Good Books

[chrismac]

I think the topics of literature and music have popped up here in the past, but I was always a little intimidated by the discussion as everyone seemed to know the themes and could conduct the most erudite analysis on ever facet of a particular book, or what the musician was really trying to attain - that I felt amazingly simple and just stayed out of the fray.

 

I have picked up a few good books lately though, and just thought I would recommend them, or get a discussion going on them if anyone was interested:

 

1. "The Lovely Bones" - by Alice Sebold. I found this book, about a 14-year old girl who was murdered by a neighbor (not unlike the Danielle Van Damm/David Westerfield story), and who tells her story from here viewpoint in Heaven. It's a fascinating read as she looks down on her grieving family, the police who search in vain for her killer, her school friends who try to cope with her loss, and how they all move on, or not, as the case may be. Sad, funny, hopeful, traumatic; an excellent read.

 

2. "Paris 1919" - by Margaret MacMillan. An anthology of the Treaty of Versailles, with so many details we didn't learn in school - but are fascinating nonetheless. Because of the utopian, yet arrogant and naive mentality of the victors in WWI, it is easy to see how future wars, from WWII right up to the present MidEast conflicts were born. Even those not drawn to history would find this very interesting. Good pictures too.

 

3. "Stupid White Men" - by Michael Moore. Satire on the present political landscape. Witty, if a bit caustic at times. Democrats will LOVE this book.

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

"new" books

 

The film of Before Night Falls got me interested in some of the Reinaldo Arenas books. One of the exes has the original 1966 Mexican version of Hallucinations. I am often disappointed when I see translations of films and text into English but the 2002 Penguin translation, available in paperback, is very good. There is also a British version.

 

I have also being re-reading some of the John Reechy books, which I had read as a teenager and, have to admit, did not appreciate much less like. I am starting The Sexual Outlaw at the moment.

 

Finally, I think everyone should re-read (or introduce themselves to) any of the paperbound collections of Calvin and Hobbes.

[trilingual]

RE: "new" books

 

Brazil Nuts and everyone else might be interested and amused by "Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life," by Alex Bellos. I'm reading the Portuguese translation right now (I picked it up in Brazil when I was there in January) but it was originally published in English last year in the U.K. I don't know for sure if it's been published in the U.S. yet. If not, you can order it from the U.K. on the internet. Bellos is the Brazilian correspondent for "The Guardian," and has gone seriously native since arriving in Brazil! Don't be misled by the title; the book is a superb and terrifically witty survey of Brazilian popular culture, politics and contemporary history as they intersect with Brazil's favorite sport. I understand the book has been a best-seller in the U.K. It's extremely clever, and I highly recommend it. (M4M viewers might be particularly fascinated by the chapter on the late, lamented Garrincha, one of Brazil's greatest football stars, who was famous not only for his skill on the field but for his legendary endowment. There was a recent hysterical court case in Brazil when his survivors sued the publisher of a tell-all biography for bringing up the phenomenal size of Garrincha's equipment. Read the book to find out how the court case came out! It's truly and purely Brazilian!)

 

Given the looming, ugly world situation, I definitely am craving escapist literature, and I've already signed up to reserve a copy of the next "Harry Potter" when it comes out in June!

[+ Cock Eyed Optimist]

Does anyone know of any book discussion groups for gays? If so, in what cities?

[Rod Hagen]

Jan/Feb Reads:

 

"City Of Night", John Rechy. "Stupid White Men", Hypocrite Moore (drives an old mini-van in Manhattan, the only US city where a car isn't necessary, yet criticizes others for driving SUVs) amusing, "City Of Your Final Destination", a real gem, "Six Easy Pieces", physics lectures from everyone's favorite wacky dead professor, "Lonely Planet Thailand", "Los Angeles", by A.M. Homes the author of "The Safety of Objects" (don't see the Glen Close film TSoO, it's painfully pompus), it's subversive and brilliantly accurate (though she likes the Chateau Marmont too much), "Women In Love", the one book you're supposed to read to experience true D.H. Lawrence, and I found that the truth is, I don't like DH.

[Guest VanBCGuy]

chrismac:

 

I have been contemplating buying Paris 1919, sounds like I'll have to get it.

 

Some recent reads of mine that I could recommend:

 

1. The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor. Set in Ireland, its about a mother and father who move away, mistakenly believing their only daughter has died in an accident.

 

2. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. This was the winner of the Booker prize. Its about a boy shipwrecked on a lifeboat with a tiger. Best book I have read in a long time.

 

3. The Year of Ice by Brian Malloy. A gay-themed coming of age story thats not too bad - but lines like "I loved him so much I wanted to puke", well made me want to do the same. Only if you like the genre.

 

4. Churchill by Roy Jenkins. Currently ploughing through this one. Keep a dictionary handy, Jenkins uses a lot of big words.

[bluenix]

Just arrived today, and looks promising:

 

The Book of Disquiet

Fernando Pessoa

(translated from the Portuguese)

 

Here's a brief passage I just now picked out at random:

 

It was an occasion to be happy. But something was bothering me, an unknown anxiety, an undefined, not even vulgar, desire. The sensation of being alive was slow, perhaps, in coming to me. And when I leaned out of the high window over the street toward which I looked without seeing it, I suddenly felt I was one of those damp rags used to wipe off filthy things that are then hung at the window to dry and which are forgotten there in a clump that slowly stains the sill.

 

He would seem to be depressed, yes?

 

b

[bluenix]

Oh, I Almost Forgot...

 

http://www.ezshots.com/members/blueman/images/blueman-90.jpg

 

and

 

http://www.ezshots.com/members/blueman/images/blueman-91.jpg

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Been hooked on these two lately~

 

 

*Flags of our Fathers, w. James Bradley

 

*Catch Me If You Can, w. Frank W. Abagnale

 

 

Both of these books, being totally at opposite ends of the spectrum, are fascinating. 'CMIYC' is being read simply because i love figuring out how a great criminal mind works. Much like the recent 'Oceans Eleven' film, it's great to watch an intelligent criminal think his way out and around situations. Frank Abagnale, while being at one time a crook & swindler, had such pinache about his cons that it made me grin. It also made me see just how much of an inherent trust people had 40 years ago. Could he pull the same sharky behavior in today's society... It's possible, but not probable and as with most books, it's infinately better than the film.

 

'Flags' just plays up to my love of a good tactical book. Heavy description of wartime tactic is a good read when the writer knows his stuff and this book is no exception. Somewhat depressing along the lines of 'Angela's Ashes,' but a great read none the less.

 

It's also amazing how much of a conversation starter books can be with strangers on an airplane. Thinking about it now though, there have been times it's been more of a downfall than anything. In one instance i was sitting next to this woman who preached the praises of Dean Koontz and then went into quoting bible scripture for the next ten minutes or so. Later when she asked what i did for a living, i smiled widely, looked her straight in the eye and told her i was a male escort on my way to London for business.

 

 

That was the last quote from Genesis i heard from her for the entire flight Ain't honesty grand?

 

 

 

 

Warmest Always,

 

 

 

 

Benjamin Nicholas

[Guest DevonSFescort]

>Later when she asked what i did for a living, i smiled widely,

>looked her straight in the eye and told her i was a male

>escort on my way to London for business.

>

>That was the last quote from Genesis i heard from her for the

>entire flight.

 

No kidding. At that point she probably switched to Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

[VaHawk]

RE: "new" books

 

I LOVE Calvin and Hobbes and sorely miss that strip from the daily comics. A truly brilliant example of the comic strip art form. I loved the way it allowed an adult to go back to childhood and see the world thru the eyes of a child. My all time favorite strips were the ones with the snow men (God, they were so funny!).

 

I hate to upset Donnie, by mentioning "those who shall not be named", but do the twinks like Calvin and Hobbs?

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Meet The Twinks

 

>I LOVE Calvin and Hobbes . . . I loved the way it allowed

>an adult to go back to childhood and see the world thru

>the eyes of a child.

 

http://www.ucomics.com/calvinandhobbes/characters.phtml

 

>I hate to upset Donnie, by mentioning "those who shall not be

>named", but do the twinks like Calvin and Hobbs?

 

Twink Ho #1 is in school and has no time to read for pleasure.

 

Number Two loves magazines, from Instinct to Teen People and unless it is a tell-all gossip book about whatever pop star he currently likes, no books darken his doorway.

 

Number Three has been reading a coming of age book by Ken Smith Brad, which was a gift from a British client.

 

Number Four tends to borrow books from me, most recently reading California Screaming by Doug Guinan (which he enjoyed and read aloud to the other twinks) and Tom Bianchi's In Defense Of Beauty, which he enjoyed in parts.

 

The Techo Geek Twink has no time to read non-technical books, although he reads the sport section without fail, lives for the Doppler 2000 weather report on Channel 7, and thinks Alias rocks.

 

No Twink he, but the Slab of Beef does not read, not even magazines, but he does watch cartoons. We are going to see a double bill of Lilo & Stitch and Treasure Planet this weekend....

[trilingual]

Since Pessoa isn't well-known yet in the English-speaking world, a few words about him: He is the greatest modern Portuguese poet, as well as one of the greatest poets in any language. (Pessoa lived and worked in the earlier part of the last century.)

 

Pessoa was raised in South Africa and didn't return to Portugal until he was college age, so he grew up speaking English fluently, and some of his earlier poetry was written in English. So were some poems that he evidently felt dealt with subjects that were too "hot" for the Portuguese market, like homoerotic verse. One of his poems in English, for example, is a long piece on Antinous, the beautiful Greek boy who was the lover of the Emperor Hadrian.

 

Pessoa was of delicate physical health and probably depressed by the strictures of life in early twentieth-century Lisbon, which wasn't the most progressive of all possible places. It was certainly not the easiest place and time to be a homosexual. Pessoa also developed multiple literary personalities (at least five of them) under whose names, and in whose personas, he wrote much of his work. Pessoa seems to have been discovered by the English-speaking world in the last decade or so, and his work is now easier to find in competent translations. He's not easy, but he's certainly worthwhile!

[Guest tcd31]

I've been singing the praises of Ian McEwan's "Atonement" for the past year... simply the best novel written in English in the last 5 years ... and perhaps better than my fave before that, "The Hours."

 

I agree with VanBCGuy on recommending "The Year of Ice." It's laugh-out-loud funny at times, and pulls off the difficult feat of saying insightful things about coming out while being narrated by a not always attractive, not always self-aware kid. And I think it's well written enough to be more universal than "just a gay" book--I recommended it to a writer I know this Monday and to her 17 year old daughter.

 

Anyone interested in the best of contemporary gay and lesbian writing might want to read the books being considered for current literary awards. There are 2 groups that give awards for gay books: the Lambda Literary Foundation gives out Lammies--you can link to their nominees off the Barnes and Noble site. The Publishing Triangle is announcing its nominations in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry this week--lists will be up shortly (not at this moment) at http://www.publishingtriangle.org

 

(Full disclosure: I'm on the board of the latter group and have been coordinating the judges in the nonfiction competition this year.)

[+ Charlie]

Paris 1919 is actually the next book on my list, but right now I am finishing A.N. Wilson's The Victorians, the best cultural history I've read in years. I just finished A Mind of Its Own by David Friedman, a wonderful book that tells you everything you ever wanted to know (and a lot you didn't) about the penis.

[Guest HoustonRichard]

Thought I'd add my two cents worth...

 

Just finished the book "The Absence of Space and Time" by Christopher Scott Sarno. It's a novel about a small-town boy who comes to Atlanta and gets involved in the world of male escorting. It was quick and enjoyable to read and totally appealed to me as someone who hires escorts. It was fun to see things from the boy's point of view, even if it is fictional.

 

Anyone else out there read it? Any comparable suggestions?

[Guest Bitchboy]

There appears to be some great suggestions here. Let me throw in the pot "Violence, Nudity, Adult Content: A Novel" by Vince Passaro. It's a very New York kind of book about a law associate in a bigtime Manhattan firm. While it's decidedly heterosexual (one character is a cross dresser of undefined sexuality), it's not a legal thriller in the Grisham or Turow sense. It's more of a character study and the reawakening of a soul. I'm not finished with it yet, but so far I love it.

[Guest jeffOH]

One of the best books I've read lately is Janice Dickinson's, "No Lifeguard on Duty". Janice was one of the original "Supermodels" of the 70's and 80's. Lots of sex, drugs, dish on celebs, but what I enjoyed most was her wicked sense of humor. An easy read that made me really want to meet her. Great book for the plane or the beach.

 

JEFF [email protected]