In Small Fires, Julie Marie Wade, who won a Lambda for her memoir Wishbone, considers family and memory with a poetic eye and unabashed tongue. With her carefully chosen words and a studied deliberateness, Wade proves unafraid to delve into her past—to skillfully reconstruct the events of her youth, from the horrifying to the sentimental to the self-conscious and beyond. Read More
Collections such as this also invariably bring up the question, “What is a ‘gay story,’ anyway?” Is it simply a story that a gay person has written? Something that features gay characters prominently? How much focus needs to be on the uniqueness of gay life, or can the protagonist be someone who “just happens to be gay?” Does the author have to be gay—or male—to do it justice? Read More
Can something true but unbearable happen out of the sense of wonder? Is one addicted to the gaze that follows...
A fun fact about lightning: a strike lasts for about 30 microseconds.
Lightning People starts with a similar flash. The narrator of the prologue, Joseph Guiteau, speaks in conspiratorial terms, suggesting a link between a rise in lightning-related Manhattan-area deaths and the fall of the Twin Towers. Read More
The editors of Hellebore & Rue, Joselle Vanderhooft and Catherine Lundoff, have put together a collection that has a little of something for everyone, and will not disappoint readers who love and appreciate the complexities of fantasy fiction’s many cultural connections and narratives. Read More
Besides the story, readers should note the creative way this book employs both its art and typography to help tell the tale. The style of the art fluctuates, from abrasive hen scratches to smooth washes of black ink, from manga-esque vignettes to art tableau frames. This is a story slick, professional comic art would ruin. Merey’s art, if more amateur, better parallels the life experiments of the high school characters in its grips. Read More
Córdova expertly narrates her story with drama, compelling dialogue, and wit. Clearly written, with close attention to historical details, When We Were Outlaws is an important contribution to the burgeoning collection of memoirs by lesbian-feminists. Read More
One thing is certain: no one likes a bad review. Critics take no pleasure in writing them and authors do...
Canadian novelist Suzette Mayr recently published her fourth novel, Monoceros (Coach House Books), which examines the timely subject of gay teen suicide through the eyes of a variety of characters who did not know the dead boy well. It’s an interesting way to approach the topic, and makes the point that suicide affects a larger circle of people than immediate family and friends. Read More