Unabridged Bookstore

THE STRANGER'S CHILD by Alan Hollinghurst.
Alfred A. Knopf, fiction, $27.95

First, let me say that THE STRANGER'S CHILD is absolutely one of the year's best novels, a remarkable, not-to-be-missed achievement, with the whiff of a bygone era, having echoes of BRIDESHEAD REVISITED, BLOOMSBURY, and RUPERT BROOKE. It casts a merciless eye on three generations of intertwined families inhabiting two properties, two acres and Corley. It is a masterful take on the English country house novel (Hollinghurst's set party pieces are stunningly written), but it is much more: it maps the many changes to befall England in the last century, with the decline of the English aristocracy, the erosion of the old Victorian world order, and a country, scarred by two world wars, on the bring of great literary, aesthetic and sexual change.

It is about Desire, mainly homosexual desire: wonderful homoerotic passages illuminate the emergence of homosexuality in the 20th century, from repressed/suppressed to present day gay marriage. This is a big novel, elegant and sensual, brilliant, captivating, and full of wit.

Ed loved this novel and highly recommends!

WHY ARE FAGGOTS SO AFRAID OF FAGGOTS? by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
AK Press, non-fiction, $17.95

Don't be put off by the provocative title. This anthology commands attention for good reason. Mattilda has done it again - assembled a collection that is eclectic, candid, funny, bold, and yes, provocative. This books is a great antidote to the gay mainstream. It contains essays about defying assimilation and celebrating the diversity of queer identities, all while challenging the reader with important questions regarding LGBTQ identity, culture, and community. You don't have to agree with all of the opinions in this book to find it fascinating and rewarding.

Shane highly recommends!

EMINENT OUTLAWS by Christopher Bram
Twelve Books, non-fiction, $27.99.

In the years following World War II, a small group of gay writers established themselves as literary power players, fueling cultural changes that would resonate for decades to come, and transforming the American literary landscape forever.

In EMINENT OUTLAWS, novelist Christopher Bram brilliantly chronicles the rise of gay consciousness in American writing. Beginning with a first wave of major gay literary figures-Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Allen Ginsberg, and James Baldwin-he shows how (despite criticism and occasional setbacks) these pioneers set the stage for new generations of gay writers to build on what they had begun: Armistead Maupin, Edmund White, Tony Kushner, and Edward Albee among them.

Weaving together the crosscurrents, feuds, and subversive energies that provoked these writers to greatness, EMINENT OUTLAWS is a rich and essential work. With keen insights, it takes readers through fifty years of momentous change: from a time when being a homosexual was a crime in forty-nine states and into an age of same-sex marriage and the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Highly Recommended!