Novel in verse with the classic noir setup of: guy comes back from the war, he's fucked up about it, vaguely noirish things ensue. There are fewer thiNovel in verse with the classic noir setup of: guy comes back from the war, he's fucked up about it, vaguely noirish things ensue. There are fewer things than I would have wished in this case: the protagonist, Walker, gets work at a newspaper in Downtown L.A., befriends some of the city's homeless, watches the destruction of much of the downtown area as freeways and parking lots rip through poor and Black and brown neighborhoods. Robertson creates some beautiful images and very much succeeds in evoking the look and the feeling of post-war Los Angeles (as well as New York and San Francisco in stopovers) but I wish he'd spent a little more time on his main character, who doesn't really grow or change all that much. ...more
Weird, magical, slowly ensorcelling: this book got to me! Puig is trying a lot of things -- the novel is told mostly in dialogue, between two men sharWeird, magical, slowly ensorcelling: this book got to me! Puig is trying a lot of things -- the novel is told mostly in dialogue, between two men sharing an Argentinean jail cell: one a political prisoner, one arrested for homosexuality. The latter, Molina, would probably today consider himself trans, and is in some ways a typical tragic trans character -- but such a dynamic one, with agency, that it's hard to mind. Long stretches of the book are just Molina recounting the plots of films to Valentin to pass the time, but these sections have a beguiling quality and reveal so much about the characters' fantasy lives and formative experiences and self-image. There is an experiment with footnotes that I don't fully get and don't think entirely works. There is a romance that is surprisingly potent. There is the inevitable ending.
Historical murder mystery set in World War II Hollywood. This is well-written and researched, and Annie is a likeable protagonist. I also liked how caHistorical murder mystery set in World War II Hollywood. This is well-written and researched, and Annie is a likeable protagonist. I also liked how casually, effortlessly queer this is: Annie was in a relationship with a married couple, who dumped her for a chance at stardom, which is not a piece of backstory one often encounters! However, the mystery itself is predictable -- I figured out who the murderer was almost as soon as they were introduced, and I'm not the type of mystery reader who actively tries to solve anything. Still, this was pleasant pool/plane company....more
How does one rate this? It IS weird and annoying enough to be written by Ricken. There IS just enough stuff about identity and actualization that I caHow does one rate this? It IS weird and annoying enough to be written by Ricken. There IS just enough stuff about identity and actualization that I can believe it inspired Mark S. I know I am supposed to be picking up Clues or Lore amongst say, Ricken's rant about Sister Act, but aside from some hints about his relationship with Gemma and Mark's alcoholism, it's mostly beyond me.
However:
1. Hints that Ricken and Devon are bi4bi? 2. Ricken and Milchick would absolutely have crackship potential, based on vocabulary and a love of Experiences alone -- except, like Devon, I really feel like my problematic pal Seth deserves better!...more
Charming memoir full of a lot of great stories about the New York theater and queer scenes over the last fifty years. Definitely the type of memoir thCharming memoir full of a lot of great stories about the New York theater and queer scenes over the last fifty years. Definitely the type of memoir that feels like you're just hanging out having a long, boozy, confessional evening (sans the booze in Harvey's case -- and really babe, Southern Comfort? Yikes)....more
Another book that's hard to rate from the perspective of 2025, even though this one's much more recent. Published in 2017, Petersen's essays profile aAnother book that's hard to rate from the perspective of 2025, even though this one's much more recent. Published in 2017, Petersen's essays profile a variety of "unruly" women. I think she tries too hard to make fetch happen by codifying "unruly" as a feminist pinnacle, and it's also impossible not to take issue with perhaps the majority of her subjects -- Kim Kardashian? Lena Dunham? Nicki Minaj? CAITLYN JENNER?! Though Petersen is critical of many of the women she profiles, she's also inherently on their side in a way I suspect she wouldn't be now, in a way that is in fact laughable and insulting now.
That said, the essays themselves are well-written and compelling, though I think Petersen still fumbles for a larger thesis. Do these "unruly" women actually have much of anything in common? Are they even really "reigning"? (No.)
2017 was a dark time, but man. 2025 is already stealing its thunder....more
Not really sure what Vidal was attempting to do, or say, here. I hope he at least had fun. For the reader, the manic, OTT voice iMystery box book #39!
Not really sure what Vidal was attempting to do, or say, here. I hope he at least had fun. For the reader, the manic, OTT voice is itself fun, at least at the beginning -- the satire as unsubtle as a pie to the face, but you kind of have to admire Vidal's commitment to the bit. When he literally loses the plot, though, it all spirals out.
Fascinating to me that this was a bestseller -- I'm trying to imagine what housewives in Dubuque would have made of any of this. But not surprising at all that it was adapted into one of the worst movies ever made....more
Anyway, this book is definitely for kids. If I'd gotten this as a child, I'd surely have been delighted. I do havKids watch this show! Crazy to think.
Anyway, this book is definitely for kids. If I'd gotten this as a child, I'd surely have been delighted. I do have to wonder how they do these every year, though, if this is what's in them -- a lot of very basic facts they can't possibly repeat. There is also a story about Fourteen, pre-"The Star Beast," and some fun teaser images of Fifteen in the upcoming season (most of which I had previously seen online, but shh...we're pretending I got this for Christmas c. 1993).
I did not play the games (why was the spot-the-difference pre-solved? bizarre) or do the writing exercises, as I am not actually nine years old. But, while not a Christmas gift, I did get this for free, so I did enjoy the shiny pictures....more
Just under the wire for 2023, there is still joy in this world: a Helene Hanff book I didn't know about and hadn't read.
Hilarious and vivid, this is eJust under the wire for 2023, there is still joy in this world: a Helene Hanff book I didn't know about and hadn't read.
Hilarious and vivid, this is everything I love in her work, and in books about New York.
Some random thoughts/exclamations that probably won't make sense to most (if you know, you know):
--She moves into a rooming house on West 69th Street only to discover it -- and perhaps the whole Upper West Side -- is in fact a BROTHEL (with bedbugs)
--In a move both highly correct and highly wrong, she rejects The Lord of the Rings for adaptation into film (look, it's not like anyone did or would have made it well in the 1950s...though WHAT IF) and finds it a deeply painful reading experience (girl, I feel you)
--We have the beginnings of the saga of Helene and her POOR TEETH
--Barely making ends meet in New York in the 1940s & '50s somehow feels more glamorous than doing so now...yet obviously if I had to share a single bathroom with four random strangers I would die
--Meanwhile, writing for TV in the 195os felt deeply unglamorous to Helene, and I would kill for that job, then or now
--Seriously, has there ever been a person in history for whose dental problems I have felt more empathy? SOMEONE HELP HER...more
I love "The Trouble with Tribbles" -- who doesn't? -- yet I had to grit my teeth through much of this book about the writing of the script and filmingI love "The Trouble with Tribbles" -- who doesn't? -- yet I had to grit my teeth through much of this book about the writing of the script and filming of the episode, by its writer. Unfortunately, as with the other times I've tried to read books by Gerrold, I find him extremely annoying and oddly disingenuous on the page. I know that he was still closeted when he wrote this -- for which I don't blame him at all -- but there's something in the fakey way he talks about his attraction to Uhura that feels present in other aspects of his writing too. He always seems on the verge of a humblebrag. I don't believe him -- not about the humble half, certainly.
Still, there are some interesting details about 1960s TV production and an intriguing glimpse or two into how the sausage (or the tribbles) get made....more
I have a complicated relationship with Neil Gaiman, in that: for a long time he was my favorite author, and now I no longer think that's true (though I have a complicated relationship with Neil Gaiman, in that: for a long time he was my favorite author, and now I no longer think that's true (though he will always be the author of some of my favorite books). This is evidenced by the fact that I have had a galley of this collection on my shelf since 2015, have moved with it several times -- including across the country -- but have not read it until now. I think I worried, correctly, that I would not enjoy it.
It is, honestly, pretty dull. Repetitive -- we get to hear the same anecdote twice about Gaiman's daughter, Stephen King's Carrie, and the Little House books, in which Gaiman reveals he believes the last are books in which "nothing bad ever happens," thereby also revealing he hasn't read them. Most of the pieces are speeches or introductions to other volumes, but most speeches are not terribly inspiring out of context if at all, and introductions divorced from the works themselves are frustrating to consume. Often, Gaiman will tell you to stop reading his piece, read the book, and come back -- well, I can't, Neil. And in general, he just doesn't have anything that interesting or revelatory to say about these books he loves, his personal canon. (Which, I have already sadly discovered from a brief period following his recommended reading, diverges greatly from mine; for someone whose best writing speaks so deeply to my heart's desires, we have very different taste.)
On a petty bitch level, this was published during Gaiman's Amanda Palmer era, a.k.a. his most annoying era, so you also have to endure four separate essays about her. Have sex in private, please.
I have a large library of Gaimanana and will probably keep most of it always, but I won't be keeping this....more