David's Tips

A lot of the ones I’m mentioning are books (and the movies too) by gay authors or have a gay theme but this doesn’t mean, at all, that I only read these exclusively. Some aren’t quite so recent, but a good book doesn’t age.

David Leavitt: Equal Affections

This book is about a small family with 2 grown gay children, Danny and April. Their mother is dying and they deal with this while living their own lives. While Danny lives a rather normal suburban life, his sister is more of the neo-feminist lesbian type bound on breaking all the stereotypes. Some of these characters are so ordinary but that’s just what makes them so endearing.

Robert Rodi: Fag Hag

It is truly an hilarious romp with loveable characters. Its about a woman who is best friends with this gay man but is in love with him (sounds familiar doesn’t it?) but its just so funny the way the characters are written, and how they think and how she attempts to hijack his love affairs- it’s a total riot. I remember chortling all through it, it was so good.

Paul Monette: Afterlife

This is something I read a couple of years back. It is about 3 quite different guys brought together by life’s misfortunes and how it has affected them and how they deal with it everyday. Its all very insightful, unbearably sad at times but still there are flashes of humour and joy even amongst life’s tragedies. I’ve read almost all his books (fiction and non-fiction) and some of his poetry as well, and they are all so amazing and captivating. They are works that you have just got to read from cover to cover. Becoming A Man and Borrowed Time (autobiographical) by the same author are must reads for anybody, gay or straight. I think his writing are the definition of what good writing is about.

Stephen McCauley: The Object of My Affection

Forget the film! (the one with Jennifer Anniston- that was utter crap and a total miscarriage of justice). I felt like throwing popcorn allover the screen. It was stupid and plain, the acting so so bland. I loved the book- It was just so funny, and sad all at once. It doesn’t deal with a lot of heavy issues, its simply one of those books one might read if you’re in the mood for something a little bit lighter, a bit on the frothy side (but hey this is not always a bad thing!).

David Wojnarowicz: Close to the Knives, A Memoir of Disintegration

By all accounts, this was not an easy book to read. I found it so intolerable at times. It gives one a look into the darker side of America and the narration is not glossed over at all. The misery of some of the characters was just too much. But what made me continue to read it was that it is an account of actual peoples lives. It is autobiographical as well. It made me angry, sad and a little bit helpless. The downside of it is that it does get a bit preachy in parts (it has some essays) but you have to look at this aspect within the context of the whole story but its an unforgettable book all the same, that’s why I’m putting it down here.

Louis de Bernieres: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

I simply and absolutely loved this book, I remember chortling through most of it. It was just so good. I can describe it as an historical romance set on a Greek island during world War II at the time of Italian occupations. The love story is about a young woman being fought over by a fisherman who becomes a soldier (!) and an Itallian officer (called Captain Corelli who plays a mandolin). The narrative is abosolutely beautiful and so rich and has all the elements that make a book engrossing-lots of humor, love, death, heroes, characters to love and hate. I didn’t watch the movie (I didn’t like the actors chosen- but if the movie wasn’t any good, then I can assure you they didn’t adapt the movie properly because it was excellent).

Leigh W. Rutledge: New Gay Book Lists

As the title says it is a book of lists (Surprise!) Its got all types of interesting info about gay people, life and gay popular culture. I might call it a reference book of sorts :) Lots of naughty little facts and pieces of history. It isn’t serious at all, and its quite fun to read.

Films

Before Night Falls

This one stars Johnny Depp as Cuban poet and novelist who was persecuted in his country for his writings and for being gay. I think he is such a skillful yet subtle actor and a master of his work and I have watched a lot of his movies in the past (of course some of them were less than memorable but his acting always stands out even in a bad movie).

Boys Don’t Cry

Its about a girl from a very poor background who disguises herself as a boy (sounds familiar again, but its more complicated than that) because she really wanted to be a boy and falls in love with one of the local girls. But there is a tragic turn of events when the secrets get out. It was so sad and the fact that it was based on real life events made it so much worse.

Derek Jarman

Have you ever watched any of Derek Jarman’s movies and short pieces? I’ve watched a number of them and I just found them so beautiful. The imagery was just so staggering and the metaphors within those images were rather interesting. However, with some of these pieces, it isn’t particularly easy to summarise it and to say what its really about, its rather up to the viewer to make his/her own interpretation. A number of them were silent. My favourites were The Garden and Edward II.

The Velvet Goldmine

This one was about a decade in the life of a bi British rock star who faked his own death. Its got lots of stuff about the decadent days of 1970’s glam rock and its excesses. Its got Ewan McGregor in it.

Dancer In the Dark

It stars Bjork (that Icelandic pop star). Its about a single mother who is going blind and is saving up money for an operation for her son so that he will not suffer the same fate but somebody tries to steal the money. Its sort of a musical, rather eerie in parts but we just thought it was so beautiful. Other people I know hated it, but really, we don’t care :)

I liked Priest too, but I saw that already on your site. I remembered Another Country when I saw it on your site. I liked Rupert Everett in that one. It was beautiful [him and the movie both :)] but I felt that it relied on flashback rather too much. Others that I like include Shallow Grave (which stars Ewan McGregor) and Trainspotting (Ewan McGregor again, do you see a trend? :) plus loads of others.

Tips from my friend David

Books