A few years ago, a friend gave me Colm Toibin's novel about Henry James, "The Master;" I read it last summer and then went on to Toibin's "The Magician;" both are about men who, deep down inside, are gay, but live in a straight world. I've read more about Toibin, who is openly gay, and I sense that he is definitely the kind of guy you'd want to sit down and have a beer with.