Isbn: 1894498070
Sales Rank: 1152508
Subjects:  1. Ecrits d'homosexuels america    2. Ecrits d'homosexuels canadien    3. Essays    4. Fiction    5. Gay    6. Gay Studies    7. Gay men    8. Gay men's writings    9. Homosexuality    10. Sexuality    11. Sociology    12. Academic: Trade/Academic: Gender Studies   

Reviews (5)

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Fink creates a breathtakingly original, powerful, and believable universe. Burn is painful and oddly gentle and funny at the same time. It delineates marvelously fluid boundaries between dream and reality, justice and absurdity, inside and outside, terror and elation. Moving, eye-opening, and full of subtle layers that resonate long after you put it down, Burn is a true gift.

Fascinating!
A mysterious story that kept me engrossed - from the affair between her protagonist and the mysterious blond boy, to the gathering storm of threatening government surveillance, BURN was suspenseful and thought provoking. An apt tale for our times.

I would give this 6 stars if I could!
This is easily the best work of literature I have read in years.

And Fink tells her "fable for the Bush/Rumsfeld era" through one of the most fascinatingly unreliable narrators I have ever encountered: Mrs. Sylvia Edelman.

Sylvie, despite or because of all the asides, is some storyteller. And she is going through menopause and late-night hot- and cold-flashes and possible hallucinations and bags of red licorice as she regales the reader, like a guest at her kitchen table, with the events of the final days of 1953 and of Sylvan Lake Colony, a socialist Jewish workers colony from the 1930s that the Feds are closing in on. Only a few of the founding members remain, including Sylvie, staying steadfast in the home she and her late husband Max built.

Out back of her house, it seems Sylvie has found a naked boy among the tomatoes in her garden. His only possessions are a satchel with a bandanna and set of dog-tags he wears around his neck with the name Simon. He vanishes and reappears for several days till Sylvie gets a hold of him.

Burn begins with this mystery and only gets more mysterious as Simon and Sylvie grow closer and the Feds, at the height of the Red Scare, close in. Old comrades disappear to Moscow or Jersey; Sylvie's sister Rose begs her to leave and get respectable; Simon cannot or will not talk and may or may not be a government spy.

To tell more of the story would ruin the beauty of this book. It is the uncertainty of events and Sylvie's grip on reality, coupled with Sylvie's deceptively simple but lyrical language, that make Burn a true work of art that recalls the writing of Faulkner as easily as Bernard Malamud. And it burns with a beautiful eroticism that echoes the passion and poetry of the original Song of Solomon.

Editorial Review

Bernard-Henri Levy's Who Killed Daniel Pearl? offers a harrowing look at Pearl's life and tragic death wrought with a unique blending of journalism, novelist's imagination, and autobiography. Levy--an acclaimed French philosopher and bestselling author in Europe--in 2002 launched a one-year journey to understand Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl and the circumstances that led to his murder in Pakistan; the briskly paced result traces a thread from Pearl's killers through Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and, possibly, to Al-Quaida. In building his case, Levy takes none of the news stories on face value. At great personal risk, he follows the same steps that Pearl walked to the very farm house where the journalist was killed. He seems to question everything and provides bearing witness as the truth-telling reportage required in a nation like Pakistan that "has lost even the very idea of what a free press could be."

Reviews (4)

Good, but inconsistent.
Daphne Gottlieb, Final Girl (Soft Skull Press, 2003)

During a rather heated discussion on the merits of slam poetry, I had Gottlieb recommended to me as one of those who's capable of still taking the "poetry" half of "performance poetry" into account. Needless to say, I dug this up posthaste and gave it a go. And in deference to my worthy foil in that discussion, he's right... some of the time.

Now, I grant you, it's been quite a while since I've been a regular member of the inner circle of the slam/performance poetry scene anywhere, but I've been a sporadic attendee ever since. I stopped being a regular because the performance started being more important then the poetry, to the point where the poetry was excluded, and the vast majority of the work (including the winner of every slam I've been to since 1993) became political or social screed chopped up into little lines to make it look poetic. And there are times when Daphne Gottlieb does this. But there are also times when she reveals an excellent eye for detail, and there are pieces in this book that shine.

"When you leave for the evening--
card games, parties, office things--
it is your wife's closet
I go to first.
She's got great
taste in shoes...."
("The Babysitter")

"When he yells
Get on your back!
Call me Lord!
Call me Master!

I laugh so hard
I drop my banana."
("In a Name")

Interlaced with the poems are short prose pieces of various levels of effectiveness, some exceptionally well-crafted, some not so much. Still, they're all above average, and definitely worth checking out. The oddest pieces here are not quite poetry and not quite prose, and seem to be written for a number of voices; read in such a way, they have an interest to them; read as single pieces, they're incomprehensible. I leave it to the reader to decide.

One to check out, but too much of a rollercoaster to be a solid recommend. ** ½

No Time for Heros, She's Saving Herself
When Daphne Gottlieb speaks, you have no choice but to listen.

I purchased FINAL GIRL at a literary reading during Chicago's 2004 Printers Row Book Fair.The poetry is centered around the survivor of a teen-slasher/horror flick, the one who has lost all of her friends along the way and the only one capable of defeating the killer.I finished the entire book that evening - this is the first poetry book I've been able to read from cover to cover in one sitting.

Daphne's poetry is firey and abbrassive, centering on the colorful cast of characters that inhabit the world of horror movies.She gives well-rounded three-dimensional voices to the stereotypes, builds up the greater story behind the small details and is willing to spit back in any adversary's face despite the consequences.She gives a reason and a purpose to the promsicuous girl who is always killed first in the poem, "Slut".She relates these stereotypical characters to their place in the real world and the violence they encounter from hate crimes, muggings and illness.Many of the poems relate to the death of Daphne Gottlieb's mother, as she occasionally writes about the Final Girl's desperate attempts to save her parents from the inevitable.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in performance prose and the theater of the bizarre.There is a very thick line between fictional suspense/horror and reality, but Gottlieb successfully blurs that line.She describes a vampire culture in all senses and scribes an aggressive plan of action against the dangers of a world, city-life and other human beings, while at the same time, displaying one's need for companions and other survivors.The writing is energetic and can cause a smirk as well as a horrified gasp.This is a must-have!

Reviews (1)

The gay brotha speaks!
The person who organized the 1963 March on Washington for Civil Rights was a black gay man!Two eminent scholars, Carbado and Weise, who have done much to open space for black gay studies continue that tradition by compiling some of Bayard Rustin's most famous speeches.The book starts with a well-done biography of the leader.The next sections are speeches on a range of issues which show how thoroughly ahead of his time this brotha was.

Reviews (12)

Sad, sad people
The four characters of this book lead sad lives. You have "beautiful" freeloading Taylor, who doesn't do anything for herself, because her looks will take care of everything for her, Arlene, the depressed divorcee, bitter, dying Charlie, and Isak the heartless hustler. What sad and horrible people. We never know just how "beautiful" Taylor is because she's never really described. Her story is the only one told in third person, the other three are in first person. We only get to see her through everyone else's eyes.
I give this book three stars becuase it is an interesting read, though there's nothing spectacular about the wiritng and the characters are constantly complaining about how pathetic they are. Despite that, they're interesting. Sad, but interesting.

some of the parts . . . are missing
It took me over three weeks to read this 264 page novel, not because I'm a slow reader but because it was so painstakingly hard to get into.I kept reading, waiting for something, anything to happen.Writing about four loosely related, depressed, one-dimensional individuals with no plot or real story to tell does not make a novel.

We have Arlene, the so-called pill-popping divorcee.She only popped pills ONCE in the entire novel!Taylor, Arlene's bisexual oh-so-beautiful, I'm-bored-with-life-because-I-get-everything-I-want-without-trying daughter.Cry me a river!What's so bad about living in a mansion with a multi-millionaire movie producer who loves you? Or having a lesbian lover who wants to make you a partner in her B&B?Charlie, Arlene's brother dying of AIDS related illness.Pluhhhease! How many times has that story been told?In this day and age, so few people are dying of AIDS related illnesses unless they're not taking their medication. And Isak, a girl living as a boy/male hustler and Charlie's roommate/whatever.The dynamics of their relationship is never explained and after trudging through 200+ pages you just don't care.

Adding to this is the narrative told in each character's voice. It seems as if the only character Cooper is not comfortable with is Taylor.Taylor's chapters are written in a detached third person narrative that didn't seem essential to the storyline.I found myself dreading reading her chapters as her story could have been told through the other narratives. Arlene, Charlie and Isak are written in an engaging first person narrative, which made their stories easier to get into, but switching from first person to third person was a bit disruptive to the novel's flow.Arlene was the most interesting character to me. Some of the Parts could have been told completely from her POV and would have been a far more entertaining read.

Cooper's writing is mediocre, rife with stereotypical cliches not interesting enough to make you want to read it again or recommend it to anyone.Possibly the most compelling aspect of the novel is the cover art.Save yourself the grief and skip Some of the Parts.

Reviews (2)

embarassing, dissapointing
Thought this would be fun, but it is quite uninformative and banal, or worse at points.SOme of the writing is okay and all is "accessible" but that is easy when one has nothing to say, or has no research or complicated arguements to offer.This is stuff that would NEVER pass a real, professional editing process, and it is significant that the press here is virtually unknown and more like a desktop publisher than a real, even alternative press.

the henwood piece is jejune.He betrays no knowledge of having ever read Lenin or any Russian history, and so does not have anything to say other than 1917 was a long time ago (Duh~!) and that imperialism has changed since Lenin's time.Thanks, Einstein, but its interesting that about a dozen other, real economists/leftists have said that maybe some aspects of Lenin's analysis still shine today.

The editors once refer to MOnthly Review magazine as being a sect paper affiliated with some 'Trotskyite" group.This would come as news to the academics and independent journalists and actvists who have run the JOURNAL for over fifty years.Speaking of journalists, thats what all these folks are, except they arent very good and have no facts or research to present, and moreover have nothing substantial to say about what capitalism is, or anti-capitalism.

Save your money.You can hear better chit-chat about capitalism and "the left" in campus coffee bars, etc, and that'd be free.Poor trees!

Isbn: 1573440191
Sales Rank: 1236766
Subjects:  1. Censorship    2. Erotic literature, American    3. Erotica - General    4. Fiction    5. Gay men    6. Homosexuality    7. Lesbians    8. Literary collections    9. Literature - Classics / Criticism    10. Romance - Contemporary    11. Romance: Modern    12. Sexuality In Literature   

Editorial Review

Let's cut to the chase: yes, J.H. Hatfield alleges that, in 1972, George W. Bush was arrested for possession of cocaine and, with the help of his father, got the charges erased in exchange for performing community service. Other than that, however, Fortunate Son is a standard quickie biography of the Texas governor and frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential race--and useful primarily because few people outside of Texas (for that matter, few people within Texas) know much about Bush's history and political record. It's all about connections, Hatfield says: if he'd had a different father, Bush "could be just another Texan who failed in the oil business and now operates a shrimp boat in the Gulf of Mexico." The bombshell doesn't even come until a short afterword, tacked onto the already completed manuscript at the last minute, complete with a "Deep Throat" within Bush's inner circle. (Said informant throws in an almost too perfectly worded attack on the governor's hypocrisy in vigorously fighting the war on drugs: "I've known George for several years and he has never accepted youth and irresponsibility as legitimate excuses for illegal behavior--except when it comes to himself.")

Reviews (9)

The Coolest, Freshest Collection I Have EVER Read!
Wish I had something to say about a flaw in this book but I can't think of any.I never wrote one of these letters so bare with me.

OK.

Stephen Elliott, the kind of teacher one could only dream about if taking any kind of writing course, has got to be the quintessentail California cool guy and arbiter of great "new millinieum" taste to put together a collection like this.It is bar none, the best fiction anthology I have EVER read.OK, I'm only 31, but I do read a lot of anthologies.This one is original, fast paced, original and every single story I read pulled me in and kept me interested til the end.

Off the bat, I can think of Charles Baxter's "Innocent" and "da bomb" and Brian Gage's Vampire story as being the best ones.There is another one too about this guy that killed his whole family in an Arab country and got celebrated for it.Those ones blew me away.This dude F.S. Yu came pretty hard too, although I was at a party recently and someone whispered in my Orson loving ear that F.S. Yu has a seceret identity.Great story, though.But like I was sayingI couldn't get enough of this book.Let me get it.

O.K. got it.I liked everything in here.Ann Urso's story was like a little movie skit, really funny.JOan Wilking pissed me off, but hey, that's what a good story does.Peter Rock rocked.David Rees had me laugh'n but not with some serious thoughts.That's what I like aobut this book, they cut out all the b.s. and just let it roll.The story I read when I want a good laugh over and over again is by Mistress Morgana.She tells you how her day went as a dominitrix and if you go to her web page in real life she's a hot woman, so that made me totally believe her story.A pleasant surprise was to see L.A.'s own Ethiopian fatwa writer Kola Boof in the lineup after listening to her radio appearances last year on KPFK Radio and ABC NEWSRADIO.She wrote a tight story about this black girl singer whose boyfriend was cheating on her and got blown up in the WTC.The cracks on President Bush and Clinton are priceless too.I still don't know what the story was about, but out of the women's stories, hers was the best.

This is a cool book.It's spacey and it expects you to expect the unexpected.As a writing student and over all HAM I hope to someday have my name posted in lights with a group as talented and imagination as the old gang here.Top drawer politics. Sexy. Smart. I give it two thumbs up.

Peace

A collection of voices address a changing world
Writers have been particularly inspired since the events of September 11, 2001, to redefine our sense of vulnerability as Americans. The devastation visited upon us has left irrevocable scars, and it is the artists who give voice to our pain and disillusionment. Many new works have sprung from these endeavors, among them Politically Inspired: Fiction for Our Time, a compilation of short stories, cartoons and illustrations that cover a wide range of responses since that infamous day in our history.

The selections chosen are not meant to address the event specifically, but rather some of the issues that have come from the creative minds of the contributors. Editor Stephen Elliott has gathered the perfect mix: stories, illustrations, cartoons and poetry, albeit often tongue-in-cheek. Politically Inspired gives voice to some of the most imaginative writers today.
I haven't been a great fan of short stories, preferring longer works, except when the occasional book stands out and begs recognition. This compilation is such an entertaining and seamless collection that I find myself unwilling to reach the end; I have been well entertained and challenged by these authors, privileged to read their contributions about the changing face of American life.

From the first story by Anne Ursu, "The President's New Clothes", to Brian Gage's "The Vampires of Draconian Hill", I have experienced a gamut of emotions. Politically Inspired is successful, in my view, because of the innovative approaches of the authors and the wide range of characters in the selections. Not only do I recommend this volume of cutting-edge fiction, but suggest Politically Inspired: Fiction for Our Time as a thoughtful gift for anyone who enjoys exceptional work, written with the best of intentions. Luan Gaines/ 2003.

A Must Read
Can art be relevant in the post 9/11 era? Can any fiction do justice to these fictional times? Apparently, yes. Michelle Tea captures the surreal emptiness of 9/11 mindless jingoism chillingly.Amanda Eyre Ward carefully portrays the overwhelming power of fear. Otis Haschemeyer writes a chilling story of the Iraq war that none of the imbedded journalists would ever tell. Charles Baxter dissects American culture all too well. And,for comic relief, Mistress Morgana gives a few public figures a much needed spanking.

Even better, this manages to be a great read (I read the whole thing in one night) with well-crafted stories that are better than any Best Of anthology I've seen.

Isbn: 1551520982
Sales Rank: 775768
Subjects:  1. AIDS (Disease)    2. Canada    3. Chileans    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - General    6. Gay    7. General    8. Patients    9. Transvestites   

Isbn: 0872862348
Sales Rank: 417395
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Gay    4. Purdy, James - Prose & Criticism   

Isbn: 0299189708
Sales Rank: 298180
Subjects:  1. 1928-1997    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Brown, Barbara Ann Wildman,    5. Cancer    6. Death, Grief, Bereavement    7. Diseases - Cancer    8. Health    9. Health & Fitness    10. Health/Fitness    11. New Mexico    12. Patients    13. Personal Memoirs    14. Women   

Isbn: 1573441325
Sales Rank: 544714
Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gay men    3. Homosexuality    4. Lesbian Studies    5. Lesbians    6. Political    7. Political Process - General    8. Politics - Current Events    9. Sadomasochism    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Transsexualism    13. Gay & Lesbian   

Isbn: 0967952077
Sales Rank: 521716
Subjects:  1. Church colleges    2. Culture conflict    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. Gay    6. General    7. Jewish authors    8. Minnesota    9. Fiction / General   

Isbn: 1565847970
Sales Rank: 153203
Subjects:  1. 265-30 B.C    2. Ancient - Rome    3. Ancient Rome - History    4. Assassination    5. Caesar, Julius    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Politics and government    10. Rome   

Isbn: 0916397890
Sales Rank: 252677
Subjects:  1. American - General    2. American Contemporary Poetry    3. Lesbians    4. Poetry    5. San Francisco (Calif.)   

Isbn: 0916397580
Sales Rank: 1267149
Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Poetry   

Isbn: 1928589146
Sales Rank: 106992
Subjects:  1. American - General    2. General    3. Poetry    4. Poetry / General