Bay Area Reporter :: Books News

Words: Melanie Senn's 'Murray,' a novel based on a true story

December 3, 2024 | by Michele Karlsberg

When I first spoke with Melanie Senn about her historical novel, "Murray," it sparked an interest in a nano-second. Who doesn't love a story about a gender-bending historical figure.

Fall/Winter books; Cher, Edmund White, DeSimone & more

by Jim Piechota
Dec 3, 2024

With wetter weather and cooler temperatures comes more opportunities to amuse ourselves indoors. This selection of queer books in a few different genres will tempt your soul in books by Alan Hollinghurst, Cher, Edmund White, Lewis DeSimone and more.

Alan Hollinghurst's 'Our Evenings' - A gay odyssey toward happiness complicated by racism

by Brian Bromberger
Nov 24, 2024

Probably England's finest prose stylist, in his latest book Alan Hollinghurst has created an elegy, a reminiscence on gay life from the 1960s to the present, but through the lens of class and race as it impacts on art and sexuality.

Mark Abramson's 'My Gay History' - A time capsule of the Castro's recent past

by Finbar LaBelle
Nov 22, 2024

In his latest book, "My Gay History," Mark Abramson opens a window to a wealth of personal journal entries from 2003 to 2008. The longtime San Francisco author has mastered the art of reflective writing.

'Mel Odom: Gorgeous!' - Luminary artist's works collected in a new book

by Cornelius Washington
Nov 19, 2024

Illustrator par excellence Mel Odom used his formidable talents to introduce to the world the emerging gay culture of the 1970s. His new book, "Mel Odom: Gorgeous" is a celebration of a career that is staggering in its versatility.

Lesbian author Dorothy Allison dies

by Cynthia Laird
Nov 18, 2024

Dorothy Allison, a lesbian and author who rose to fame with the publication of her critically acclaimed 1992 novel "Bastard Out of Carolina," died November 6 at her home in Guerneville.

'1001 Movie Posters' - New book celebrates the art of marketing movies

by David-Elijah Nahmod
Nov 18, 2024

"1001 Movie Posters: Designs of the Times" is a big book, clocking in at 638 pages. It's a hardcover book and quite heavy. There are literally 1001 poster images between its covers, beginning from 1895, when the very first short films were shown.

James Magruder - Author's 'The Play's the Thing' documents Yale's theater history

by Gregg Shapiro
Nov 12, 2024

James Magruder is the funniest person alive, and he's not even a stand-up comic. You'll get a sense of it when as he discusses his new book "The Play's The Thing: Fifty Years of Yale Repertory Theatre (1966-2016)."

Yuval Sharon's 'A New Philosophy of Opera' - New insights on the venerable art form

by Tim Pfaff
Nov 5, 2024

Ideas tumble out and collide in Yuval Sharon's "A New Philosophy of Opera" (Liveright). The out American director, deemed a maverick by many, steps off stage to deliver his manifesto about keeping putatively imperiled opera alive.

'The Book of Awesome Queer Heroes' - Pride across the ages and pages

by Finbar LaBelle
Nov 3, 2024

"The Book of Awesome Queer Heroes: How the LGBTQ+ Community Changed the World for the Better" will make a wonderful addition to any bookshelf, especially one that may be missing a breadth of inspirational queer virtuosos from across the ages.

Geoffrey Mak: Gay author takes on the 'Mean Boys'

Nov 3, 2024

Queer Chinese American writer Geoffrey Mak takes the personal essay to new, and sometimes unsettling, heights, in his book "Mean Boys: A Personal History," described as a "memoir-in-essays."

Chad Beguelin's 'Showmance' - Broadway lyricist publishes a gay romance novel

by Jim Gladstone
Oct 29, 2024

A Broadway lyricist and book writer whose collaborations include "The Wedding Singer," "Elf: The Musical," and Disney's "Aladdin," Beguelin writes what he knows in his literary debut, "Showmance," a romantic comedy about a gay Broadway theater artist.

Words: 'Trans Anthology Project,' a new collection of stories written for and by gender-diverse teens and their parents

by Michele Karlsberg
Oct 28, 2024

It all started with a single story; a one-off essay written by a mom trying to make sense of her experience parenting her trans son. Two years later, "Trans Anthology Project" is a 310-page collection of stories and educational content.

'Sci-Fi, Magick, Queer L.A.' - Exhibit book's deep dive into occult and science fiction LGBT SoCal communities

by Jim Provenzano
Oct 22, 2024

The intersection of early LGBT rights activism, science fiction, and the occult are beautifully recounted in the new book, "Sci-Fi, Magick, Queer L.A.: Sexual Science and the Imagination."

Dagoberto Gilb's 'New Testaments: Stories'

by Laura Moreno
Oct 21, 2024

Dagoberto Gilb's impressive new collection, "New Testaments: Stories," documents the lives of ordinary Mexican Americans living along our Border, an important but overlooked part of American history.

Arts & Culture :: Books