A Larry Duplechan primer

I must confess that until Mike Mazza nominated it for our reading list, I'd never heard of Larry Duplechan or his 1986 novel Blackbird, which we'll be discussing tomorrow night.

In anticipation of our meeting, here are a few fun facts about Duplechan and Blackbird:

Duplechan (born 1956) has written five novels, most of which follow Johnny Ray Rousseau and other Blackbird characters. Eight Days a Week (1985), his first novel, follows Rousseau in his 20s, so Blackbird is technically a prequel.

Duplechan adapted his own novel for "Blackbird," a 2015 film directed by Patrik-Ian Polk and starring Mo'Nique and Isaiah Washington. Although the film had a successful run on the festival circuit, winning awards at several LGBT-oriented festivals including Outflix Memphis, Atlanta’s Out On Film Festival, and the Crossroads Film Festival, it did not get good reviews and tanked at the box office. (I'd still like to see it, myself, however!)

His most recent book, published in 2023, is Movies That Made Me Gay.