With Gay and Lesbian History Month at a close and the end of the year fast approaching, now is a good time to take a look at some of the recently published LGBT titles. After all, what could be better than curling up with a book inside where it's cozy as, depending on where you live, the temperatures outside are dropping?
After the LGBT publishing boom of the '80s and '90s, and the subsequent bust, many queer authors have turned to either small, independent publishers or self-publishing. One such title is My Road To Microsoft (Xlibris, 2003, 217 pp., $18.69) by Soraya Bittencourt with Paula Martinac. Bittencourt, an out lesbian who has been with her partner for 20 years, is the woman behind Microsoft Expedia, 'the first successful internet travel site.' Speaking of 'travel,' The Mind Travelers (Wellness Institute, Gretna, LA, 2002, 280 pp, $14.94) by Richard R. Gayton tells the story of bisexual psychologist Ian Alexander, his 'mind traveling' father Obadiah, and Ian's comatose son Josh.
Time travel figures prominently in the reissue of David Gerrold's Hugo and Nebula Award-nominated science-fiction novel The Man Who Folded Himself (BenBella Books, Dallas, TX, 1972/2003, 127 pp, $13.95). If you are looking for places to travel to not too far from home, take a look at Wild Chicago (Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, CT, 2003, 294 pp, $16.95). Billed as 'the companion guidebook to the wildly popular television show,' Wild Chicago the book (as well as the TV show) features several LGBT locales and organizations including Chi-Town Squares, the Miss Continental USA Competition, Uncle Fun, and Quimby's Bookstore among many others.
The collision of two very different women —social worker Susan McGovern and 'posh' clothing store manager Kelly Cavanaugh—is the focus of A Saving Solace (Dare 2 Dream Publishing, Lexington, SC, 2002, 285 pp, $18) by Chicago-area lesbian novelist DS Bauden. Award-winning gay playwright James Daniel's book of poems An Autobiographical Horror Story, Parts I and II (1st Books, 2002, 146 pp, $18.95) is described as 'Forty-eight torturous musings from a maverick mystic on the terrifying effects of child abuse complete with images both glorious and agonistic.'
Widely published gay poet and fiction writer Trebor Healey's novel Through It Came Bright Colors (Southern Tier Editions/Harrington Park Press, Binghamton, NY, 2003, 232 pp, $19.95) is about 21-year-old San Franciscan Neill Cullane, who meets and begins a sexual relationship with Vince, a cancer patient he meets while accompanying his younger brother Peter for treatment of his cancer. Rick Whitaker, who first became known for his 1999 book Assuming The Position: A Memoir of Hustling returns with The First Time I Met Frank O'Hara: Reading Gay American Writers (Four Walls Eight Windows, New York, NY, 2003, 231 pp, $20), a collection of essays on the works of Glenway Wescott, David Wojnarowicz, Walt Whitman, Gertrude Stein and others.
The many admirers of Under The Tuscan Sun may also enjoy Tuscan Echoes: A Season In Italy (Almar Books, Ocean Isle Beach, NC, 2003, 170 pp, $21) by Mark Gordon Smith. GLBTQ: The Survival Guide For Queer & Questioning Teens (Free Spirit Publishing, Minneapolis, MN, 2003, 223 pp, $15.95) by lesbian writer Kelly Huegel offers, among other things, 'insights and findings from experts in psychology, sociology, and health care,' as well as 'first-person comment from GLBTQ teens who are happy, well-adjusted and loved and supported for who they are, the way they are.'
Officially Gay: The Political Construction of Sexuality by the U.S. Military (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA, 2003, 229 pp, $19.95) by Smith College professor Gary L. Lehring deals with the 'military's century-long attempt to identify and exclude gays and lesbians.'
With forays into both bear and leather culture, award-winning gay poet Jeff Mann collects eleven essays under the title Edge (Southern Tier Editions/Harrington Park Press, Binghamton, NY, 2003, 182 pp, $16.95).
Long-established presses are also pulling their weight when it comes to publishing titles for LGBT readers. Talking In The Dark: A Poetry Memoir (Push/Scholastic, New York, NY, 2003, 136 pp, $6.99) by Billy Merrell will probably appeal to readers of the above-mentioned book GLBTQ, as well as readers who enjoy contemporary poetry. Best known for her fiction writing, lesbian writer Amy Bloom turns her attention to non-fiction with the paperback edition of her book Normal: Transsexual CEOs, Crossdressing Cops, and Hermaphrodites With Attitude (Vintage, New York, NY, 2002/2003, 156 pp, $12).
First published in Mexico in 1990, Women With Big Eyes (Riverside Books, New York, NY, 1990/2003, 372 pp, $22.95) is a collection of linked stories by Mexican novelist Angeles Mastretta. The reissue of the Auntie Mame sequel Around The World With Auntie Mame (Broadway Books, New York, NY, 1958/2003, 322 pp, $12.95) by the late Patrick Dennis (who was the subject of 2000 biography Uncle Mame) is certain to delight those who simply can't get enough of the adventures of the wonderful Mame Dennis.
From Chelsea Boys to Chelsea Girls: Chelsea Boys (Alyson Publications, Los Angeles, CA, 2003, 109 pp, $13.95) by Glen Hanson and Allan Neuwirth is the first collection of cartoons featuring the characters Nathan, Sky and Soiree from the syndicated gay comic strip [available bi-weekly in Windy City Times]. The book features a foreword by cartoonist Howard Cruse as well as eight pages of color panels. Pop art icon and Chelsea Girls co-director Andy Warhol is the subject of Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties (Pantheon, New York, NY, 2003, 512 pp, $27.50). Opera queens living in Chelsea or Boystown or West Hollywood or DuPont Circle or the Castro or anywhere else for that matter will most likely want to read Molto Agitato: The Mayhem Behind The Music at the Metropolitan Opera (Anchor, New York, NY, 2001/2003, 413 pp, $15.95) by Johanna Fiedler (the daughter of the late Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler).
I always say that life is enough of a mystery, I don't want to read one, but I know that there are many hardcore LGBT mystery fans wandering the aisles of bookstores looking to the latest in mystery fiction. Blind Eye (St. Martin's Minotaur, New York, NY, 2003, 322 pp, $23.95) by Lambda Literary Award-winning author and Benjamin Justice creator John Morgan Wilson and Waiting For Gertrude: A Graveyard Gothic (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, New York, NY, 2001/2003 184 pp, $21.95) by Bill Richardson appear to be the two to read this season.
Continuing her multi-volume Vampire Chronicles, beloved novelist Anne Rice (mother of out gay novelist Christopher Rice) once again combines mystery, horror and a touch of the erotic in Blood Canticle (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, 2003, 306 pp, $25.95).
Another Chicago author has a new book out, Elizabeth Ward's City Boots is now available from iUniverse. Ward is a Chicago police offcier, and her first novel has been praised by Rosie O'Donnell and Jacquelyn Mitchard. She is at Women & Children first Books Thursday, Nov. 6, 7 p.m.
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Pictured: Chicagoans Elizabeth Ward (left) and DS Bauden have new books out.
