Book Review: True Stories Too – People and Places From My Past by Felice Picano

This delightful collection of memoirs by award-winning author Felice Picano is written in fifteen vignettes. The author recounts tales of his experiences in New York during the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘90s, and ‘00s; his time in Los Angeles in the ‘90s and ‘00s; and the interesting people and the places he’s visited. For the most part, the author tells his story via his relationships with an array of fascinating people that helped guide his destiny. His first collection of memoirs focused on many of the celebrities of his past, where as this collection of portraits and anecdotes reveal histories of his family, close friends, and lovers.

Picano writes with such flair, it's all but impossible not to sink into his prose - like lying back in a cool mountain stream on a blistering afternoon.

Streaked with gossip, flinty observations, and great good humor, these stories are an intimate portrait of the life of an artist and interesting mind. They are crammed with wicked conversations and probing psychological insights about contemporary gay culture. This read is as absorbing and deliciously entertaining as his first book of memoirs.

Each vignette is equally interesting as the others. Whether he’s talking about partying down with Charles Silverstein in Japan, or the New York gay scene in the ‘60s, or amusing himself by auditioning for TV commercials in L.A., or a rather moving account of his relationship with his brother, Picano draws you into each scene and keeps you engrossed. I could not put it down.