esrosedotblog

BOOKIE

I know teach'.

I haven't turned in my book reports for awhile.

I have read quite a bit since last semester. I just ain't turned in the reports. I was too busy reading.

I re-read the Ethan Mordden Buddies cycle.

I first encountered these stories in the old Christopher Street magazine.

Then they were put together for the first book Buddies (the list at the link is not in the right order) and then became five books over about ten years time.

'Buddies' because it is about a group of young gay men who hang out together. Not so coincidentally, the Mordden stand-in is nick-named 'Bud'.

So, by the time I had read the magazine version and then all the books, I had read most of the stories twice. I like them so much I have pulled them out one or two more times.

I love Mordden's voice. He is NYGay all the way through; smartass. You live in his world. It is a bit condescending. In fact, his feigned patronizing pisses some people off. But he kids himself so, to me, it makes it all the more fun.

He writes as though it is autobiography. Names are named. The people, presumed to be real. You get to follow their loves and lives over a very long period of time.

You get to see one view of gay life in NYC, pre-AIDS (1980) through the 90's. It is all there; the clubs, the parties, the Pines.

As I started in the cycle again, I looked Mordden up only to discover that he has just released the 'last' book in the series which brings us up to the new millennium. It has been an 8 year wait and Mordden says this is truly the last one. OK.

We heard that there is a stage version coming to LA. It is quite a saga so there is a lot of material.

Also on my book report, I have read Eragon Volume One of the Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini.

He was only 15 when he started this book.

The second volume, Eldest, is in the house. John is reading it now. It was just published.

Paolini is working on the third volume. He is 19 years old.

Wow, huh?

We are suckers for dragon books. Swords and dragons.

There is a web site to tell you all about this phenom: Alagaesia.com.

The story involves the quest of a 15 year old boy (!? get it) named Eragon.

In the first volume, it begins a bit thin; you can detect the young man writing.

Then, as they say, the plot thickens, and you forget the source of this wonderful story. We are hooked.

I have finished reading Dan Savage's

The Commitment : Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family.

We read Savage's syndicated sex advice column weekly. It is excellent.

We also enjoyed his book The Kid which tells about the adoption of a baby boy by Dan and his partner Terry. It is a great story.

This book updates the family life, six years later as Dan and Terry (and 6 year old son DJ) decide on whether to get married or not.

On the way to this decision, there are a lot of laughs and some pretty incisive exploration of the gay marriage issue.

I will not tell you how it comes out. But, by the time the book finishes, you are thoroughly drawn into the issues surrounding this big decision.

We have had to ask ourselves the 'marriage' question. There is not an obvious answer. Dan and Terry have been together already for ten years. They encounter many of the same questions that we have.

It is a wonderful book. Very high on the scale. If it was a DVD it would get a 5 on the Netflix5 scale.

Just to get some more points, I am currently reading E.L Doctorow's The March; the fictionalization (more like Doctorowzation) of Sherman's march from Atlanta to the sea.

Also, in parallel, I am really enjoying Tab Hunter Confidential; the autobiography.

It is really good.

I don't know why I am surprised. I guess I had lowered my expectations.

A tell-all, blond hunk, story with a gay-man twist. But it is not that at all; or not just that.

It is a life. And the story is told at many levels. It is quite entertaining and moving.

The fact that this hetero-heart-throb was gay is not news. He was exposed by a rag (that we all read); Confidential magazine. And it made no difference. He had charisma and power and, as it turns out in this book, he was a fully formed adult who understood what was going to happen to him. When the fun was over, he resumed an interesting and happy life that was ongoing when he became a star.

It is fascinating.

I am also headed toward Eldest, the second Eragon volume, as soon as John is done with it.

Melville's Typee and Omoo are just under that pile. I am going to give Melville a go and these first books will get me ready for the great white whale.

So, it may be awhile until the next report.

How about some extra credit now? Huh teach'? Points for good intentions?