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Each year I review thirty to forty books. The following five
books are my favorite of the LGBTQ themed books I reviewed in 2012.
The
Empty Family by Colm Toibin
Nine exquisitely crafted stories make up this gem of a book, set
in present-day Ireland, 1970’s Spain, and nineteenth-century England. Each
story is a unique perspective on loneliness, desire, and love-lost.
“Silence” presents Lady Gregory, a woman married to a man she
abhors. Her loneliness is temporarily quenched by an impeccable lover, but she
is then abandoned by love and forced to live out her life, never being able to
speak of her one great passion.
“Two Women” tells of a prickly set designer who takes a job in
her hometown in Ireland, and is forced to confront the emotions of loss she has
long repressed.
“The Street” draws a portrait of Pakistani immigrants working in
Spain who must hide their relationship while living in a community ruled by the
laws set forth in the Koran, obedience to Allah, and silence.
All
nine stories are shatteringly beautiful, thought provoking, and poignant, but
these three stand out as superlative. Toibin is a master of the written
word, presenting immaculately crafted stories with vivid, unsensationalized
prose.
Conversations with
Capote by Lawrence Grobel
“I am a homosexual. I am a drug addict. I am a genius.” —Truman
Capote
Between July, 1982 and August 1984, writer Lawrence Grobel
recorded many interview sessions with Truman Capote for what they both agreed
would be the definitive in-depth interview with the great writer. This book is
the remarkable result of those conversations. As startling, candid, and
controversial as the man himself, these interviews have become a key part of
the Capote legacy.
I
have always been enchanted by Capote’s stories, and reading this book I became
mesmerized by the man behind those stories. He had a genius that elevated talk
to art, and gossip to literature. He bedazzles with brilliant insight, and also
reveals a condescending pettiness toward many of his contemporaries.
Sal Mineo, A Biography
by Michael Gregg Michaud
Sal Mineo was raised in a family who struggled to make ends
meet. His father owned a casket factory in the Bronx, and his mother managed
Sal’s early television and stage career. Sal appeared in a number of TV spots
and big stage productions, including The King and I, staring Yul Brynner,
before becoming one of the hottest teen stars of the fifties. His role opposite
James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause made Sal into a teenaged heartthrob. Other
notable movie roles were in Giant, The Gene Krupa Story, and Exodus. While
still a teen, Sal was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Supporting
Actor (Rebel and Exodus).
In Rebel, Sal’s character, Plato, was the first gay character to
ever be shown in a Hollywood film. Many young gay guys, myself included, didn’t
even understand what the movie was trying to show with that role, but we
connected with it in ways no other movie role had ever done. And of
course, we fell in love with Sal. It made Sal a national sensation.
But
when Sal grew into his twenties, and was no longer suitable for teen roles, his
career began a long, downhill slide. Many other child stars have had difficulty
making the transition to adult roles, but Sal had two other career setbacks to
overcome: 1) his mother, as manager, had spent all his money supporting his
family, leaving him virtually penniless; 2) He was gay, and rumors of his
private affairs began circulating around Hollywood and Broadway, and that was
the kiss of death for this remarkably talented actor.
The
Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov by Paul Russell
Sergey Nabokov was born into a wealthy family in pre-communists
Russia. His father was a respected member of the government. His older brother
would grow to become the brilliant writer, Vladimir Nabokov. While enjoying a
luxurious lifestyle in Russia, Sergey grew up in the shadow of his older
brother. As Sergey matured into puberty, it became apparent that he was gay and
a bit of a dandy, which, as far as his family was concerned, pushed him deeper
into the shadow cast by Vladimir.
Both
brothers were forced to flee their mother Russia when the Bolshevik revolution
brought the communists to power. They traveled to England where they received
an education at Cambridge University, and then settled in Paris. Sergey became
known to the artist crowd of pre-war Europe, hobnobbing with Gertrude Stein and
Alice B. Toklas, Picasso, Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Magnaus Hirschfield, and
Nijinsky. But as his finances dwindled, Sergey became more and more desperate,
turning to opium for a bit of comfort and living off the generosity of men. As
war with Germany loomed, Vladimir fled to the United States while Sergey ended
up in isolation in war-torn Berlin. Sergey died after spending two years in a
Nazi concentration camp for the crime of being gay and for speaking out against
the Nazi regime.
Songs For The New Depression by
Kergan Edwards-Stout
This story compiles three snapshots in the life of Gabe, a gay
man with a troubled soul, biting wit, and razor sharp tongue. Each
snapshot—near death, middle age, young teen—focuses on his relationship with
his love interest during that fragment of his life.
Gabe
is a man who, because of a sexual-bullying incident during his early years, has
built up strong, thick walls around his heart, and uses his cutting wit to keep
people at a distance, even though he craves love and affection. Completely
self-absorbed, he is also a man that during the beginning of the AIDS epidemic,
was changing sexual partners as often as he was changing his socks.
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