This was one of the funniest book I have read this past year. I’m pretty sure this was the intent of the author, since such light mood cannot be a coincidence. Do you want some example? Here are some of the advices the author gives to the Proper Gay Man of the future:

“A proper young man always buys the second round for the person who bought him the first one. The same idea is generally true when it comes to orgasms.”

“A polite gay man would never break the heart of an innocent person as a way of boosting his own self esteem while also seeking out revenge on an ex-boyfriend who broke his heart. Instead, he shops, works out at the gym, eats ice cream, bitches to girlfriends, smokes, colors his hairs, reorganizes his closet, and cries in the shower, if necessary.”

“Before he makes the important decision to get his first puppy, a responsible gay man has kept an exotic plant or tree alive and healthy for at least six months. He is not impulsive because he knows that having a puppy in his life is a major responsibility.”

While reading this book I was imagining the author to be a sophisticated and “agè” gay man who was bestowing his experience among the youngest. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to the “About the Author” section at the end of the book and discovered Corey Rosenberg is, according to the little hints, in his thirties. Sure he is from a probably wealthy family, he went to boarding schools, and he spent time in Europe, so, well, he did everything we imagined wealthy gay boys did in the 20s and 30s, only that, he moved all of this in the contemporary ages. Even more this book is fascinating, since now, the advices Corey Rosenberg is giving, can really be put at work by his same age gay boys who want to better themselves and the society they are living in.

The advice are simple and good, nothing impossible to achieve if you have perseverance and predispotion. True, some of them were new to me, like the fact a guest has to wash and dry the dishes if the host cooked the meal… that is something I would have never allowed myself, a guest is a guest to my eyes, but well, I’m probably not a proper lady ;-)

In any case, this is a book I recommend to everyone, from who wants to learn to who wants simply to spend some hours with a smile on their face.

http://www.chelseastationeditions.com/rosenberg-guide.html

Amazon: The Gay Man's Guide to Timeless Manners and Proper Etiquette
Paperback: 120 pages
Publisher: Chelsea Station Editions (September 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0983285144
ISBN-13: 978-0983285144

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading_list&view=elisa.rolle

Amy Lane - Clear Water
Paperback: 230 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (September 16, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613721919
ISBN-13: 978-1613721919
Amazon: Clear Water
Amazon Kindle: Clear Water

Meet Patrick Cleary: party boy, loser, and spaz. Patrick's been trying desperately to transform himself, and the results have been so spectacular, they've almost killed him. Meet Wes "Whiskey" Keenan: he's a field biologist wondering if it's time to settle down. When the worst day of Patrick's life ends with Whiskey saving it, Patrick and Whiskey find themselves sharing company and an impossibly small berth on the world's tackiest houseboat. Patrick needs to get his life together-and Whiskey wants to help-but Patrick is not entirely convinced it's doable. He's pretty sure he's a freak of nature. But Whiskey, who works with real freaks of nature, thinks all Patrick needs is a little help to see the absolute beauty inside his spastic self, and Whiskey is all about volunteering. Between anomalous frogs, a homicidal ex-boyfriend, and Patrick's own hangups, Whiskey's going to need all of his patience and Patrick's going to need to find the best of himself before these two men ever see clear water.

Radclyffe - Sheltering Dunes
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (November 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602825734
ISBN-13: 978-1602825734
Amazon: Sheltering Dunes (The Provincetown Tales)
Amazon Kindle: Sheltering Dunes (The Provincetown Tales)

The lives of two women and the community that shelters them shatter in a single night of violence. Ex-gang member Mica Butler is running from a past that just may kill her if she’s ever caught. Paramedic and ordained priest Flynn Edwards struggles to recover her faith in herself and find absolution for her greatest failure. Sheriff Reese Conlon fights to embrace the joy of new life while a dark threat bears down on her partner, Doctor Tory King. In one explosive night, the destines of all involved change forever as a man with nothing to lose threatens to take anyone in his path with him to the grave. Seventh in the award-winning Provincetown Tales.

Sam Cameron - Mystery of the Tempest
Reading level: Ages 13 and up
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (November 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602825793
ISBN-13: 978-1602825796
Amazon: Mystery of the Tempest: A Fisher Key Adventure
Amazon Kindle: Mystery of the Tempest: A Fisher Key Adventure

Twin brothers Denny and Steven Anderson love helping people and fighting crime alongside their sheriff dad on sun-drenched Fisher Key, Florida. Steven likes chasing girls. Denny longs to lose his virginity, but doesn’t dare tell anyone he’s gay. Steven has a secret of his own. He lied to everyone, including his own brother, about being accepted into SEAL training for the U.S. Navy. On the day they graduate high school, the twins meet the handsome new guy in town, a military veteran with a chiseled body and mysterious past. Meanwhile Brian Vandermark, a gay transfer student from Boston, finds himself falling for closeted Denny but hampered by his shyness. When an antique yacht explodes in Fisher Key harbor, all three boys are caught up in a summer of betrayal, romance, and danger. It’s the Mystery of the Tempest¬—and it just might kill them all.

Yolanda Wallace - Lucky Looser
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (November 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602825750
ISBN-13: 978-1602825758
Amazon: Lucky Loser
Amazon Kindle: Lucky Loser

In the high stakes world of women’s tennis, love means nothing. Or at least that’s how Sinjin Smythe sees it. Then she begins to fall for her friend and former doubles partner Laure Fortescue. Having had her heart broken by one player, Sinjin isn’t willing to have it happen again. The talented but oft-injured Brit enters Wimbledon fighting her feelings—and struggling to resurrect her career. Laure Fortescue has fame, fortune, and a ranking inside the top ten. She has everything she ever wanted. Everything except Sinjin Smythe. As a rule, Laure doesn’t date other players. A rule she would gladly break if it means winning Sinjin’s heart. Both women reach Wimbledon desperate to claim tennis’s crown jewel—Sinjin because it would be her greatest victory, Laure because it could be her last. Where does love fit in a game that only one can win?

Rob Byrnes - Holy Rollers
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (November 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602825785
ISBN-13: 978-1602825789
Amazon: Holy Rollers
Amazon Kindle: Holy Rollers

When Grant Lambert and Chase LaMarca—partners in life and crime—learn that $7 million in not-so-petty cash is hidden in the safe of a rightwing mega-church, they assemble a team of gay and lesbian criminals to infiltrate the church and steal the money. But this Gang That Can’t Do Anything Straight quickly finds its plans complicated by corrupt congressmen (and their gay aides); an “ex-gay” conference; an FBI investigation; the unexpected appearance of a long-lost relative; and—most jarring for these born-and-bred New Yorkers—life in the northern Virginia suburbs. And then there is Dr. Oscar Hurley—founder of the church—and his right-hand man, the Rev. Dennis Merribaugh, who prove themselves every bit as adept as the professionals when it comes to larceny…

Richard Labonte - History's Passions
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (November 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602825769
ISBN-13: 978-1602825765
Amazon: History's Passions: Stories of Sex Before Stonewall
Amazon Kindle: History's Passions: Stories of Sex Before Stonewall

Four acclaimed erotic authors re-imagine the past... welcome to the hidden queer history of men loving men not so very long—and centuries—ago.

In "Heaven on Earth," Lambda Literary Award-winner editor and author Simon Sheppard evokes a noirish Depression-era setting for Wichita rich kid Eli who, with an innocent young gas station attendant as his sidekick, embarks on a bloody, lust-fueled crime spree: Bonnie and Clyde meet Leopold and Loeb.

In "Camp Allegheny," Lambda finalist Jeff Mann recounts a clandestine Civil War romance between two Rebel soldiers whose passionate lovemaking survives bitter winters, life-threatening sickness, and bloody fighting during the real-life Battle of Allegheny in 1861 and the Battle of McDowell in 1862.

In "Tender Mercies," Dale Chase imagines the world of young Luke Farrow, a failure at prospecting during the California Gold Rush who succeeds in the more lucrative role of camp boy, where physical violence is as much a part of a rough, raw world as is selling sex for nuggets of gold—until a surprisingly tender man comes into Luke's life.

In "The Valley of Salt," David Holly blends legend with lust in the beautiful city of Gomorrah more than 3,000 years ago, where the Priests of Ball summon a beautiful young man as a temple sacrifice— which means he's now the indoor sport of the legendary city's sexually potent warriors, until taken captive during the Battle of the Vale of Siddom.

Jeffery Ricker - Detours
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (November 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602825777
ISBN-13: 978-1602825772
Amazon: Detours
Amazon Kindle: Detours

Joel Patterson should be happier than ever. He's just returned from a two-week vacation in London, where he met Philip, who might be the man of his dreams. Instead, Joel's heading to Maine for his mother's funeral. He quits his job to fulfill one last request for his mother: unload his parents' albatross of an RV by delivering it to an old family friend—in California. Somehow, Joel's high school "friend" Lincoln has invited himself along on the ride—and into Joel's bed. The other person who's invited herself along? The ghost of his mother, who still has plenty to say about her son's judgment (or lack thereof). Joel has to get the RV to San Francisco, get rid of Lincoln, and get back to Philip. It would also make him feel better if he learned what's keeping his mother tied to this earthly plane. However Joel manages it, the route is likely to be anything but straight.

Rebekah Weatherspoon - Better Off Red
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (November 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602825742
ISBN-13: 978-1602825741
Amazon: Better Off Red: Vampire Sorority Sisters Book 1
Amazon Kindle: Better Off Red: Vampire Sorority Sisters Book 1

Every sorority has its secrets... And college freshman Ginger Carmichael couldn't care less. She has more important things on her mind, like maintaining her perfect GPA. No matter how much she can't stand the idea of the cliques and the matching colors, there's something about the girls of Alpha Beta Omega—their beauty, confidence, and unapologetic sexuality—that draws Ginger in. But once initiation begins, Ginger finds that her pledge is more than a bond of sisterhood, it’s a lifelong pact to serve six bloodthirsty demons with a lot more than nutritional needs. Despite her fears, Ginger falls hard for the immortal queen of this nest, and as the semester draws to a close, she sees that protecting her family from the secret of her forbidden love is much harder than studying for finals.

L.A. Witt - The Closer You Get
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (October 2, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1609287916
ISBN-13: 978-1609287917
Amazon: The Closer You Get
Amazon Kindle: The Closer You Get

The virgin isn’t the only one with something to lose... Self-described manwhore Kieran Frost is loving the single life. Two years after moving to Seattle, he still has his friends with benefits, Rhett and Ethan, plus a never-ending supply of gorgeous, available men wandering through the bar where he works. A relationship? Spare him the drama and heartbreak. He’s got no complaints about his unattached lifestyle. When Rhett’s daughter introduces him to newly-out-of-the-closet Alex Corbin, Kieran’s interest perks up. After all, the quiet ones are always the freaks in bed. But Alex isn’t just shy and reserved. He’s a virgin in every sense of the word, having never even kissed anyone else. Kieran is no one’s teacher, and his first instinct is to run like hell in the other direction. But his conscience won’t let him throw the naïve kid to the wolves for someone else to take advantage of. The plan is to introduce Alex to his own sexuality, pull him out of his shell, then go their separate ways. It’s the perfect, foolproof plan…assuming no one falls in love.

Hayden Thorne - Renfred's Masquerade
Paperback: 238 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (November 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1466483903
ISBN-13: 978-1466483903
Amazon: Renfred's Masquerade
Amazon Kindle: Renfred's Masquerade

Young Nicola Gregori has always wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, a brilliant clock-maker who’s famous for his wild, fantastical designs. But his father instead sends him to school to learn more practical matters. Nicola, stricken with infantile paralysis that left him with a deformed right leg, becomes an object of mockery and cruel jokes in school. He learns that in order to survive his daily ordeals, he needs to vanish in the crowd, to stop aspiring, to stop dreaming, and above all, to believe himself unworthy of respect and love. Tragedy strikes when Nicola turns sixteen. Gustav Renfred, an old friend of his father, takes on Nicola as his charge and whisks him away to an isolated islet filled with empty mansions and bordered by a bluebell forest. There Nicola slowly learns about the tragic story that tightly weaves together the fates of Jacopo Gregori, Gustav Renfred, and Gustav’s twin sister, Constanza. Magic, impossible dreams, and unrequited love come together in Ambrosi, the Renfreds’ mansion, where Nicola is caught up in a world of haunting portraits, a ghostly housekeeper, and the mysterious disappearance of Davide, Constanza’s adopted son. When Nicola’s invited to one of Renfred’s magical masquerades, he discovers the answers to riddles as well as the mounting danger that the Renfred family faces with every passing hour. With the masquerades’ existence depending on the physical and mental strength of an ailing Renfred, the task of solving the mystery of Davide’s disappearance before time runs out falls on Nicola’s shoulders, and he has no choice but to depend on things that he’s long learned to suppress: courage, self-respect, and the desire to aim for impossible goals.

I asked to all the authors joining the GayRomLit convention in Albuquerque in October (http://gayromlit.com/authors.php) a personal favor, a special Ebook Giveaway: every 2 days I will post 1 book from each author, and among those who will leave a comment, I will draw a winner. Very easy and very fast ;-) I will send a PM to the winner, so remember to not leave anonymous comments!

Today author is Cat Grant (http://www.catgrant.com/)

Priceless by Cat Grant
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (May 12, 2012)
Amazon Kindle: Priceless

Connor Morrison is a 3-D optics pioneer, the star of the UC Berkeley physics department, and a socially inept workaholic. And with his dear friend and business partner, Steve Campbell, handling their investors, he’s content to remain in the shadows. That is, until he meets the gorgeous and starry-eyed physics student Wes Martin.

Wes is brilliant but broke. Ever since his scholarship fell victim to the financial crisis, he's had no choice but to sell his body to stay in school. Already half in love with Connor, Wes initially resists Steve's offer to be Connor's thirty-fifth birthday present. But in the end, Wes is too broke—and too smitten—to say no.

Connor has no idea Steve bought Wes’s attentions, and he quickly falls under the young man’s spell. Yet after one night together, Wes disappears. He can't bear to hook with a man he could so easily grow to love, but he also can’t bear to tell him the truth. Besides, if he sleeps with Connor again, there'd be no way to hide the bruises one of his regular johns loves to inflict. Only one thing to do: let Connor go. Walking away is painful, but not nearly as much as building a relationship on lies.

William Morris Meredith, Jr. (January 9, 1919 – May 30, 2007) was an American poet and educator. He was Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1978 to 1980.

Meredith was born in New York City to William Morris Meredith, Sr. and Nelley Keyser. He began writing while a college student at Princeton University where with his first volume of poetry Love Letter from an Impossible Land he was selected by Archibald MacLeish for publication as part of Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition. He graduated magna cum laude from Princeton in 1940, writing a senior thesis on Robert Frost.

He worked briefly for the New York Times before joining the United States Navy as a flier. Meredith re-enlisted in the Korean War, receiving two Air Medals.

In 1988 Meredith was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and a Los Angeles Times Book Award for Partial Accounts: New and Selected Poems and in 1997 he won the National Book Award for Poetry for Effort at Speech. Meredith was also awarded a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, the Harriet Monroe Memorial Prize, the Carl Sandburg Award, and the International Vaptsarov Prize in Poetry.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Meredith_(poet)

( William Meredith and Richard Harteis, 1993, by Robert Giard )

( Further Readings )

Colm Tóibín (born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic, and, most recently, poet. He is regarded by certain critics as having excelled at the many literary forms with which he has experimented.

Tóibín is Leonard Milberg Lecturer in Irish Letters at Princeton University in New Jersey and succeeded Martin Amis as professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester. He was hailed as a champion of minorities as he collected the 2011 Irish PEN Award. In 2011, he was named one of "Britain's top 300 intellectuals" by The Observer, despite being Irish.

Tóibín's parents were Bríd and Michael Tóibín. He was born in 1955 in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, in the southeast of Ireland. He is the second youngest of five children. His grandfather, Patrick Tobin, was a member of the IRA, as was his grand-uncle Michael Tobin. Patrick Tobin took part in the 1916 Rebellion in Enniscorthy and was subsequently interned in Frongoch in Wales. Colm Tóibín's father was a teacher who was involved in the Fianna Fáil party in Enniscorthy. He received his secondary education at St Peter's College, Wexford, where he was a boarder between 1970 and 1972. He later spoke of finding some of the priests attractive.

( read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colm_T%C3%B3ib%C3%ADn

( Colm Tóibín, 2001, by Robert Giard )

Peter Anton Orlovsky (July 8, 1933 – May 30, 2010) was an American poet. Orlovsky was in a lifelong openly gay relationship with Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg.

Orlovsky was born in the Lower East Side of New York City, the son of Katherine (née Schwarten) and Oleg Orlovsky, a Russian immigrant. He was raised in poverty and was forced to drop out of Newtown High School in his senior year so he could support his impoverished family. After many odd jobs, he began working as an orderly at Creedmoor State Mental Hospital, known today as Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.

In 1953 Orlovsky was drafted into the United States Army for the Korean War at the age of 19. Army psychiatrists ordered his transfer off the front to work as a medic in a San Francisco hospital.

He met Ginsberg while working as a model for the painter Robert La Vigne in San Francisco in December 1954. Prior to meeting Ginsberg, Orlovsky had made no deliberate attempts at becoming a poet.



( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Orlovsky

( more pics )

( Further Readings )

This story was sweet and pretty. It could have been way more dramatic, the quest of Eros to find true love could have been long and unfulfilling, but instead the author choses to make him fall in love at first attempt, for Keith, who is, let us be sincere, very ordinary. 40 years old and on the nerd side, Keith has never had a long-term relationship because, a) he has never really fallen in love and b) because I think no one notice the good and kind guy who is behind the cold exterior. Said that, Keith has an ordinary job as accountant, ordinary hobby, ordinary life, but maybe this is what Eros needs, ordinariness. He is tired of the perfect life his mother bestowed upon him, perfect body, perfect beauty, all this perfect exterior is cold; even if he is not alone, one mother, two brothers, one ex-wife, Eros has never has someone who choses him for who he is, a guy, and not for what he is, a god.

As I said, the author decided not to play the drama card, Eros being a god is a nice addendum, but actually this could have been the story of a too pretty boy who wanted to find true love. Eros and Keith’s relationship evolves in a smooth and sweet way, with some bumps, but nothing major. Even the sexual side of their relationship is sweet, sexual but not explicit.

https://spsilverpublishing.com/product_book_info/glbt-fantasy-c-53_61/products_id/725/?zenid=64349e8d69bc416193e33a9480122dd4

Amazon Kindle: No Greater Love (Sons of Aphrodite)
Publisher: Silver Publishing (January 28, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading_list&view=elisa.rolle

Paula Gunn Allen (October 24, 1939 – May 29, 2008) was a Native American poet, literary critic, lesbian activist, and novelist.

Born Paula Marie Francis in Albuquerque, Allen grew up in Cubero, New Mexico, a Spanish-Mexican land grant village bordering the Laguna Pueblo reservation. Of mixed Laguna, Sioux, Scottish, and Lebanese-American descent, Allen always identified most closely with the people among whom she spent her childhood and upbringing.

Having obtained a BA and MFA from the University of Oregon, Allen gained her PhD at the University of New Mexico, where she taught and where she began her research into various tribal religions.

Allen's studies would eventually result in The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions, a controversial text which argues that the accounts of Native beliefs and traditions were subverted by phallogocentric European explorers and colonizers, who downplayed or erased the central role that woman played in most Native societies. Allen argued that many Native tribes were "gynocratic", with women making the principal decisions, while others believed in absolute balance between male and female, with neither side gaining dominance.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Gunn_Allen

( Paula Gunn Allen, 1988, by Robert Giard  )

( Further Readings )

Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American rock singer-songwriter and activist.

Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals. She has also been an iconic gay and lesbian activist since her public coming out in January 1993.

Born in Leavenworth, Kansas, the younger of two girls, to John Etheridge, a psychology teacher at Leavenworth High School, and Elizabeth Williamson, a computer consultant. She attended David Brewer School, which is still located at 17th and Osage Streets. She graduated in 1979 from Leavenworth High School (LHS), 10th Avenue and Halderman. Etheridge was a member of the first "Power and Life" musical/dance group at LHS which is still active today. Her childhood home was at 1902 Miami Street.

Etheridge's interest in music began early; she picked up her first guitar at 8. She began to play in all-men country music groups throughout her teenage years, until she moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Etheridge

The most significant disappointment for the gay community on Election Day occurred in Colorado, where voters approved a ban on laws prohibiting antigay discrimination by the surprisingly large margin of 53 to 47. But even that result would ultimately be overturned because of Clinton's election. On the evening of January 20, 1993, gay activists held their own inaugural ball at the National Press Club. The new president did not make an appearance, but lesbian singing stars Melissa Etheridge and k. d. lang greeted the ecstatic throng from the balcony. --Charles Kaiser. The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America (Kindle Locations 4787-4788). Kindle Edition.

( Further Readings )

Georges Eekhoud (27 May 1854 – 29 May 1927) was a Belgian novelist of Flemish descent, but writing in French.

Eekhoud was a regionalist best known for his ability to represent scenes from rural and urban daily life. He tended to portray the dark side of human desire and write about social outcasts and the working classes.

Eekhoud was born in Antwerp. A member of a fairly well-off family, he lost his parents as a young boy. When he came into his own he started working for a journal. First as a corrector, later he contributed a serial. In 1877, the generosity of his grandmother permitted young Eekhoud to publish his first two books, Myrtes et Cyprès and Zigzags poétiques, both volumes of poetry. In the beginning of the 1880s Eekhoud took part in several of the modern French-Belgian artist movements, like Les XX (=The Twenty) and La Jeune Belgique (=Young Belgium). Kees Doorik, his first novel was published in 1883, about the wild life of a tough young farmhand who committed a murder. The renowned free-thinking publisher Henri Kistemaeckers brought out a second edition three years later. Eekhoud received some guarded praise by famous authors like Edmond de Goncourt and Joris-Karl Huysmans who both sent Eekhoud a personal letter. For his second prose book, Kermesses (= Fairs, 1884), not only Goncourt and Huysmans praised him, but also Émile Zola, about whom Eekhoud had written an essay in 1879.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Eekhoud

( Further Reaginds )

The Book: Peter Paddington is your typical thirteen-year-old paperboy with a few exceptions. He's 204 pounds, at the mercy of an overactive imagination, and his only friend is a trash-talking beauty queen reject from across the street. As if that wasn't bad enough, Peter's nipples pop out one day and begin speaking to him, threatening to expose his private fantasies to an unkind world.

Peter knows that if he could just lose weight, develop a brand-new personality, and get rid of those pesky talking nipples, he'd be able to find the acceptance he desperately craves. But it isn't easy to change who you really are, and Peter, ready or not, is finally forced to confront his secret self. Hilarious and exquisitely touching, this is the funniest and most memorable novel you'll read all year.

Amazon: The Secret Fruit of Peter Paddington: A Novel (P.S.)
Paperback: 276 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial (August 2, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060792442
ISBN-13: 978-0060792442

The Author: Brian Francis is a Canadian writer. His 2004 novel Fruit was selected for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Canada Reads, where it was championed by novelist and CBC Radio One personality Jen Sookfong Lee. It finished the competition as the runner-up, making the last vote against the eventual winner, Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes.

Published in Canada by ECW Press and released on May 4, 2004, Fruit is the story of Peter Paddington, a teenager living in Sarnia. Overweight, gay and a social outsider, Paddington regularly retreats into an active fantasy life which includes his own nipples talking to him, and the novel traces his journey toward self-acceptance.

The novel was published in paperback format in the United States by Harper Perennial on August 2, 2005 under the title The Secret Fruit of Peter Paddington.

The novel was well-received by critics, with Entertainment Weekly referring to it as "sweet, tart, and forbidden in all the right places." He was awarded an Honour of Distinction citation by the Writers' Trust of Canada's Dayne Ogilvie Grant in 2008.

Francis' second novel, Natural Order, published by Doubleday Canada, was released on August 23, 2011. The novel tells the story of a mother coming to terms with the death of her adult son.

Natural Order was positively reviewed by critics and made Best Books of 2011 lists for the Toronto Star and The Georgia Straight. The novel has also been short-listed for the Ontario Library Association's 2012 Evergreen Award and 2012 CBC Bookie Awards.

Francis, who is gay, has also worked for the Toronto publications Xtra! and NOW. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Francis_(writer))

Top Gay Novels List (*)

First Decade (2000-2009): http://www.elisarolle.com/ramblings/top_100_gay_novels_2.htm

Second Decade (2010-2019): http://www.elisarolle.com/ramblings/top_100_gay_novels_2.2.htm

*only one title per author, only print books released after January 1, 2000.

Note: I remember to my friends that guest reviews of the above listed books (the top 100 Gay Novels) are welcome, just send them to me and I will post with full credits to the reviewer.

Other titles not in the top 100 list: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/top50MM

I asked to all the authors joining the GayRomLit convention in Albuquerque in October (http://gayromlit.com/authors.php) a personal favor, a special Ebook Giveaway: every 2 days I will post 1 book from each author, and among those who will leave a comment, I will draw a winner. Very easy and very fast ;-) I will send a PM to the winner, so remember to not leave anonymous comments!

And the ebook giveaway goes to: whitestar_alpha please contact me

Today author is Marguerite Labbe (http://www.margueritelabbe.com/)

All Bets Are Off by Marguerite Labbe
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (December 9, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613722516
ISBN-13: 978-1613722510
Amazon: All Bets Are Off
Amazon Kindle: All Bets Are Off

It only takes one night with Ash Gallagher to make Eli Holister think he's finally met the right man at the right time. Good thing he doesn't bet on it, because Ash turns out to be a student in Eli's class at the local college. Eli can't deny he's attracted, but now it's complicated. He's already in enough trouble with the department head, a man who would like to see Eli denied his tenure and fired. Ash is looking forward to taking his life in a new direction. After serving one active-duty stint in the Marine Corps and another in the Reserves, he's ready to put his military life behind him. The last new experience he'd planned for this semester was to fall in lust with his English professor, but the more Eli resists, the more Ash is determined to have him. Then he discovers Eli's playing for keeps, and Ash is only interested in a fling... or is he? Between these two, when it comes to life and love, all bets are off.

Charles Braun Ludlam (April 12, 1943 – May 28, 1987) was an American actor, director, and playwright.

Ludlam was born in Floral Park, New York, the son of Marjorie (née Braun) and Joseph William Ludlam. He was raised in Greenlawn, New York, on Long Island, and attended Harborfields High School. The fact that he was gay was not a secret.

He performed locally in plays with the Township Theater Group, Huntington's community theater, and worked backstage at the Red Barn Theater, a summer stock company in Northport. While he was in his senior year of high school, he directed, produced and performed in Madman on the Roof by Kan Kikuchi, Theatre of the Soul, their own Readers' Theater adaptation of Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, as well as plays by August Strindberg and Eugene O'Neill with a group of friends, students from Huntington, Northport, Greenlawn, and Centerport. Their "Students Repertory Theatre" in the loft studio beneath the Posey School of Dance on Northport's Main Street was large enough to seat an audience of 25; their audiences were appreciative and enthusiastic, and the house was sold out for every performance. He received a degree in dramatic literature from Hofstra University in 1964, by which time he had officially come out. (Picture: Everett Quinton)


Stills from Museum of Wax, 1981-1987, directed by Charles Ludlam. black-and-white, 16 mm film, 21:00 min. Courtesy of the Estate of Charles Ludlam and Queer/Art/Film. (c) The Estate of Charles Ludlam.

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ludlam

During this time, openly gay artists were writing and presenting their work without the interference of mainstream producers, managers, or curators. This new wave of theater, film, and art emerged in urban areas with thriving lesbian and gay communities. Caffe Cino, a Greenwich Village coffee house founded by Joe Cino, was the first off-off-Broadway theater. Joe Cino began by producing dramatic readings, but soon moved to presenting works by homosexual writers such as Oscar Wilde, Thornton Wilder, William Inge, and Terence Rattigan in ways that brought out their coded subtext. The radicalism of Caffe Cino and other companies that followed—Judson Poets’ Theater, Ridiculous Theater Company in 1964, the Cockettes in San Francisco in 1968, and New York’s Hot Peaches in 1969—was in presenting plays with explicit gay content in an openly gay environment. Major American playwrights such as Robert Patrick, Al Carmines, Lanford Wilson, Tom Eyen, Charles Ludlam, Jean-Claude van Itallie, and William M. Hoffman all emerged from this setting. --Bronski, Michael (2011-05-10). A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History) (Kindle Locations 4154-4158). Beacon Press. Kindle Edition.

( Further Readings )

Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings (April 15, 1916 – May 28, 1981) was a prep school roommate and then lifelong close friend of President John F. Kennedy. Billings took leave from his business career to work on Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign. He had his own room in the White House and declined Kennedy's offers of official positions.

Billings was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 15, 1916, the third child of Frederic Tremaine Billings (1873-1933) and Romaine LeMoyne (1882-1970). His father was a prominent physician and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. His mother was a Mayflower descendant and had ancestors who were prominent abolitionists linked to the underground railroad and negro education. The Billings family was Episcopalian and Republican.

Billings, a 16-year-old third-year student, and Kennedy, a 15-year old second-year student, met at Choate, an elite preparatory school, in the fall of 1933. Billings as a teenager was 6' 2", weighed 175 pounds, and was the strongest member of the Choate crew team. They became fast friends, drawn to each other by their mutual distaste for their school. From Billings' first visit with the Kennedy family for Christmas in Palm Beach in 1933, he joined them for holidays, participated in family events, and was treated like a member of the family. The Depression had hurt the Billings family financially, and Lem Billings was at Choate on scholarship. Billings repeated his senior year so that he and Kennedy could graduate from Choate together in 1935. They spent a semester together at Princeton University until Kennedy withdrew for medical reasons. While attending college, they frequently spent weekends together in New York City.



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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lem_Billings

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Discretion was also the watchword within all of society's fancier families. "The sexual scene I'm sure was exactly the same, but it was much more discreet," said "Stephen Reynolds" (a pseudonym), the son of a wealthy New England manufacturer who first started visiting Manhattan in the late 1930s. Reynolds's family was extremely rich, and his father was unaffected by the Crash. At the Choate School, Reynolds was in the same form as John Kennedy. "Nobody liked him very much," Reynolds recalled. "I wasn't crazy about him personally. But if I had known he was going to be president, I would have been so nice to him. It never crossed our mind. We voted him `Most Likely to Succeed' because his father was ambassador to Great Britain, and we naturally thought, Well, he'll be taken care of. But we never dreamed he would be president. He was very loud and-I don't like to use the word, but I'm going to-very common. My family background is New England, and you know what they thought of the Kennedys. They thought they were pushy Irish. He had kind of fire engine hair-it all flew around-and he had a roommate called Lemoyne Billings." Billings, who happened to be gay, remained close to John and Bobby Kennedy all his life. --Charles Kaiser. The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America (Kindle Locations 269-274). Kindle Edition.

( Further Readings )

A nice novella playing on the old theme of the Master/slave bond in a fantasy setting; the village where Daniel lives is bound by an ancient pact with the Kin lords to offer, or better sacrifice, one youth every year. When the chosen is Daniel’s sister, he cannot let it happen: while his sister is loved by everyone, and engaged, Daniel knows he has no better future ahead of him, he prefers the company of men and that is the worst sin according to the priest. So Daniel volunteers to be the sacrificial lamb to the Kin lords, and he is not expecting anything better than becoming like an animal: the Kin lords drink human blood and the offerings are to become their life substance providers.

Vale is the trainer of the Kin, he is the one who has to take Daniel in the first days and explain him what will be his dues. What Vale is not expecting is to bond with Daniel in a way that goes beyond the training. Daniel is a kind and gentle soul that well suit the similar behaviour of Vale. Vale is not used to train with forceful imposition, he is more like a whisperers, letting his teachings sip into the offerings.

The feeling of the story is more or less that of a fairy tale, maybe a little sexier than an old fashioned one, but still, it was like in those tales, where the godmother fairy will arrive to make everything right and grant the happily ever after to the couple.

http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1457

Amazon Kindle: Bound by Blood
Publisher: Changeling Press, LLC (September 10, 2010)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading_list&view=elisa.rolle

If I had to be true, I didn’t like so much Eduardo the first time we met; a straight man who is “forced” to have sex with men since all women on earth are dead, he really is not treating them well, actually he is a real bastard and in the position of Lincoln I would have not given him the time of a day. But, first Lincoln didn’t see how Eduardo was before, and due to his resemblance with Eduardo’s dead wife, Lincoln receives a way better treatment than all the other men.

The author doesn’t explain who Eduardo and Lincoln are before embarking on that ship that is basically leading to hell; maybe since it was not important, the world is falling apart, and doesn’t really matter who you were or what you did. We can only understand that Eduardo is straight and very wealthy, and Lincoln is somewhat “innocent”, believing in love at first sight and all. When Lincoln sees Eduardo, he recognizes the love of his life and in that situation it’s not important to establish if Eduardo is a good or bad man; in a situation where there is no hope for a future, what really matter is to enjoy the moment.

This is a very hard to “digest” horror, so if you are faint of heart, be careful before picking it up. The relationship between Eduardo and Lincoln is very physical, founded on sex and instinct. That is something that I had already the chance to notice in other novels where the main character is a straight man having a gay relationship, like he had to justify his relationship with another man with only a physical reason, emotions are not part of the equation.

Amazon Kindle: Sparks Fly
Publisher: Etopia Press (August 4, 2011)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading_list&view=elisa.rolle

In June 2009, I joined the Referrals Program with different online sellers; this allows me to see where the people goes to browse after leaving my LiveJournal. It is still a surprise month after month, people tend to be interested on the most different topics and objects (many more than only books)

Some books were meteors, only 1 month in the list, some others appeared month after month. I decided to post the yearly Top List so that you can better understand the trend, and of course, find out a title that maybe you missed in the past year. Congrats to all the authors, I'd love to post all of them, but it would be really a HUGE list; to allow a better browsing I divided it in Fiction and Non Fiction (i.e. essays, memories, art books and movies).

Yearly Top List - Fiction

1) Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SEJHRA/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
2) Something Like Summer by Jay Bell
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004I6DKPY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
3) The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00256Z2LY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
4) Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ZW7E6O/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
5) The Price of Temptation by M.J. Pearson
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RHP4WI/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
6) Hot Head by Damon Suede
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00564ACK8/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
7) HERO by Perry Moore
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031RS5PQ/?tag=elimyrevandra-20




8) I Am Not Myself These Days (P.S.) by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CDA3K6/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
9) Discreet Young Gentleman by M.J. Pearson
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003R0LVRG/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
10) The Locker Room by Amy Lane
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XNNEKS/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
( fiction from 11 to 40 )

Yearly Top List - Non-Fiction

1) The Boys of Bel Ami by Howard Roffman
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/3861874776/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
2) Naked (Bruno Gmunder Verlag) by Dylan Rosser
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/3867872260/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
3) Unbridled Passion Postcard Book by Franco Accornero
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0811864693/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
4) Intimate Companions: A Triography of George Platt Lynes, Paul Cadmus, Lincoln Kirstein, and Their Circle by David Leddick
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312271271/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
5) The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America by Charles Kaiser
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001L5SLUY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
6) Particular Voices: Portraits of Gay and Lesbian Writers by Robert Giard
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0262571250/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
7) Dieux du Stade: Gods of the Stadium by Tony Duran
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/3832793917/?tag=elimyrevandra-20




8) Heavenly Bodies by David Vance
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/3867870195/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
9) Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America by Lillian Faderman
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00757WID8/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
10) A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History) by Michael Bronski
Referrals Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004DEPI9C/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
( non fiction from 11 to 40 )

Frank Bidart (born May 27, 1939 in Bakersfield, California) is an American academic and poet.

In 1957, he began to study at the University of California at Riverside and went on to Harvard, where he was a student and friend of Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop. He began studying with Lowell and Reuben Brower in 1962.

He has been teaching English at Wellesley College since 1972, including courses such as Modern Poetry. He has also taught at nearby Brandeis University. He lives in Boston, and he is openly gay.

Bidart was the 2007 winner of Yale University’s Bollingen Prize in American Poetry. His chapbook, Music Like Dirt, later included in the collection Star Dust, is the only chapbook to be nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

His books of poetry include: Golden State (1973); The Book of the Body (1977); The Sacrifice (1983); In the Western Night: Collected Poems 1965–90 (1990); Desire (1997) received the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize and the 1998 Bobbitt Prize for Poetry; nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award; Music Like Dirt (Sarabande Books, 2002), the only poetry chapbook ever nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; Star Dust (2005), in two sections; Watching the Spring Festival (2008), Bidart's first book of lyrics. He is also the editor, with David Gewanter, of Robert Lowell's Collected Poems (2003).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bidart

( Frank Bidart, 1987, by Robert Giard )

Marijane Meaker (born May 27, 1927) is an American novelist and short story writer, who has used multiple pseudonyms for different genres. From 1952 to 1969 she wrote twenty mystery and crime novels under the name Vin Packer including the immensely popular Spring Fire, that is credited with launching the genre of lesbian "pulp" fiction, although the majority of Packer's books didn't address homosexuality or gay characters. Using her own observations of lesbians in the 1950s and 1960s, she wrote a series of nonfiction books under the name Ann Aldrich from 1955 to 1972. In 1972 she switched genres and pen names once more to begin writing for young adults, and became quite successful as M.E. Kerr, producing over 20 novels and winning multiple awards. She was described by The New York Times Book Review as "one of the grand masters of young adult fiction." As Mary James, she has written four books for a younger children's audience.

Irrespective of genre or pen name, Meaker's books have in common complex characters that have difficult relationships and complicated problems, who rail against conformity. Meaker said of this approach, "I was a bookworm and a poetry lover. When I think of myself and what I would have liked to have found in books those many years ago, I remember being depressed by all the neatly tied-up, happy-ending stories, the abundance of winners, the themes of winning, solving, finding --- when around me it didn't seem that easy. So I write with a different feeling when I write for young adults. I guess I write for myself at that age."

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijane_Meaker

The fabric of my nighttime twin is made of desire, of music, from the ash of the books that mattered most. That fabric is stressed and frayed when I am in-between books, when a suitable suitor isn’t lined up for immediate consumption after finishing a satisfying book, I’ll rip through back issues of the New Yorker and pull out all of the amazing but just-not-right-now books I’ve hoarded for years. I’ll visit the Strand and hunt online and never ask for recommendations as this is my problem, not yours. It’s as personally crushing as an engagement deferred. Often I’ll fortify myself with four or five pending titles so that when I finish a book there are ample choices, always a healthy mixture of fiction and nonfiction, representing different cultures and time periods (I favor all things Japanese, the later Roman Empire, and Twentieth Century author biographies and in keeping with my tradition of reading one author biography a year and breaking my own rules, I’ve read five so far this year and can strongly recommend Marijane Meaker’s memoir of her relationship with Patricia Highsmith). --Tom Cardamone

( Marijane Meaker, 2000, by Robert Giard )

( Further Readings )

Richard Bruce Nugent (July 2, 1906 – May 27, 1987), aka Richard Bruce and Bruce Nugent, was a writer and painter in the Harlem Renaissance. He was born in Washington, DC to a middle-class African American family. He was the oldest child of Richard H. Nugent, Jr., a train porter, by his wife, Pauline. Spending a large part of his life in New York City, he died in Hoboken, New Jersey.

In 1926 Nugent published "Smoke, Lilies, and Jade," a short story regarded by many scholars as the first publication by an African American to depict homosexuality openly. The story, on which he collaborated with other authors, appeared in the only issue of the art magazine Fire!!. From 1926 to 1928 he lived with the writer Wallace Thurman at 267 W 136th Street in Harlem, New York. The apartment complex in which they stayed was known as "Niggeratti Manor," and the walls were decorated by Nugent with murals representing homoerotic scenes.

Many of his illustrations were featured in publications, such as "Fire!!", "Opportunity" and "Palms". Also, four of Nugent’s works were included in the Harmon Foundation’s exhibition of Negro artist, which was one of the few venues available for black artists to show their work in 1931.

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bruce_Nugent

( Further Readings )

Actors: Ephraim Sykes, Phillip Evelyn, Andre Myers, Miss Barbie-Q
Directors: Sheldon Larry
Studio: Wolfe Video
DVD Release Date: August 14, 2012
Run Time: 107 minutes
Amazon: Leave it on the Floor (2011)

AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL AND VIDEO ON DEMAND JULY 24, AND DVD AUGUST 14

From Beyonce’s creative team!

Featuring music by Beyonce music director Kim Burse, and choreography by Beyonce dance master, Frank Gatson Jr., this exuberant musical directed by Sheldon Larry was inspired by the “vogueing” sensation featured in the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, and is an ode to the wild, funky and heart-aching life of this underground subculture.

Thrown out of his home by his dysfunctional mother, Brad (Ephraim Sykes) steals her car and travels into Los Angeles where, through a chance encounter, he stumbles into a noisy raucous, chaotic event and meets the ragtag members of the struggling House of Eminence. Initially only looking for a place to sleep (and perhaps someone to sleep with), Brad ends up engaging with the colorful members of the house led by the indomitable house mother Queef Latina (Barbie-Q), herself an aging ball-legend and the fierce protectrice of her family. Laughter, tears, sex sirens, and butch queens up in pumps ensue and remarkably, Brad ends up finding an extraordinary home and loving, caring family in this, the strangest of places.



“FIVE STARS! A backstage musical with fire in its belly.” – Box Office Magazine

“Demands to be seen for Frank Gaston, Jr.’s high energy choreography, its fabulous costume designs, and Kimberly Burse’s kickass score. . . will blow your socks off.” – Huffington Post

“Leave it on the Floor explores a vibrant urban underground culture . . . offering positive, high-energy escapism.” – Variety

“Dazzling . . . colorful . . . vibrant choreography thanks to Beyonce’s choreographer Frank Gaston . . . great beats and glamorous attitude.” – Indiewire

“A good-hearted joyride.” – The Hollywood Reporter

Actors: Daniel Dugan, Murray Bartlett, Adrian Gonzalez
Directors: Eldar Rapaport
Studio: Wolfe Video
DVD Release Date: August 14, 2012
Run Time: 105 minutes
Amazon: August (2011)

AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL AND VIDEO ON DEMAND JULY 3 – AND ON DVD AUGUST 14

“A very sexy film about the perils and pleasures of reuniting with one’s ex.” — Gary Kramer, Frontiers Magazine

On the verge of his 30th birthday, Jonathan (Daniel Dugan) is torn between the domestic comfort of his life with Raul (Adrian Gonzalez) and the torrid pleasures of an affair with his super sexy ex-boyfriend Troy (uber hot Murray Bartlett).

One of the steamiest gay movies of the year, August sensitively unfolds this triangle of desire and emotion in the midst of a classic Hollywood heat wave. An irresistible gay romantic drama!



“Tonally and texturally, (director) Rapaport conveys myriad layers of truth, trust, love and lust… A strong but subtle directorial hand.” — Dennis Harvey, Variety

“Must see film of Outfest.” — Greg Hernandez, Frontiers Magazine

“A very sexy film about the perils and pleasures of reuniting with one’s ex.” — Gary Kramer, Frontiers Magazine

“Compelling.” — LA Weekly

“Heat is generated in more ways than one in this highly tuned romantic drama. The acting is superb, and the film is beautifully photographed. Director and writer Eldar Rapaport has crafted an intelligent, well-written, realistic circle of characters.” — Edge Magazine

I asked to all the authors joining the GayRomLit convention in Albuquerque in October (http://gayromlit.com/authors.php) a personal favor, a special Ebook Giveaway: every 2 days I will post 1 book from each author, and among those who will leave a comment, I will draw a winner. Very easy and very fast ;-) I will send a PM to the winner, so remember to not leave anonymous comments!

And the ebook giveaway goes to: veggieg, please contact me

Today author is Brita Addams (http://britaaddams.wordpress.com/)

A Minute after Midnight (Timeless Desire) by Brita Addams
Publisher: Noble Romance Publishing, LLC (October 11, 2011)
Amazon Kindle: A Minute after Midnight (Timeless Desire)

A fateful decision haunted Logan Chalmers for years. A high school reunion brings Reid Wright back to the old hometown, but will Reid even remember Logan or has he moved on to the bright future they were to share?

Following the rejection of the man he'd loved for most of his life, Reid moved away to seek his fortune. The hurt and anger allowed him to move on, but years later, only thoughts of Logan could bring him back for the reunion – that, and timeless desire.

William "Kitty" Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon (c. 1768 – 26 May 1835), was the only son of William Courtenay, de jure 8th Earl of Devon, 2nd Viscount Courtenay and his wife Frances Clack. He attracted infamy for a homosexual affair with art collector William Beckford from boyhood when it was discovered and publicised by his uncle. From October 1788 until 1831, his official title was The Rt. Hon. The 3rd Viscount Courtenay of Powderham.

Courtenay was baptized on 30 August 1768, the fourth of 14 children (his siblings all being girls) and was known as "Kitty" to family and friends. On his father's death he became The 3rd Viscount Courtenay of Powderham. With his new title and wealth, the young Lord Courtenay led an excessively flamboyant lifestyle. He was responsible for the addition of a new Music Room at Powderham Castle, designed by James Wyatt, which included a carpet made by the newly-formed Axminster Carpet Company. Picture: William Beckford in 1782 by George Romney)

As a youth, 'Kitty' Courtenay was sometimes named by contemporaries as the most beautiful boy in England. Courtenay was homosexual and became infamous for his affair with the extremely wealthy art collector and sugar plantation owner William Beckford, which possibly started when Courtenay was ten. In the autumn of 1784, a houseguest overheard an argument between The Hon. William Courtenay (as he then was) and Beckford over a note which Courtenay had. There is no record of what the note said, but the houseguest said that Beckford's response on reading it was that he entered Courtenay's room and "horsewhipped him, which created a noise, and the door being opened, Courtenay was discovered in his shirt, and Beckford in some posture or other — Strange story." Beckford was subsequently hounded out of polite British society when his letters to Courtenay were intercepted by Coutenay's uncle, Lord Loughborough, who then publicised the affair in the newspapers.

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Courtenay,_9th_Earl_of_Devon

( Further Readings )

Tamara Platonovna Karsavina (10 March 1885 – 26 May 1978) was a famous Russian ballerina, renowned for her beauty, who was most noted as a Principal Artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and later the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev. After settling in Hampstead, England, she began teaching ballet professionally and would become recognised as one of the founders of modern British ballet. She assisted in the establishment of The Royal Ballet and was a founder member of the Royal Academy of Dance, which is now the world's largest dance teaching organisation.

Karsavina was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, the daughter of Platon Konstantinovich Karsavin. A principal dancer and mime with the Imperial Ballet, Platon was also employed as an instructor at the Imperial Ballet School (Vaganova Ballet Academy) and counted among his students Karsavina's future dancing partner and paramour, Michel Fokine.

She was the sister of religious philosopher and medieval historian Lev Karsavin. Her niece, Marianna Karsavina, was married to Ukrainian author and artistic patron Pyotr Suvchinsky. Through her mother, Karsavina was distantly related to the religious poet and co-founder of the Slavophile movement, Aleksey Khomyakov.

Karsavina's father had once been the favorite pupil of Marius Petipa, but their relationship deteriorated in later years. Karsavina suspected that Petipa was behind the "political intrigue" that resulted in her father's being forced into early retirement. Though Platon continued to teach at the Imperial Ballet School, and also retained some private pupils, he was disillusioned by the experience.

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_Platonovna_Karsavina

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( Further Readings )

Alan Hollinghurst FRSL (born 26 May 1954) is a British novelist, and winner of the 2004 Man Booker Prize for The Line of Beauty.

Hollinghurst was born on 26 May 1954 in Stroud, Gloucestershire, the only child of James Hollinghurst, a bank manager, and his wife, Elizabeth. He attended Canford School in Dorset.

Hollinghurst read English at Magdalen College, Oxford from 1972 to 1979, graduating with a BA in 1975, and a MLitt in 1979. His thesis was on the works of Ronald Firbank, E. M. Forster and L. P. Hartley, three gay writers. While at Oxford he shared a house with Andrew Motion, and was awarded the Newdigate Prize for poetry in 1974, a year before Motion.

In the late 1970s he became a lecturer at Magdalen College, and then at Somerville College and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. In 1981 he moved on to lecture at University College London, and in 1982 he joined The Times Literary Supplement, where he was the paper's deputy editor from 1985 to 1990.

He won the 2004 Man Booker Prize for The Line of Beauty. His next novel, The Stranger's Child, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2011.

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Hollinghurst

Hollinghurst is one of my favorite living writers. He seems to be incapable of composing a dull sentence, and his insights into the smallest details of his characters’ gestures and behavior are so precise and revealing, they’re truly exhilarating. Although The Spell didn’t receive as much praise as his others--and is not “major” in the way of The Line of Beauty—it’s a charming, sexy, comedy of manners with something to admire on every page. Hollinghurst is a challenge for critics—an unquestionably brilliant novelist who writes about gay sex (among men) with unflinching, titillating honesty. Google John Updike’s review of this book for The New Yorker for an example of admiration mixed with extreme discomfort. --Stephen McCauley

I sometimes pull down from my shelves a favorite book that I had read years before—sometimes for enjoyment, sometimes to study an author’s technique. I recently had the joy of rediscovering Alan Hollinghurst’s “The Swimming-Pool Library”, about London’s underground gay community in the 1980s. When I first read the book in 1989 I was awed by the author’s prose style and his unabashed depiction of gay life. It was a marvelously sexy book and it was just as magnificent in my re-reading of it. --Jameson Currier

A perfectly rendered portrait of England in the 1980s and the rise of the new right, The Line of Beauty, a story about young gay Nick Guest and his social and sexual awakening, is harrowing stuff, since we know that tragedy lurks just around the corner for not only our naïve young-and often selfish-protagonist, but for a whole segment of society. --Rick R. Reed

The Line of Beauty shows how life has changed for gay men in the seventy years since Maurice was written. I came to this book having seen the TV adaptation and was mostly delighted. (The start and end are magnificent, even if I felt as I read the middle bit “Oh, not another sex/drugs scene”). Anyone who lived through yuppie excesses and Mrs Thatcher’s tenure of number ten will appreciate this book and the way it holds hypocrisy up to ridicule. Reader beware, though. Nick Guest is just about the only likeable character in the book – he’s adorable but the rest…*shrugs*. --Charlie Cochrane

Many folks may be more familiar with Hollinghurst´s Man Booker Prizewinning The Line of Beauty, but I prefer this earlier novel, The Swimming Pool Library. It explores many of the themes of the more famous book - 1980s London, the embattled British class system, cocaine, AIDS, race, and gay subculture - but with the freshness of the first look, the raw mad joy of discovery, and the recklessness of a supremely talented author establishing his voice. --Lee Benoit

( Further Readings )

Tom Eyen (August 14, 1940 - May 26, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and theatre director.

Eyen is best known for works at opposite ends of the theatrical spectrum. Mainstream theatergoers became acquainted with him in 1981 when he partnered with composer Henry Krieger and director Michael Bennett to write the book and lyrics for Dreamgirls, the hit Broadway musical about an African American female singing trio. Eyen's career started, however, with avant garde plays and musicals that he wrote and directed off-off Broadway in the early 1960s, which eventually led to off-Broadway success in the 1970s with the controversial nudity-filled performance-art play The Dirtiest Show in Town and Women Behind Bars, a camp parody of women's prison exploitation films.

Eyen was born in Cambridge, Ohio, the youngest of seven children of Abraham and Julia Eyen, who owned a family-run restaurant. He attended The Ohio State University but left before graduating, in 1960, and moved to New York City to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Eyen

During this time, openly gay artists were writing and presenting their work without the interference of mainstream producers, managers, or curators. This new wave of theater, film, and art emerged in urban areas with thriving lesbian and gay communities. Caffe Cino, a Greenwich Village coffee house founded by Joe Cino, was the first off-off-Broadway theater. Joe Cino began by producing dramatic readings, but soon moved to presenting works by homosexual writers such as Oscar Wilde, Thornton Wilder, William Inge, and Terence Rattigan in ways that brought out their coded subtext. The radicalism of Caffe Cino and other companies that followed—Judson Poets’ Theater, Ridiculous Theater Company in 1964, the Cockettes in San Francisco in 1968, and New York’s Hot Peaches in 1969—was in presenting plays with explicit gay content in an openly gay environment. Major American playwrights such as Robert Patrick, Al Carmines, Lanford Wilson, Tom Eyen, Charles Ludlam, Jean-Claude van Itallie, and William M. Hoffman all emerged from this setting. --Bronski, Michael (2011-05-10). A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History) (Kindle Locations 4151-4158). Beacon Press. Kindle Edition.

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100 of the Most Influential Gay Entertainers, Revised Edition by Jenettha Baines
911 by Scarlet Blackwell (Silver Publishing)
A Dangerous Thing: The Adrien English Mysteries (Volume 2) by Josh Lanyon
A Hoale Lot of Trouble (Volume 1) by Declan Sands
A Legal Guide for Lesbian & Gay Couples (Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples) by Denis Clifford Attorney, Frederick Hertz Attorney and Emily Doskow Attorney
A Lifetime of Love Is Not Enough by Jane Farabee
A Queer and Pleasant Danger: A Memoir by Kate Bornstein
A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski
A Self Portrait by J.P. Bowie (MLR Press)
A Series of Ordinary Adventures by Stevie Carroll
Above Reproach by Lynn Ames
Absolutely Eric by Erica Pike (MLR Press)
Acrobat by Mary Calmes (Dreamspinner Press)
Acting Out by Tibby Armstrong (Loose ID)
All The Beauty of The Sun (Destination Erotica - New York) by Marion Husband
All Together Now (Total-e-Bound)
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I cannot ignore the fact there was a polemic behind this novel, people suggesting/implying this was a fanfiction of the gay themed movie Shelter. Now, I have seen Shelter, I’m not an huge fan, but I liked the movie, and sincerely, there are some similarities but for sure nothing you can compare to a plagiarism. Basically the only two things in common are the fact that the main character falls in love with his best friend’s brother, and that he has a younger brother he is taking care for.

But in Bear, Otter, and the Kid, the budding of the relationship between Bear (Derrick) and Otter (Oliver) was there well before, when Bear was only 17 years old and Otter 9 years older; that is one of the reason why Otter feels as if he is influencing Bear, like an imprinting he “imposed” to the boy since he was a kid, and the guiltiness pushed him away. Plus here Bear is the only caregiver of the Kid (Ty), there is no mother or father, or any other relatives (while instead if I remember well in Shelter there was a family, dysfunctional as you want, but still there). In Shelter, the main character is a wannabe artist, here Bear has no artistic skills.

I think to remember the author said he took inspiration from his own experience taking care for a younger brother for this novel, and I don’t exclude he felt near to the movie, like when you see/read something that call to you inner cords, that speaks true to your heart. Maybe he put something of that feeling in the novel, but something that is completely original of this novel is the character of the Kid. The kid in the movie was nothing compared to this one, and I don’t think this Kid can be “accused” of being a replica of someone else, it felt to good and true to be fake or copy. Sure, this Kid is not normal, he is probably a little genius, someone that, if raised in a different environment, or in a family with money, would have been one of those little adult who became multimillionaire at 14 years old, or some musical genius, or something else exceptional. Here instead, he is the perfect counsellor to his brother, the friends of his brother, and everyone he has the chance to touch with his aura.

The relationship between Bear and Otter is sweet, almost to the level of being innocent; it’s not that they are not having sexual intercourses, it’s that the sex is done “behind closed doors”, and sometime, like with me, you realize they had sex since one of them said it, not since you read about it. In a way, even if this is not a Young Adult novel, this could be a novel the upper age of teenagers could “use” as first attempt to gay novel literature.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2472

Amazon: Bear, Otter, and the Kid
Amazon Kindle: Bear, Otter, and the Kid
Paperback: 350 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (August 12, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613720874
ISBN-13: 978-1613720875

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading_list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by Paul Richmond

Poppy Z. Brite (born Melissa Ann Brite on May 25, 1967 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and now using the name Billy Martin in daily life) is an American author. Brite initially achieved notoriety in the gothic horror genre of literature in the early 1990s after publishing a string of successful novels and short story collections. Brite's recent work has moved into the related genre of dark comedy, of which many are set in the New Orleans restaurant world. Brite's novels are typically standalone books but may feature recurring characters from previous novels and short stories. Much of Brite's work features openly bisexual and gay characters. Brite is a transgender man and prefers to be referred to with male pronouns and terms.

Brite is best known for writing gothic and horror novels and short stories. Brite's trademarks have included using gay men as main characters, graphic sexual descriptions in the works, and an often wry treatment of gruesome events. Some of Brite's better known novels include Lost Souls (1992), Drawing Blood (originally titled Birdland) (1993), and Exquisite Corpse (1996); he has also released short fiction collections: Swamp Foetus (also published as Wormwood, 1993), Are You Loathsome Tonight? (also published as Self-Made Man, 1998), Wrong Things (with Caitlin R. Kiernan, 2001), and The Devil You Know (2003). Brite's "Calcutta: Lord of Nerves" was selected to represent the year 1992 in the story collection The Century's Best Horror Fiction.

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppy_Z._Brite

Poppy Z. Brite has long written some of the most realistic and honest gay male characters, going back to books like Lost Souls and Exquisite Corpse. But when he decided to stop writing horror and write about the New Orleans restaurant scene, he published some of the best New Orleans fiction out there (Liquor, Prime, Soul Kitchen), and created, in Ricky and G-man, two of the most honest gay male characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing about. Second Line is actually a combination of two short novels (novellas) featuring Ricky and G-man that had already been published: The Value of X and D*U*C*K*. In the first, we meet the guys when they are teenagers and starting to realize that not only are they more than just best friends, but also want to go into the restaurant business. D*U*C*K* is a quite entertaining romp about a catering gig the two take on in northwest Louisiana for a duck hunter’s organization. Second Line is a delightful introduction to the characters, and Poppy’s amazing skill as an author. --Greg Herren

DRAWING BLOOD by Poppy Z. Brite is one of the first books to catch my attention as being solidly inside the horror genre and also containing a gay romance. First and foremost, Drawing Blood is spooky. Comic artist Trevor McGee and his fugitive lover Zach meet and fall in love in Missing Mile, North Carolina, where Trevor has returned to confront the memories of his murdered family and deal with the tormented shades –including his own- left residing in the lonely little murder house on Violin Road. So much about this book is iconic of the times and frozen there forever, and yet much more is timeless: being broken early in life, being lost and searching, of the definition of family, and of looking inside rather than out for your own meaning to life. Drawing Blood is for readers who want something a bit darker and more thoughtful, and the angst-filled, youthful relationship between Zack and Trevor is both piquant and profound. Because people tell me I should, I’ll warn you about Poppy Z. Brite’s graphic and sometimes gruesome level of detail, but you will like this book. --Kirby Crow

Poppy Z. Brite wrote Drawing Blood, M/M horror/romancem, a decade before erotic romance e-publishers sought to fill the cross-genre gap. Of course, Ms. Brite was just writing a horror novel that happened to feature two hot gay men, and it just so happened she chose not to close the door on the love scenes. While the horror and gore aspects of this tale aren´t for the faint of heart, the love scenes between Zach and Trevor are handled beautifully. Fellow old school GenX misfits who grew up in the South will also recognize and identify with Ms. Brite´s themes and characters. (Which leads me to my next listing...). --Katrina Strauss

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