Fall 2005 books previews

September

Crashing America by Katia Noyes (Alyson, $14.95): One
part Eileen Myles, one part Jack Kerouac, San
Francisco writer Katia Noyes’s rough-edged but
gleaming first novel is a queer road trip to remember.

Diary of a Drag Queen by Daniel Harris (Carroll &
Graf, $14.95): The noted journalist dons a dress in
order to make online conquests among young men.

Good Advice for Young Trendy People of All Ages
edited by Jennifer Blowdryer (Manic D Press, $15):
Here’s the kind of advice you really need, from
queer sages like Lynn Breedlove (on packing) and James St.
James (on perfecting your club look).

Homewrecker: An Adultery Anthology edited by Daphne
Gottlieb, (Soft Skull Press, $13): These pieces from
queer spoken-word artist Gottlieb let you face your
love-demons without couples therapy.

How’s Your Romance? by Ethan Mordden (St.
Martin’s Press, $24.95): Final volume in the
celebrated “Buddies” cycle, set in the roiling
microcosm of gay Manhattan.

Stretching My Mind: The Collected Essays of Edward Albee,
1960–200 (Carroll & Graf, $25): Edited
by Don Weise, this collection includes little-known
autobiographical and political essays, plus criticism on
artists including Sam Shepard.

October

Cotton by Christopher Wilson (Harcourt, $24): Talk
about your life journeys. In this rollicking Southern
picaresque, Lee Cotton experiences life as male,
female, white, African-American, and more besides.

Faith for Beginners by Aaron Hamburger (Random House,
$23.95): On holiday in Israel with his family, pierced
and punked-out Jeremy explores Jerusalem’s gay
parks while his mom reconsiders Judaism. From the author
of The View From Stalin’s Head.

The Whole World Was Watching: Living in the Light of
Matthew Shepard by Romaine Patterson with
Patrick Hinds (Advocate Books, $23.95): Matthew
Shepard’s best friend recounts how his murder and the
media maelstrom that followed fueled her transformation into
an ardent human rights activist.

November

Words to Our Now: Imagination and Dissent by Thomas
Glave (University of Minnesota Press, $25.95): One of
the most powerful emerging voices in black gay
writing, Glave (Whose Song?) offers a
“politics of heterogeneity” to counter the
“hypocrisies and contradictions of liberal
multiculturalism.”

Katharine Hepburn: The Untold Story by James Robert
Parish (Advocate Books, $24.95): This daring bio of
the enigmatic Hepburn will scorch your slippers. She
was yar, all right.

December

Across by Blue Dawson (Genesis, $15.95): A woman
searches the Sahara for her kidnapped lover. Sexy and
scary.

—Regina
Marler and Anne Stockwell