Arts & Culture :: Books

Strong: gay weightlifter inspires new kids' book

Strong: gay weightlifter inspires new kids' book

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • May 10, 2022

Gay author Eric Rosswood wants LGBT kids to believe in themselves. In his new children's picture book "Strong," Rosswood tells the story of Rob Kearney, a gay strongman who trains himself to lift hundreds of pounds.

Illustrated man: gay artist and writer Dan Crowley

Illustrated man: gay artist and writer Dan Crowley

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • May 10, 2022

Chicago-based gay visual artist Dan Crowley is a creative person with a considerable adult following. With his first book, 'Danny, Growing Up Gay & Creative,' Crowley enters the world of all-ages books.

Pandemic prose: excerpts from 'Arlene Francis & Me -Pandemic Diaries from Castro Street 2020'

Pandemic prose: excerpts from 'Arlene Francis & Me -Pandemic Diaries from Castro Street 2020'

  • by Mark Abramson
  • May 3, 2022

While we holed up indoors in 2020 —which now seems like much more than two years ago— prolific local gay author Mark Abramson took notes. He shared a few witty diary entries which are included in his latest book.

Gran Fury's glory: Jack Lowery discusses his book, 'It Was Vulgar & It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic'

Gran Fury's glory: Jack Lowery discusses his book, 'It Was Vulgar & It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic'

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • May 3, 2022

In 'It Was Vulgar & It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic,' author Jack Lowery fully explores the history of Gran Fury, the ACT UP activist-artist collective that cleverly incorporated advertising styled messaging.

King of filth: John Water's 'Liarmouth'

King of filth: John Water's 'Liarmouth'

  • by Jim Piechota
  • May 3, 2022

Step aside, Dawn Davenport. There's a new bitch in town and she means business. Her name is Marsha "Liarmouth" Sprinkle, and she dominates all the depravity in filthy filmmaker and bestselling author John Waters' debut novel, "Liarmouth."

Paul Mendez's 'Rainbow Milk' - an auspicious literary debut

Paul Mendez's 'Rainbow Milk' - an auspicious literary debut

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • May 3, 2022

Raw and transcendent are the words applicable to Paul Mendez's semi-autobiographical debut novel "Rainbow Milk," a multi-generational dissection of sexuality, race, and religion on the rocky evolution of a young gay Black man, set in England.

Homecoming queen: Alejandro Varela's 'The Town of Babylon'

Homecoming queen: Alejandro Varela's 'The Town of Babylon'

  • by Jim Piechota
  • Apr 26, 2022

The problematic return of a gay Latinx man to his hometown after decades away is supreme fodder for an engrossing and melodramatic novel, and debut author Alejandro Varela seems more than happy to seize the moment.

Ocean Vuong's rainbow afterglow: poet returns with 'Time Is a Mother'

Ocean Vuong's rainbow afterglow: poet returns with 'Time Is a Mother'

  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Apr 26, 2022

One true way to envision Ocean Vuong is as, if not The Survivor, a survivor. His newly released second book of poems was occasioned by the silence that enveloped him after the death of his mother.

Richard Labonte, former SF LGBTQ bookstore manager, dies

Richard Labonte, former SF LGBTQ bookstore manager, dies

  • by Cynthia Laird
  • Apr 25, 2022

Richard Labonte, who once managed the LGBTQ bookstore A Different Light in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood, died March 20 at his home in British Columbia, Canada after a battle with stomach cancer.

'Start' laughing with writer Gary Janetti

'Start' laughing with writer Gary Janetti

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Apr 24, 2022

Gary Janetti is a gay writer (and TV show producer) who is well aware of the benefits of laughter, as shown in his new book of essays, 'Start Without Me: (I'll Be There in a Minute).'

Toni Mirosevich's 'Spell Heaven'

Toni Mirosevich's 'Spell Heaven'

  • by Miah Jeffra Milla
  • Apr 19, 2022

Toni Mirosevich's collection of linked stories, 'Spell Heaven,' tells of working-class fishing family and the author's own balance of that life and academia, a position she loves for the students and loathes for the politics.

'Coming Out and Coming Home' - Gay Catholic ministry head pens memoir

'Coming Out and Coming Home' - Gay Catholic ministry head pens memoir

  • by John Ferrannini
  • Apr 12, 2022

In his new memoir, "Coming Out and Coming Home," Stan JR Zerkowski writes about how he never intended to be a national spokesperson for LGBTQ Roman Catholics. But Zerkowski said that for us all, "There is a plan in the end" we can't necessarily control.

A wee boy's own story: Douglas Stuart's 'Young Mungo'

A wee boy's own story: Douglas Stuart's 'Young Mungo'

  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Apr 12, 2022

Douglas Stuart has carried forward from his Booker Prize-winning debut novel Shuggie Bain into its follow-up, 'Young Mungo.' What it shares with its predecessor is a brutal honesty about some lurid familial connections.

100 Years of Men in Love: new film celebrates historic affectionate photos

100 Years of Men in Love: new film celebrates historic affectionate photos

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Apr 5, 2022

In his new documentary 100 Years of Men in Love: The Accidental Collection, actor and Emmy-winning filmmaker David Millbern looks back upon gay couples who had the courage to celebrate their love openly as far back as the 1860s.