At Danceteria and Other Stories by Philip Dean Walker; Squares & Rebels Press, $6.99 Kindle
Though the teased hair and neon fishnets of the 1980s may be the stuff of memory for those of us who came of age in that era, it's always refreshing to read tales inspired by (and thereby memorializing) that heady time of queer exhilaration and blissful excess. Washington, DC author Philip Dean Walker conjures that iconic period in At Danceteria and Other Stories, not only using atmospheric period detail, but also unleashing a cavalcade of notable personalities, many unearthed from the grave, whose talent and outspokenness marked their notoriety.
Fashion doyen Halston flits through the opening story with Liza Minnelli, who is "bubbling, a bit manic, laughing, like a tall puppet," snorting lines of cocaine and admiring Ultrasuede love seats used for special guests. With Andy Warhol in tow, they command attention at Halston's fashion show, then proceed to the dance floor at Studio 54, where they feed off the "predatory crowd, encircling him with gusto and beet-faced bravado, too drunk to be any threat, too bold to be outright ignored."
A rousing episode stars Freddie Mercury, who works hard to disguise Princess Diana in a "beautiful gent" costume in order to remain incognito while they attend a drag show. "You're a princess, and I'm a queen," Mercury purrs. "This is so happening." Slipping into the club unrecognized, Diana pauses and reflects on how kindly gay men have treated her. "They seemed to sense how difficult it was to be trapped in something and not know a way out."
Rock Hudson accepts an invitation to the White House from the Reagans to have dinner and enjoys the hidden pleasures of the flesh with young men, though admits remaining stymied by the mysterious sickness encroaching on the gay community. Jacqueline Onassis begs to be taken out for a night of playful debauchery at The Anvil, a legendary hardcore NYC leather/sleaze bar on West 14th St. ("assless chaps, harnesses, leather caps, armbands" and colored back-pocket handkerchiefs, remember those?), where a fire-eating drag queen performs her magic on a makeshift stage. Disco legend Sylvester croons "beneath the hot colored lights at the Castro Theatre," where Bette Midler appears bright-eyed in the audience. Author Walker, a creative wonder, also tosses more obscure personalities into the fray. A dazzling Little Edie Beale, ever the sartorial unicorn, appears in these pages "wearing a magenta and brown paisley bathing suit with a turquoise wall hanging wrapped around her head festooned with a chipped scarab brooch." Keith Haring enjoys a birthday at Danceteria, where Madonna sings "Dress You Up" and admonishes her friend on the big microphone
As Technicolor as these set-pieces are, there are dark clouds looming over each one. The specter of AIDS, which one characters dubs the "Hot Guy Flu," begins to wreak havoc, and by the end of the collection is well on its way toward decimating entire circles of friends and terrifying those survivors who find themselves standing alone in their wake.
Though it ends way too soon for readers who enjoy literary walks down memory lane, there remains much to enjoy in Walker's slim yet magnificent debut collection. It's a delicious treat that manages to be nostalgic, enchanting, funny, glitzy, and emotionally devastating all at once.