V is for Victory!

Just in case I was not the only reader puzzled by the frequent references to "V-mail" throughout John Horne Burns' The Gallery, here is a link to a Wikipedia article that explains how the system works. (Really pretty ingenious!)


My Google search also turned up a sample V-mail created as (presumably) a teacher resource for a class studying the novel.

The Gallery … "a Naples street" [sic!]

BookMen may be interest in reading the excerpt from David Margolick's biography which appeared in the New York Times Magazine two years ago and began the renewed interest in John Horne Burns. (Additionally, the Bantam "Giant" cover above provides a lurid tease of the book we will be discussing in June, 1960s Gay Pulp Fiction. Extra points for anyone who can identify the passage in the book illustrated by this cover!)

Frankly, my dear, I do give a damn!

Most of you are probably aware that former Representative Barney Frank's latest book, Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage, has just come out (pun intended). If you're curious about it, but not yet ready to plunk down your $28, Politico has just published a lengthy extract from it.

Back to The Lost Library

This Lambda Literary interview with Philip Rappaport, Open Road Media's Director of Publishing Partnerships, will mainly be of interest to those who follow publishing trends. However, there is an interesting discussion of The Lost Library, the anthology of essays about GLBT literature no longer in print that we read last year, and Open Road's campaign to acquire the rights to those works and reissue them as e-books.

Bidart / Gurganus Readings

Frank Bidart, whose Metaphysical Dog we will be discussing later this year, is giving a reading this Thursday evening (2/19/15) at 921 Pennsylvania Ave SE. Admission is free but registration is required. For more information, see Sunday's Washington Post article.

Also, in a couple of months (Tuesday, April 7), Allan Gurganus, whose The Practical Heart we have read, will be giving a reading with Elizabeth Strout at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets are required and are $15 each.

Ici repose …

Am I the only one who is a fan of Colette?

Maybe I was a lesbian in the fin de siècle.

"Choir Boy" on stage and page

Studio Theatre is currently offering a production of Tarell Alvin McCraney's play "Choir Boy." Here's the Post's review and Clinton Yates' thoughtful column. MetroWeekly has conducted a long interview. It's a play I'm sure we will discuss once it becomes easily available (i.e. is published). In the meantime, I encourage people to see this production, and then join BookMenDC at some future date when we discuss the play. In those discussions it's always nice to include people who have viewed a production even if (or especially when) they haven't read the play!