Arts & Entertainment

Best of the books

LGBT themes liberally peppered through slated fall releases

Published

15 years ago

September 8, 2011

Books, much cheaper than movies or TV shows to produce, provide the most copious bounty of LGBT options. Among the highlights:

If you want something that’s going to last you most of the winter, try “Black Like Us: A Century of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual African American Fiction,” compiled by Don Weise (Cleis Press, October). This brick of a book gathers the works several of your favorite authors, some of whom you might not know are gay. This is the kind of book you can get lost in and at 555 pages, you’ll be lost a while.

“The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov” by Paul Russell (Cleis Press, November) is based on the real life of the gay brother of Vladimir Nabokov and tells the fictional story of Sergey’s life, his contemporaries, his loves and his heartbreaking end in Berlin. You’ll also want to check out “History’s Passions: Stories of Sex Before Stonewall,” edited by Richard Labonte (Bold Strokes Books, November). This anthology, written by four award-winning authors, imagines the lives of loving men in various historical settings.

For young adult readers, check out “Swimming in Chicago” by David-Matthew Barnes (Bold Strokes Books, October). In this novel, a young man is dealing with his mother’s suicide with the help of his best girl friend and an intriguing new love.

Another book for teens is “Speaking Out: LGBTQ Youth Stand Up” by Steve Berman (Bold Strokes, September). In this book, young adults will read stories of adversity overcome, problems solved, issues brought forth, and what they can look forward to.

In “The Stranger’s Child” by Alan Hollinghurst (Knopf, October), it’s 1913 and a young man has brought a love interest home with him from boarding school, only to have his sister fall for the boy, too. But with a few innocent words in an autograph book, secrets are buried shallowly and the young man and his entire family are changed for several generations. This is one of those sweeping novels that you’ll want to save for a rainy weekend day.

“Tom of Finland – Life and Work of a Gay Hero” by F. Valentine Hooven III (Bruno Gmunder Verlag Gmbh, November), a compilation, looks at Tom’s drawings from the earliest to more current times, and includes a biography. And if photography is the art you love most, check out “Jim French Diaries: The Creator of Colt Studio” by Jim French (also from Bruno Gmunder Verlag Gmbh, October).

You’ll also love paging through “Gay in America,” portraits by Scott Pasfield (September, Welcome Books). In this gorgeously illustrated book, you’ll find intimate and personal photography of gay men from around the country, taken over three years.

“Christmas Remembered” by Tom Mendicino, Frank Anthony Polito, and Michael Salvatore (Kensington, September) is a three-story collection that brings back memories of holidays shared, holidays cherished and holidays best forgotten.

“Second You Sin” by Scott Sherman (Kensington, September) is a thriller-whodunit, in which part-time sleuth/call boy Kevin Connor must solve the murders of several New York City male prostitutes.

Another mystery you’ll love this fall is “Hell’s Highway” by Gerri Hill (Bella Books, December). Someone thinks California’s Mojave Desert is the perfect place to dispose of women’s bodies. On the case are FBI Agents Cameron Ross and Andrea Sullivan, two women who are more than just partners at work. Can their commitment to each other withstand the sand, the heat, and the mind of a diabolical killer?

One comic book that stands out is “Heroes with Hardons” by Patrick Fillion and others (Bruno Gmunder Verlag Gmbh, November). This book is packed with super-hunky superheroes ready to save your day any way they can. Yes, these are comics, but they’re nothing like the ones you spent Saturday afternoon reading when you were a kid.

“Model Men: Gay Erotic Stories” by Neil Plakcy (Cleis Press, November) imagines the lives and loves of models from Mr. May in the hunk calendar to the billboard hottie who almost makes you wreck the car.

“Riding the Rails: Locomotive Lust and Carnal Cabooses” by Jerry L. Wheeler (Bold Strokes, December) explores the carnality trains tend to inspire.

“The Gay Gospels: Good News for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered People” by Keith Sharpe (O Books, John Hunt, September) guides readers with a spiritual, faith-based (yet readable) look at the Bible, the arguments used against gays and why some feel these scriptures have been distorted.

“The Gay Men’s Guide to Timeless Manners and Proper Etiquette” by Corey Rosenberg (Chelsea Station Editions, September) explains what eating utensils to use, the difference between black tie and formal, what kind of hostess gift is mandatory and more.

“Best Gay Erotica 2012,” edited by Richard Labonte with a foreword by Larry Duplechan (Cleis Press, December) is an anthology that brings together the best of this years’ writers. Also look for “Best Lesbian Erotica 2012, edited by Kathleen Warnock, foreword by Sinclair Sexsmith, also from Cleis and out in December.

“69 Positions of Joyful Gay Sex” by Mischa Gawronski (Bruno Gmunder Verlag Gmbh, November) shows that, yes, indeed, there are lots of ways to do the deed.

Keep in mind that release dates are approximate and could change.

Photos

PHOTOS: Denali at Pitchers

‘Drag Race’ alum performs at Thirst Trap

Published

11 hours ago

April 14, 2026

Michael Key

Denali performs at the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show at Pitchers DC on April 9. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Arts & Entertainment

In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI

‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’

Published

2 days ago

April 13, 2026

Baltimore Banner

Last year, Baltimore Center Stage refused to give up its DEI focus in the face of losing federal funding. They've tripled down. (Photo by Ulysses Muñoz of the Baltimore Banner)

By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.

Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.

“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

Books

Susan Lucci on love, loss, and ‘All My Children’

New book chronicles life of iconic soap star

Published

2 days ago

April 13, 2026

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Book cover image courtesy of Blackstone Publishing)

‘La Lucci’
By Susan Lucci with Laura Morton
c.2026, Blackstone Publishing
$29.99/196 pages

They’re among the world’s greatest love stories.

You know them well: Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Abelard and Heloise. Phoebe and Langley. Cliff and Nina. Jesse and Angie, Opal and Palmer, Palmer and Daisy, Tad and Dixie. Now read “La Lucci” by Susan Lucci, with Laura Morton, and you might also think of Susan and Helmut.

When she was a very small girl, Susan Lucci loved to perform. Also when she was young, she learned that words have power. She vowed to use them for good for the rest of her life.

Her parents, she says, were supportive and her family, loving. Because of her Italian heritage, she was “ethnic looking” but Lucci’s mother was careful to point out dark-haired beauties on TV and elsewhere, giving Lucci a foundation of confidence.

That’s just one of the things for which Lucci says she’s grateful. In fact, she says, “Prayers of gratitude are how I begin and end each day.”

She is particularly grateful for becoming a mother to her two adult children, and to the doctors who saved her son’s life when he was a newborn.

Lucci writes about gratitude for her long career. She was a keystone character on TV’s “All My Children,” and she learned a lot from older actors on the show, and from Agnes Nixon, the creator of it. She says she still keeps in touch with many of her former costars.

She is thankful for her mother’s caretakers, who stepped in when dementia struck. Grateful for more doctors, who did heart-saving work when Lucci had a clogged artery. Grateful for friends, opportunities, life, grandchildren, and a career that continues.

And she’s grateful for the love she shared with her husband, Helmut Huber, who died nearly four years ago. Grateful for the chance to grieve, to heal, and to continue.

And yet, she says of her husband: “He was never timid, but I know he was afraid at the end, and that kills me down to my soul.”

“It’s been 15 years since Erica Kane and I parted ways,” says author Susan Lucci (with Laura Morton), and she says that people still approach her to confirm or deny rumors of the show’s resurrection. There’s still no answer to that here (sorry, fans), but what you’ll find inside “La Lucci” is still exceptionally generous.

If this book were just filled with stories, you’d like it just fine. If it was only about Lucci’s faith and her gratitude – words that happen to appear very frequently here – you’d still like reading it. But Lucci tells her stories of family, children and “All My Children,” while also offering help to couples who’ve endured miscarriage, women who’ve had heart problems, and widow(ers) who are spinning and need the kindness of someone who’s lived loss, too.

These are the other things you’ll find in “La Lucci,” in a voice you’ll hear in your head, if you spent your lunch hours glued to the TV back in the day. It’s a comfortable, fun read for fans. It’s a story you’ll love.

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