In his new short story, “There’s a Small Hotel,” Andrew Holleran returns to the themes he explored in his last novel, Grief. Once again, Mr. Holleran presents us with a main character who is wrestling with lingering memories. But
Read Andrew Holleran’s New Short Story. Read More »
Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club is an excellent book. I’m not the first to notice this. It won the Lambda Award last month and before that, Benjamin Alire Saenz’s collection of short stories won the coveted Faukner
Benjamin Alire Saenz is a Great American Short Story Writer. Read More »
Let’s get this out of the way first: John Irving’s In One Person is a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. As queer readers will recall, I loved this book. It is the best queer novel of 2012 and may
The Lambda Literary Awards Finalists Reflect a Strong Year for Queer Non-fiction. Read More »
The Publishing Triangle Awards are tomorrow night. I have mixed feelings about literary awards. Most writers have a distinct strain of competitiveness running through them. And I’m not sure at all sure this should be encouraged. Nevertheless, a nomination for
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Some of the finest non-fiction crime writing can be found in David McConnell’s new book, American Honor Killings. At it’s best, Mr. McConnell’s writing compares favorably to Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and Norman Mailer’s Executioner’s Song. It
David McConnell’s Honor Killings is a Remarkable Literary Achievement. Read More »
In his new book, The Testament of Mary, Colm Toibin humanizes the Jesus story by telling it from the perspective of his Jewish mother. The Mary Mr. Toibin renders here lives her life in fear. She fears the semi-hidden
Colm Toibin’s The Testament of Mary is Beautifully Written. Read More »
Amidst all the successes of the worldwide struggle for LGBT rights, something has undeniably been lost. What that ‘something’ is can be difficult to define, but perhaps the best word for it might simply be, “sleaze.” The etymology of the
Michal Witkowski’s Love Time is a Literary, Lyrical Homage to Sleaze. Read More »
There’s a conceit to most biographies. The biographer does the research, interviews the surviving witnesses and from these often disparate accounts, hobbles together a narrative that bears the imprimatur of omniscience. Cynthia Carr’s new David Wojnarowicz biography is different. In
Cynthia Carr’s Ground-Breaking David Wojnarowicz Biography is Superb. Read More »
It takes courage today to write a novel with a first person narrator who is bisexual. In this politically correct age, there is bound to be a pitfall, a mistake, an offense made–perhaps unintentionally. It is remarkable that John Irving
John Irving’s In One Person is Brave and Brilliant. Read More »
Alison Bechdel’s new graphic novel Are You My Mother? is very different from her first, Fun Home. Are You My Mother? isn’t as much an examination of her mother’s life as it is an exploration of the nature of
Alison Bechdel’s Are You My Mother is Intellectual and Entertaining. Read More »