running away. This is Alex Martin. But Martin is not the killer; he was Mike Bowers' lover. John and Alex are thrown together by deadly secrets and shattering revelations. Together they must avenge the death of the man they both loved--one as a lover, one as a comrade-in-arms.

BLIND FALL is a trade paperback from Pocket Books.

BLIND FALL - $15.00

JAMES PURDY REMEMBERED

The obituaries for James Purdy appeared in the newspapers on Saturday, 14 March 2009. Purdy was 94 when he died. Purdy was one of the most interesting writers of his generation and had one of the oddest of careers.

The photo featured here was taken of Purdy, by Ken Rabb, in 1978, while Purdy was in Boston to appear at an event I organized and hosted. Purdy and I spent the day together. We visited my friend James Marshall, the noted children's book writer, and James did a lively interview with Purdy, published in the GAY COMMUNITY NEWS. Later, Purdy and I took a walk about. In the evening was the event, at a gay bar, now long gone. The event was a success, attracting a diverse crowd, as many women as men; half the women were black. Purdy had told me that he had a very devoted black readership. I was fascinated with so many of his books. He really worked the waterfront. Would CABOT WRIGHT BEGINS even get published today? My favorite is OUT WITH THE STARS, perhaps his most surreal tale, just a magic carpet ride. I doubt he ever made much money, but he made a reputation, one that will endure, akin to Hawthorne in his wisdom on how to read American society.