Friday, June 22, 2018

Man in An Orange Shirt / Aerodynamics of Pork

Last Sunday one of DC's PBS stations broadcast "Man in An Orange Shirt". Both Terry and I liked it. You may decide whether you might by looking at the trailer. Fortunately, Howard University's WHUT–Ch. 32 (the other PBS station) is broadcasting it next Tuesday 6/26 at 8pm (with rebroadcasts on Wednesday 6/27 at midnight and Sunday 7/1 at 4pm).

All this might seem a bit off topic except that the screenplay of the Masterpiece Theatre movie is written by Patrick Gale (his first!), whom many of us became aware of 33 years ago with his first novel The Aerodynamics of Pork. We read his short story "The List" in Edmund White's Fraser Book of Gay Short Fiction. And I just read his short story "Cooking", an appropriately delicious story of what happens to a homophobic father when his other children dump him on their "single" younger brother.

Patrick Gale has written several novels and a couple of short story collections. I think we might enjoy reading something by him. Maybe others have already and can help with recommendations.

1 comment:

Terry said...

I ordered a copy of Gale's latest available in paper (from 2015), A Place Called Winter, which was the story of his ancestor who was the inspiration for Man in an Orange Suit. This was very pleasant reading and interesting about provincial life in pioneering days in Canada. There is a place called Winter that was a stop on the old trans-Canada railroad. The hero is sympathetic. The gay theme is matter-of-factly presented, a far cry from the luridness of A Very English Scandal.