SHIbuya HARAJYUKU OTAKU AKIHABARA miyazaki Fujiyama,MUSIC,DVD,kitchen,DVD OTAKU mania Amazon associate helper, write reviews on your weblog<

SAYO Style mania GV-MVP/RX3 Notebook PC Live report
Domino pizza of door-to-door delivery pizzaThe bifidus bacterium of MORISHITA JINTANSt Valentine's Day of the DaimaruAccessoriesTiffany 16 stone braceletLouis Vuitton diamond logo charmMMRO II Recommendation spec. personal computerLUV MACHINESImpact! It is the Ezo "Kita" purple sea urchin of fatty tuna shoots loan cash impression with a mouth!The scallop of large satisfactory ! northern countries and - [ of how much ] botan shrimp are ! tightly.getting to know the technique of motorbike expensive sale -- Ta -- if -- -

OTAKU ultimate rare goods：25326goods
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 >>

< Strings Attached > < The Tin Star > < A Secret Edge > < When You Don't See Me > < Double Bound: a novel > < Call Me by Your Name: A Novel > Nick Nolan

price：~~$12.99~~
BookSurge Publishing(2006-04-19)
Usually ships in 24 hours

customer 's review
(Another Great Piece of Gay Lit)

(Good Book...Well Written)

(Wonderfully written gay romance)

(surprisingly great story!)

(CAN'T-PUT-IT-DOWN STORY, BEAUTIFUL WRITING)

Nick Nolan truly surprised me with this one. A truly great comming of age/comming out book, i was pleasently surprised as i had not heard of Nick Nolan before. This is a must read on any Gay Lit list, and a book such as Strings Attached should be read by everyone, not just the Gay community as it holds a unique perspective that everyone can learn from.
I purchased this book after reading many of the great reviews here on Amazon. I have to agree with what I read: This book is very good. It's very well written, and I applaud Nick Nolan for his first novel...Can't wait to read the next!

I would definitely say this book is worth reading, especially if you are an LGBTQ teen (or around that age...I'm 21, myself). Personally, I probably would have enjoyed this book a little more if I were a gay/questioning boy, but I'm a gay girl, so it didn't hit me quite as close to heart as it may for a boy.

On a side note, there are MANY typos in this novel...I was a bit disappointed with the editing job...There are many places where "he" is said instead of "she," etc. There is one place where "Jeremy" is said where it should say "Darius." I should write to the publishing company, but I'm too lazy...Forgive me.

Now I'm off to purchase the sequel!
!
Strings Attached has proved to be one of my all time favorite gay romance novels. It is extremely well written and is a compelling read. I could not put it down. I enjoyed it so much I bought Double Bound.
In the first chapter I stumbled on a couple of errors in both grammar and word-usage that almost made me toss this great story aside. Something, however, hooked my interest and STRINGS ATTACHED turned into a compelling page-turner. It is a very enjoyable read, and I found it nearly impossible to put down!
I just finished reading `Strings Attached' for the second time last night, and I'm just as curious to know what happens next as I was when I read it over a year ago. The writing is fast paced, and has moments approaching some of the best literature I've read. Nolan has a gift for description, so you can really see what is happening in the story. I especially loved the scenic descriptions and the relationship between Jeremy and Arthur, and how many surprises and twists there are toward the end that I absolutely didn't see coming. The Pinocchio theme is subtle, so you can read this and enjoy it with or without knowing the references in the story. I loved this book, and can't wait to buy the sequel (when is it coming out???)
From BOOKS TO WATCH OUT FOR by RICHARD LABONTE, Volume 4 number 1 - Adolescence is a hazardous way of life for 17-year-old Jeremy Tyler; his father died in a mysterious accident when he was a child, and his mother has since descended into alcoholic hell and forced rehab; that's when he's sent from the Fresno slums of his childhood to the posh estate of his overbearing great aunt Katherine and her censorious husband - liberated from an economic prison, only to land in an emotional one - and is overwhelmed by the change. It's not easy for him to fit into the upper crust, particularly because he's trying to hide how much he's attracted to other boys. Jeremy's story of breaking free from the strands of dishonesty, deceit, and self-doubt has its parallels to the tale of Pinocchio, but Nolan's queer take is totally contemporary: think the TV series The OC - girls with mean cheekbones, well-built guys with snotty attitudes, and Jeremy in the role of a queer Ryan Atwood. He's a good-looking kid, with a sleek swimmer's physique - and the swim team's champ is out to get him. He dates one of the smart-set girls in an attempt to keep his gay hormones at bay - but that doesn't do him much good. Nolan's debut novel is a kitchen sink of genres - coming of age, coming out, mystery, romance, erotica, even a dash of the supernatural - that add up to an impressive story about the passage from boyhood to manhood.
Rerations
< Strings Attached > < The Tin Star > < A Secret Edge > < When You Don't See Me > < Double Bound: a novel > freaks

< L.A. Heat > < L. A. Mischief > < The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks > < PsyCop: Partners > < Psycop: Property > < Faith&Fidelity > P.A. Brown

price：~~$1.50~~
MLR Press
Usually ships in 24 hours

customer 's review
(L.A. Heat by P.A. Brown)

(Cops, heat and mystery!)

(For Pat of Archerland)

(Great first novel, now give me MORE!!)

(No Heat! Lots of Mystery!)

First of all, how can you write a post on a mystery without giving up the mystery? Telling nothing about the story of course! So I will try to focus on the main characters, and for the mystery part of the story, sufficient to say that the author got me fooled and led me to the wrong path as she probably wanted since the beginning.

David is an average LAPD detective; he is not an hero, nor in his work or in his private life. He is a cop by the book, he does his work with commitment, and he is still human enough to feel pain when faced with some of the worst aspect of his job. Like now, while he is investigating a serial killer who targets very young gay men in West Hollywood. It's not only the poor bodies they find that make David sick, it's also the knowledge that he is facing something he has always tried to hide or maybe forget, the fact that David is gay. Everyday he listens the nasty comments that his coworkers direct to the gay community, and now maybe he has also the feeling that those poor young boys get less attention and respect from the Police Department since they are gay. So David has a very personal interest in the case, an interest that becomes even more personal when they start to find a path that leads directly to Chris.

Chris is exactly at the opposite from David. Gay and out, Chris is leading an almost perfect life: beautiful home, expansive car and money-making job. There are only some trouble: Chris doesn't like his work as IT in a firm where he is constantly mobbed since he is gay, he is tired of the endless string of one night stands and his beautiful home is empty. So Chris' perfect life is not so perfect as it seems, and he is maybe nearer to David than expected.

Apparently David and Chris are not a good match. David is nothing special, he is not the hunky cop that could star in Chris' wet dream, but Chris sees something in the quite and reassuring man; even when the police starts to suspect Chris, Chris' anger is never directed to David. On the other hand, David is clearly attracted by Chris, but more than a physical thing, it's a repressed desire, Chris is exactly who David would like to be, someone comfortable with his sexuality, someone who has a job where he can be whoever he wants (even if he has to suffer nasty colleague). As always when two heroes don't match, they end to be the perfect match instead. Chris is probably drawn to David since the man is not asking or denying, David is not struggling to hide him being gay, he simply doesn't live it, and Chris wants so badly to be the man who will ignite that fire. David is drawn to Chris not since he is the "first" gay at hand, but since Chris is someone who could be an equal partner for David; even if in danger, I have never had the feeling that Chris was an helpless man, and that is probably the same impression David had. I don't know, probably David needed to have a proof that being gay doesn't mean being weak.

The style is dry and direct, but it's not without romance. The intimacy between Chris and David is sweet, light and not full of angst, and above all, it's a nice thing that there is intimacy, more often than not a mystery tend to be "cold" since it seems like that allowing to the heroes to be in love and prove that love, is like de-valuating the mystery in the story.
Chris appealed to me on many different levels. He is the kind of hero who does seem just a little morally ambivalent. But you forgive him because he has just not met the *one*... (god, I'm channeling the Matrix.ha!) He is just a boy, out having a good time and it's all about the nookie. He does have the odd moment when he wants something more but I felt there was a hesitance to commit as no one had really touched him emotionally. So, he's out looking, alot. Chis is also beautiful which got me thinking about this post here and the beauty of men.

David is a cop and firmly in the closet at work. He makes a trip every now and then to Palm Springs to indulge the smexin, and is out to his family but his colleagues are still in the dark. This made him seem very alone and he has walls to keep people, like Chris, out. He is older, darker and more of a strong silent type. A perfect foil for our other hero, who is more of the shiney, bright variety.

The mystery was well paced and had surprising twists and turns that kept me going till the end. Which was cool, because I am a shocker for deciding who did it and wrapping the crime up by page 10. It does not pull any punches in the violence department and some of the material about the crime and the killer was pretty graphic but it did not interfere with my enjoyment of the book.

The sex is very brief and not at all explicit. Kind of a kiss at the door and fade to black affair. But I was so wrapped up in the story I did not care. A shock, I know! I do love the sex in my books! But what you did read was enough and you just know it was hot (over active imagination).

I seriously have my toes, eyes and fingers crossed AGAIN, that this wonderful author has some more books coming soon. This was a perfect rainy night thriller and kept me up waaaay past my bedtime.
Check out my live and in color version on my blog.
I'm assuming this is the same Pat from Archerland, which is why I'm buying the book despite delays. Just want you to know (because I can't find an email to tell you privately) I love your work, especially Witness, Slasher and the Lynx and look forward to reading a published book from what seems to be David's point of view.

You are one of my favourite authors and I'm glad to see you published but would prefer published versions of your web published stories, if that's okay.

Good Wishes,

Madeline.
I had enjoyed the main characters in several short stories and had wondered how the author envisioned their first meeting. I could not have imagined anything better than the tale of romance, suspense, serial murder, social commentary, and good old fashioned whodunit provided in LA Heat.
While not featuring the level of eroticism typical of the short stories featuring Chris and David, the depth of feeling was still there.
I'd recommend this novel to anyone that likes a great mystery full of suspense. It keeps you guessing until the end about the identity of the villain.
And for the author, please bring us more!
Too much murder mystery and not enough gay love. Although the cop is deep in the closet it is only towards the end of the book that he realizes it! Good story, good murder mystery but no heat. I am not a fan of murder mysteries, so it was hard to read because I did not feel that there was a balance between the gay love and the murders; although the murders were related to a gay person.
In-the-closet detective, David Eric Laine has kept his desires secret. Until he meets Christopher Bellamere, proud and openly gay. When a series of horrific torture/murders of gay men leads the police to Chris David is torn between his attraction for the most beautiful man he's ever met and his fears that he's a vicious killer.
Rerations
< L.A. Heat > < L. A. Mischief > < The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks > < PsyCop: Partners > < Psycop: Property > freaks

< Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution > < Stonewall > < Making Gay History: The Half Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights > < The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk > < Milk > < Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community > David Carter

price：~~$5.10~~
St. Martin's Griffin(2005-05-19)
Usually ships in 24 hours

customer 's review
(A Definitive Account of the Stonewall Riots)

(Fascinating glimps into history of gay rights...)

(Of Queens and Heroism)

(Riveting.)

(A Pivotal Event)

The so-called Stonewall riots occurred over a period of a week, perhaps ignited in part by the June 28 police raid having been the second in the same week. (The first was on a Tuesday night).

Although I was present that night, and on many of the following nights, I was until last week not aware of this book's existence. Frankly, almost every account I had read previously was misinformed at best.

I heard about the book only because I saw an exhibit at the New York Public Library ("1969: The Year of Gay Liberation") and decided to read it. I'm so glad I did.

Its one of few works of serious research that also tells a great story. And it is indeed thoroughly researched (and foot-noted) by Mr Carter. Since no one could possibly have been present on Christopher Street for every minute of every night of the riots, this page-turner tells the story as it unfolded.

It enabled me to finally piece together all the events into a cohesive image of a week to remember. I can certainly vouch for the books's accuracy insofar as I recall the events I witnessed in late June and early July.

For those interested in the LGBT history, this book is simply indispensible.

STONEWALL is a must-read for anyone with any interest in the gay community or in civil rights as a whole.

Carter examines the personal lives of a number of gay people and sets their stories against a wider examination of gay history. He begins with New York City becoming a main center of gay life and illustrates how badly gay eople were treated by the police. Although a closer examination of police actions from the side of the police would be nice, Carter is mainly fair in his portrayal. He then moves on discuss the title of the book, the Stonewall riots. I don't want to give away too much about that part, but the book is full of surprises and historical gems.

Great read.
The Stonewall Riots of June 28-July 3, 1969, following a police raid on an illegal, mafia-owned gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, mark the decisive turning point in gay American history. The unprecedented uprising has taken on mythic dimension over the succeeding 35 years. Author and eyewitness Edmund White has compared Stonewall to the storming of the Bastille in 1789. Community lore has focused on colorful aspects of the melee, like the wresting of a parking meter from a sidewalk for use as a battering ram against police, the contemporaneous passing of Judy Garland, and the Rockette-style street theater participants used as a campy rebuke to the authorities. Yet given a lack of narrative detail about the events of the riots, Stonewall has become a metaphor for gay liberation while remaining vaguely understood.

Previous accounts of Stonewall, in the gay and mainstream press, and in Martin Duberman's 1992 book Stonewall, have suffered from the paucity of the historical record of the riots themselves. There is no film of the riots, and only one "frontline" picture survives from the critical night of June 28, 1969. Moreover the Sheridan Square area of New York where the riot was centered affords few vantage points from which crowd activity could be seen in overview. The insignificant press items from the time are bias-ridden and controverted in key particulars. Reconstruction would be impossible since the police lost the initiative soon after the raid, and there was no gay guerilla leader orchestrating the assault from "our " side according to some strategic plan. Given the dearth of historical data, the feature film Stonewall purported merely to be one queen's story, and is fictionalized at that.

Eyewitness accounts--though each is spotty considered in isolation--remain the primary information source about the Stonewall Riots themselves, while context of time and place help fill in interstitial detail. David Carter's masterful study, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, researched painstakingly over a ten-year period, has finally exhausted the store of information to be had about those climatic nights in 1969. Interviewing over 40 eyewitnesses and carefully analyzing the times and the milieu of Greenwich Village, where he lives, Carter has produced the first work that can be considered a comprehensive factual rendering of the Stonewall phenomenon. With so many witness accounts to work with he is able to sketch a breathtaking overview in his synthesis. Even with the scholarly pedigree the book is lively, readable, and at times downright fascinating.

The Stonewall Inn filled a unique niche in the gay scene of the time. Carter's witness accounts stress the centrality of dance to gay experience and interaction at the club. He theorizes that unfettered same-sex dancing to the music then-popular--a rarity at the time--created a unique social environment distinguishing the Stonewall and giving it its principal draw. Some observers saw a nascent gay tribal impulse incubating amidst the lights, sound, motion, and sensation--that group instinct subsequently animating the invisible hand that coalesced and coordinated the feverish gay assault on abusive law enforcement.

Carter has written what is sure to become the definitive history of the seminal event in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender struggle for civil rights and liberation. Both scholarly and highly readable, the book deserves attention from all who have benefited from the historical events Carter so faithfully recounts.

I thought this book was excellent. It read like fiction, and was a real page turner. The book was unbelievably well researched, and I enjoyed very much reading about this critical turning point in history. My only query to the author is this: (as Marty Robinson's niece), why didn't you contact any of his family members? You did all of this amazing research... yet missed pieces of the puzzle by failing to contact those who new him in a way that others didn't. I wonder if you did the same with other central heroes in the book... Otherwise, I think this book should be required reading in every high school history class. Bravo.
The Stonewall riots, beginning on June 27, 1969, in and around the Stonewall Inn in lower Manhattan, are pivotal at least in memory because they galvanized the gay liberation movement, which in the last generation has profoundly altered social attitudes toward gays and lesbians. The story is therefore well worth telling in itself, and particularly so since the original event has gradually become the subject of legend; further, the number of eyewitnesses who still survive is now beginning to dwindle.

Carter's narrative is very wide sweeping, particularly as to the background of the riots: the extensive persecution of gays in the 1950s and 1960s both nation-wide and in New York; the emergence of seedy Mafia-owned bars, such as the Stonewall, as a place of refuge; the incipient pre-Stonewall gay rights coalitions in New York and in San Francisco and Los Angeles; and so on. But Carter is also extremely sensitive to the individual stories of gays who migrated to large cities seeking at least a measure of freedom.

Carter's narrative, particularly of the riots, is not at all triumphalistic, nor is it weighted unfairly against the police and city authorities (who, even on the most neutral account, do not come off well). Often the narrative disintegrates into short bursts of conflicting story-telling from various viewpoints, but this just feeds the excitement. It is a very powerful saga, and Carter tells it well.

This book was helpful to me even though I lived through the riots; like many others, I'd bought into much of the false mythology about what happened that night. But it will be especially attractive to anyone who came of age after 1969, and who wants to know something about what the pre-Stonewall era is like. Just one small sample, from page 117: in 1968 a gay activist named Leo Laurence "had a picture of himself and his lover, Gale Whittington, with the latter shirtless and Laurence embracing him, published in the Barb [of Berkeley, CA]. Gale, who worked as an accounting clerk at the States Steamphip Line, was immediately fired from his job." That is very much how things once were.

"Riveting...Not only the definitive examination of the riots but an absorbing history of pre-Stonewall America, and how the oppression and pent-up rage of those years finally ignited on a hot New York night." - Boston Globe

In 1969, a series of riots over police action against The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, changed the longtime landscape of the homosexual in society literally overnight. Since then the event itself has become the stuff of legend, with relatively little hard information available on the riots themselves. Now, based on hundreds of interviews, an exhaustive search of public and previously sealed files, and over a decade of intensive research into the history and the topic, Stonewall brings this singular event to vivid life in this, the definitive story of one of history's most singular events.

Rerations
< Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution > < Stonewall > < Making Gay History: The Half Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights > < The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk > < Milk > freaks

< Prayers for Bobby: A Mother's Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son > < For The Bible Tells Me So > < What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality > < Milk > < Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America > < Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America > Leroy Aarons

price：~~$3.29~~
HarperOne(1996-08-09)
Usually ships in 24 hours

customer 's review
(for parents and friends)

(Life Saver)

(Prayer For Bobby)

(Prayers for Bobby: A Cautionary Tale to Inspire and Warn)

(Heart Breaking, Tragic, Uplifting!)

This is a must reading for anyone! This is especially helpful, I think, for someone with a gay child. I had a nephew who was gay (recently deceased) and although that didn't bother me in the least, it has helped me understand more the problems that a gay person has and I know I must do all I can to help remove the stigma that being gay has.
I honestly believed this true story saved my life. I can relate so closely with Bobby, and I find comfort in knowing that I'm not alone. At the same time, I take his tragedy as a "what-not-to-do" guide book. I was on the verge of suicide, and strangely enough, his suicide saved me.

I recommend people who are struggling with considering suicide, dealing with their sexuality, parents and friends of GLBT people who want to understand and be accepting, and homophobic people to read this book. It may change how you view homosexuals and open you up to realizing the damage one can cause from what they say.

It changed my life; maybe it can change yours.
I suggest 2 u all 2 read this book b4 u judge any1 for wat they r.After reading this book u would understand alot of things.
Leroy Aarons's book, "Prayers for Bobby" is an emotional story told in an extremely powerful way. In 1983, Bobby Griffith, unable to find acceptance of himself as a gay man, committed suicide at twenty years of age. His death led his family, and especially Mary Griffith, his mother, on a crusade to find meaning and validation for her son's life. The story has gained recent attention when it was turned into a Lifetime moving starring Sigourney Weaver.

Aarons tells the Griffith family's story through historical background, personal stories and Bobby's diary entries. Through his diary, the reader gets to know Bobby on his own terms. The entries are shocking and moving at the same time and reveal a true talent for writing.

Aarons argues a point without becoming disagreeable. This echoes Mary's style. Aarons and Mary seek to transform society by changing hearts and minds, rather than by condemning and criticizing. This style helps make the book accessible to a wide range of readers.

All readers, regardless of their positions on LGBT-issues, should be able to take something away from this book. LGBT people will be able to take some comfort in knowing they are not alone and that there are those who care for them. The loved ones of LGBT people will gain a deeper understanding of the pain and despair that sometimes lurk just beneath the surface.

Aarons has provided a useful afterword on the political efforts being made on behalf of gay youth and an appendix on organizations that can help those who find themselves struggling with the issue of homosexuality. These resources compliment the overarching theme of this book and all of Mary's work, which is to reach as many people as possible and to help them hold onto life.

"Prayers for Bobby" is a transformative read that I think would make the Griffith family proud. In its 271 pages, the spirit of Bobby lives on, serving as an inspiration and a warning for the current generation and generations beyond.
This is a heartbreaking, but yet a wonderful true story. Mary Griffith was a woman determined to be right with God. She was a very religious Christian woman, and when she found out her son was gay she would not take that lightly. She made her son Bobby believe God could "cure" him of his homosexuality if he only tried harder and prayed more.

This book includs journal entries from Bobby Griffith, and gives the reader insight into what he was like, and also what he might have become. He struggled with his homosexuality for 5 years before committing suicide.

After his suicide Mary Griffith was on a search for truth. She couldn't understand why God would allow her son to kill himself rather than cure him. However, Mary Griffith has learned from the tragedy and this book shares the knowledge she's gained. It's a story about a broken spirit, but also about a spirit that won't give up, and certainly won't die. Truly remarkable, and I recommend this to anyone that is related to a gay person, or is friends with a gay person. In addition, I recommend this to all the people out there that think that homosexuality is a sin because it will cause you to look at this issue from a different perspective. Truly a groundbreaking and remarkable story.
Bobby Griffith was an all-American boy ...and he was gay. Faced with an irresolvable conflict-for both his family and his religion taught him that being gay was "wrong"-Bobby chose to take his own life.

Prayers for Bobby, nominated for a 1996 Lambda Literary Award, is the story of the emotional journey that led Bobby to this tragic conclusion. But it is also the story of Bobby's mother, a fearful churchgoer who first prayed that her son would be "healed," then anguished over his suicide, and ultimately transformed herself into a national crusader for gay and lesbian youth.

As told through Bobby's poignant journal entries and his mother's reminiscences,Prayers for Bobbyis at once a moving personal story, a true profile in courage, and a call to arms to parents everywhere.

Rerations
< Prayers for Bobby: A Mother's Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son > < For The Bible Tells Me So > < What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality > < Milk > < Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America > freaks

< Giovanni's Room > < The Souls of Black Folk (Dover Thrift Editions) > < Civilization and Its Discontents > < Another Country > < Age of Iron > < Stone Butch Blues: A Novel > James Baldwin

price：~~$3.02~~
Delta(2000-06-13)
Usually ships in 24 hours

customer 's review
(Amazing book. You will want to read it more than once!)

(I am so glad I found this book!)

(Boring and Pretentious Book)

(Read it... but not for the plot.)

(James!)

I loved this book. It is one of the top ten gay and lesbian novels of all times. I was shocked to learn that Amazon was instituting a new anti-gay policy and censoring it from search lists. Hopefully people can still find this gem.
What a beautifully written book! I read it for my book club. I had heard of James Baldwin, but had never read anything of his before. I loved the depiction of Paris - the sleazier, decadent life underneath the beauty, and the depiction of the bars and the sad characters that Giovanni hung out with. The depiction of the main character's feelings for Giovanni and for his fiancee were just amazingly written - some of the best writing about feelings of love that I have read - the positive and negative. Heartbreakingly sad. Everybody in my book club LOVED the book - I think it is one of only two books which has received a 100% thumbs up from us all!
well here is what I have to say:
Don't read this book just because you like reading about queers, because it is not going to hold your interest.
This book is written very pretentiously.
It is about a self loathing bisexual closet case who despite his best instincts ends up with his fiance instead of the man that he should have stayed with.
Anyhow, overall I give this 2/5 stars, not recommended!!!!!!!
No assistance or convincing is required for one to acknowledge that Baldwin is indeed a very gifted writer. However, in GIOVANNI'S ROOM, it is less evident as to whether or not he is a great novelist. While his ability to describe complex emotions and deeply depict the political nature of courting and romance is superior, the plot suffers as the book progresses. Giovanni is an incredibly charming and likeable character upon his introduction; however, as soon as he forms a relationship with David, the protagonist, there seems to be a shift in the development of his character (or is it a regression of his character?), after which he remains rather unlikable and someone for whom you do not feel empathy.

As a result, the romance between Giovanni and David suffers throughout the book - and the capriciousness of David's sexuality calls into question the legitimacy of his love for Giovanni. This is disappointing to readers who are looking for a love story - even a tragic one. For who wants to read a love story where the love isn't assured? I think the plot needed more time to allow the reader to fully accept and digest the magnitude that these two men, supposedly, feel for each other.

The ending of the book, including the crime that Giovanni commits, seems irrelevant and forced - as if Baldwin was merely trying to come up with a legitimate way to end the story. This is perhaps my biggest complaint with the book. Again, the plot moves too quickly while characters change dramatically, all of which lead the reader to feel as though the plot is implausible.

Finally, the book is littered with various French phrases and short sentences which add no substance to the book, but seem to exist merely as a way for Baldwin to flex his knowledge of the language - as if somehow this will give the story's setting extra legitimacy (which it didn't need). I have a background in French and was able to understand most of this superfluousness, yet still found it rather annoying and distracting.

Many have suggested that David is rather unlikable; personally, I find his character to be the most honest and authentic, as well someone to whom I can relate. Through David, Baldwin hits the nail on the head when depicting the complexity and despair homosexuals feel when they are simultaneously involved with partners of both sexes. And while the honesty of David's emotions, with respect to both Giovanni and Hella, may be unattractive to some readers - it's clarity and accuracy cannot be ignored.

The book is certainly worth a read, and its impact and value must be measured in the context in which it was written. It is/was an overwhelmingly progressive novel, and no doubt a contribution to `gay' literature (if that's how you wish you classify the novel; I do not). However, this book being published today would hardly turn an eye. Read it to understand Baldwin, read it to understand the timeframe, read it for a glimpse into the complexity of homosexual relationships, read it to enjoy Baldwin's outstanding writing abilities - but don't read it for the plot.

Giovanni's Room
By James Baldwin

James Baldwin! For me, writing his name sends joy and awe straight to my heart. I have loved him since I was a teenager and found him on a library bookshelf. I devoured as many of his novels as I could find and each was more than satisfying but when I found Giovanni's Room, I found what I had been searching for in my constant reading. A few pages into it and I felt that stab in the gut, that overwhelming rush that one gets when hearing an absolutely perfect piece of music or falling heart-first into a work of art. I know that it was the elegance of Baldwin's writing in this particularly elegant short novel that sent me head over heels in love with words.

Giovanni's Room is a painful story of a young man in Paris who is uncertain and uncomfortable with his sexuality. Baldwin presents a complex series of events with an understated, brilliant use of character and dialogue that lead to the destruction of several characters. Baldwin wrote so very well (or I am so very dense) that it took several readings for me to understand that it was not merely a tale of repressed desires but also a cautionary tale of the cost to others of random, casual acts of selfishness and unkindness. I re-read it every few years. Baldwin died of cancer in December of 1987. I miss him, I really do. Each Christmas I choose a few friends and gift them with Giovanni's Room. It is a deep pleasure to hear their reactions to this author's soulful genius and it is my small way of sending my loving gratitude to James Baldwin.
Sherry Harvey Podobnik

Set in the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality. With a sharp, probing imagination, James Baldwin's now-classic narrative delves into the mystery of loving and creates a moving, highly controversial story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart.

Rerations
< Giovanni's Room > < The Souls of Black Folk (Dover Thrift Editions) > < Civilization and Its Discontents > < Another Country > < Age of Iron > freaks

< Best Lesbian Romance 2009 > < Justice for All > < No Strings > < Best Lesbian Erotica 2009 > < Just Business > < Worth Every Step >

price：~~$4.78~~
Cleis Press
Usually ships in 24 hours

customer 's review
(Ah, Love!)

(A perfect Valentine gift for your sweetheart !)

(For Fans of LesFic Romance)

Radclyffe (editor). "Best Lesbian Romance 2009", Cleis Press, 2009.

Ah, Love!

Amos Lassen

"Best Lesbian Romance" edited by Radclyffe is an anthology of love stories with something for everyone. Its stories are about all aspects of lesbian love from first encounters to long term relationships. The stories are emotional and sexy as they explore the nature of love between women. Twenty-one stories comprise this anthology and there is great variety. Being a male I did not think that these stories would really appeal to me and I felt sure that my biases would prevent me from enjoying them but that was not the case at all. I learned that love is love in all of its forms so it really makes no difference as to who is involved.
I loved Kathie Bergquist's "Femme Fatale" which tells of a first date in which nothing went right until it is forced to change direction. "In Your Pocket" by Evan Moran will make you feel good and these is a touch of the extraterrestrial in "A Ghost of a Chance" by Ariel Graham. The romance in Radclyffe's "Music on the Wind" is lush and beautiful and "Last Call" by Karin Kallmaker will tug at your heartstrings.
There is so much to read and so much love here that you may find yourself transported to another dimension.

This is such a fabulous selection of stories I had to make myself read only one or two at a time to totally savour them all.

A huge variety of stories: a first date after a three year relationship ends; a snowstorm in Provincetown; friends since college find love right in front of them; yearnings set on a horse ranch; a 37 year old leather shop owner taking care of a customer; power plays by a long term couple; College friends have a 25 year reunion; even the taming of a Werewolf!

'The Usual' is a delightful story set in a New York City diner; The fabulous 'Last Call' will tug at your heart; 'Absinthe' is a not to be missed story set in and around World War 2 France; 'In Flight' is set in a hawk rehab center; 'Eyes' is overlooking Baltimore Harbor; 'Sand Castle Queen' on the sands of Puerto Rico; 'Cuts' is a very sweet story; 'In Your Pocket' will make you warm all over; 'Purple Thumb' is funny and thoughtful; 'A Ghost of a Chance' has a bit of the supernatural; 'The Traveler' is set in Paris; 'Melange' about the worry when you don't hear from someone dear; ending with 'Music on the Wind' the utterly romantic set on a high seas cruise and a love for all time.

This is absolutely my favorite anthology from this publisher.

The lineup of authors is first rate -

Radclyffe - who is also the editor
KI Thompson
Karin Kallmaker
Jennifer Fulton
Catherine Lundoff
Ariel Graham
Olivia Presley
Sacchi Green
Allison Wonderland
Elspeth Potter
Kathie Bergquist
Teresa Noelle Roberts
Shanna Germain
Andrea Dale
Rakelle Valencia
Maggie Kinsella
Alison Tyler
Kay Jaybee
Rachel Kramer Bussel
Shannon Dargue
Evan Mora

From the back of the book -

Red Hot Romance!

Scale the heights of emotion and the depths of desire with this collection of the very best lesbian romance writing of the year. Essential reading for anyone who cherishes the highly imaginative, the deeply sensual, and the very loving, this anthology is as remarkable for its great writing as it is for its exuberant sexiness.

In "Femme Fatale," Kathie Bergquist tells the story of a first date gone terribly wrong until it heads in exactly the right, delicious direction. For readers who have almost given up on ever falling in love, KI Thompson's "The Usual" illustrates that you never know when you might meet "the one." Other stories offer chance encounters, such as Olivia Presley's tempting tale, "The Traveler" and Ariel Graham's spooky sexy "A Ghost of a Chance." If variety is the spice of life, then this is the spiciest set of lesbian romance stories to date!
This delightful potpourri of romantic adventures ranges from the poignant intimacy of discovering love and cherishing loved ones to erotic encounters involving sensuous leather play and steamy hot tub sex in the midst of a snowstorm. Radclyffe has assembled a remarkable collection of stories that carry the reader on a journey that tugs at the heartstrings, titillates, and blissfully explores the pleasures of Sapphic lovemaking. A first rate anthology for fans of LesFic romance!

Who says romance is dead? Certainly not the authors of these powerful stories of lesbians in love— and sometimes in lust.Best Lesbian Romance 2009,edited by the award-winning author of such books asWhen Dreams TrembleandTurn Back Time,presents the juiciest, most seductive love stories written today. Putting a new spin on the subject, these stories explore the underlying emotions and complex relationships that help define love between women. From a shy glance across a crowded room, to a casual meeting at a dinner party, to an accidental encounter on a street corner, this collection of romantic interludes showcases the many ways love can be both lostandfound. Contributors include Jennifer Fulton, Karin Kallmaker, Radclyffe, Rakelle Valencia, and Alison Tyler.

Rerations
< Best Lesbian Romance 2009 > < Justice for All > < No Strings > < Best Lesbian Erotica 2009 > < Just Business > freaks

< 911 > < Bareback > < No Going Home > < The Assignment > < Natural Disaster > < The Tin Star > Chris Owen

price：~~$2.79~~
Torquere Press(2008-06-25)
Usually ships in 24 hours

customer 's review
(Made me re-examine what I thought about threeway relationships)

(911)

(great)

(young love)

(Awesome book, absolutely worth it)

Chris Owen, 911
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 9/10

Pros:
- 3 strong characters who were each so wonderful in their own ways that I had a very hard time picking a favorite. I did, but it took some serious thought.
- Likeable, fully drawn secondary characters.
- Awesome depiction of a threeway relationship that made me believe that the three of them were meant to be together and not just that the two who happened to meet first were kind enough to let the third guy play around with them every now and then. Owen does an excellent job of showing each man's love for each of the other two.
- The sex. Oh, the sex. Hot, loving, plentiful, fantastic. One scene toward the very end is so cheesy and romantic that I thought I might vomit...not because I disliked it, but because I want that.

Cons:
- Editing issues typical of the genre. (Not as bad here as in other books.)
- Periods of emotional pain and angst that were difficult to read. However, they're mercifully short (shorter than in Owen's Bareback, anyway), and they're realistic. While gritting my way through one particularly sad scene, I kept congratulating Owen for taking a realistic approach to the characters' situation.

Overall comments: Loved it. Even if you're wary of ménage a trois relationships, this book might change your opinion about them. It did so to mine.
One of the best books I've ever read. Drew, Scott and Eric just rocked my world. Great characters, great book.
I had agreat time reading a believable story with great characters - and loads of hot sex. buy it - you won't regret it
This was one of the few books that I've missed reading for at least a few days after finishing it. In the final part of the book, it stretches the bounds of moral acceptance in the partnership-of-three idea, but it has characters who are presented as strong enough to support the premise in large. I hope you enjoy it too, but I would repeat that it requires an unusually forgiving forebearance for those unaccustomed to affection displayed in terms of unorthodox sexual pleasure, such as what the parents seemed to accept, in the story, as genuine. A credit to story writing, in itself. Good writing.
I loved this book from beginning to end. Chris Owen made his characters in this book completely come alive. It is well worth not only the money to buy it, but also a second and third read as well. 911 is an amazing and beautiful book.
Drew is a fireman who loves the rush and is looking for a roommate to share costs. Scott is a doctor looking for somewhere to live that isn’t with his now ex-lover. The match seems more than perfect when Scott moves in and it’s more than just costs that they share. So what happens when along comes EMT Eric with his blond good looks and boyish smile? Will this twosome be able to become a threesome or does it spell disaster for all?
Rerations
< 911 > < Bareback > < No Going Home > < The Assignment > < Natural Disaster > freaks

< After Midnight: True Lesbian Erotic Confessions > < Wet: True Lesbian Sex Stories > < First-Timers: True Stories of Lesbian Awakening > < Lesbian Sex: 101 Lovemaking Positions > < Wetter: More True Lesbian Sex Stories > < Up All Night: Adventures in Lesbian Sex >

price：~~$4.78~~
Cleis Press
Usually ships in 24 hours

customer 's review
(Excellent Collection)

(The best anthology from this publisher to date)

Great saucy, sexy lesbian erotica that pulls you along with each page. Of the several books in this genre have come out in the past few years, this one is really the best. It definitely kept me up "after midnight." :-)

The editor has a great selection of authors starting with the headliner Radclyffe. The 27 Authors include some real standouts:

Radclyffe
Jac Hills
Lois Glenn
Cheri Crystal
Nell Stark
Aunt Fanny

This from the publisher's web site - An intimate encounter in a movie theater halfway around the world. A passionate affair with a married woman. A weekend of role-playing with two women and their "headmistress."

The gals in this book tell powerful, raw, senuous tales. They express their sultry, playful, and sometimes downright dirty secrets as never before. These women bare all, describing not only their deepest fantasies, but the hot and heavy truth of their sexual deedsinside and outside the bedroom.

Peer in during a young woman's first time getting tag-teamed. Enjoy a rollicking "Toy Story" that's certainly not rated G. Accept a red-hot Valentine's Day gift any horny lesbian would be grateful to receive. In short, curl up--along or with a lover--and discover what lesbians are getting up to...after midnight.

The uncensored words of real lesbians describing their hottest, wildest erotic adventures. This real-life erotica collection is like peeking into the secret diaries of some very frisky girls. In this collection, lesbians from across the country reveal their deepest, most intimate erotic secrets— things they wouldn't dare tell anyone else. Like the blisteringly hot story of 21-year-old Jessica who seduces her mother's best friend. Or Stacy J.'s confession of her very naughty one-night stand that lasts four days. Plus, swaggering butch studs J.P. and Carla enter a sexual wager that leavesreaders breathless.
Rerations
< After Midnight: True Lesbian Erotic Confessions > < Wet: True Lesbian Sex Stories > < First-Timers: True Stories of Lesbian Awakening > < Lesbian Sex: 101 Lovemaking Positions > < Wetter: More True Lesbian Sex Stories > freaks

< The Social Construction of Difference and Inequality: Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality > < Deculturalization and the Struggle for Equality: A Brief History of the Education of Dominated Cultures in the United States > < Privilege, Power, and Difference > < Women: Images&Realities, A Multicultural Anthology > < Case Studies in Assessment of Students with Disabilities > < Amazing Grace: Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation, The > Tracy Ore

price：~~$62.60~~
McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
Usually ships in 24 hours

customer 's review
(Required Reading only)

(Let's just move society backwards!?)

(Have NOT received the book.)

(Interesting material)

(Great qualitity)

The book, despite its name, spends little effort on the injustices done to socioeconomic class. Race is mentioned several times, but lacks thorough investigations into the psychological or social machinations that have created the inequalities that the book is supposed to cover. Sexual identity takes a disproportionately large space of the book, while unfortunately saying little more than 'this needs more research'. Minorities are given surprisingly little attention and detail, and those outside the United States (such as the Seljuks or other Turkic peoples in China) are completely ignored.

A lack of conclusions or even useful speculative conjecture make the book in general less than useful. The fact that all people are at some point for some reason victimized is ignored, and the impact of varied regions or histories is practically unmentioned. The general feel of the book also lead me (and the class who read it) to believe that it was written by a class of graduate students who submitted short essays that lacked the citations to be able to go out and do useful follow-up research (or, in some cases, to confirm the information at all).

This may be required reading for certain classes, but outside of those places I would not recommend it.
OK - so, I didn't read the whole book.
In general, it seemed like the message delivered was more of a divider than a uniter. While many would say would say we should be striving for equality, this book seemed to provide a view of making it a point of our differences and delivered no message of hope. Beleive it or not, not everyone is a victim.

Maybe I missed something.
Don't have the book I purchased. I would like to get the book I bought!
Great analysis for the deconstructing of social constructions such as race, gender, and class. Very easy to understand, and full of interesting topic material. From more works like this, you start to understand the disparity and hegemony that imbalances of power have perpetuated. With hope, we can progress to become a more equal and fair society for everyone
The book i recieved was in perfect condition (the one stated in the description) and I recieved the product in a timely manner even though it was ordered over the holidays.
This anthology examines the social construction of race, class, gender, and sexuality and the institutional bases for these relations. While other texts discuss various forms of stratification and the impact of these on members of marginalized groups, Ore provides a thorough discussion of how such systems of stratification are formed and perpetuated and how forms of stratification are interconnected. Critical thinking questions at the end of each reading and part opening essays aid students in understanding how the material relates to their lives and how their own attitudes, actions, and perspectives may serve to perpetuate a stratified system. 13 new readings have been added focusing on the experiences of immigrants, contemporary issues in social institutions, current examples of how the media portrays events and much more.
Rerations
< The Social Construction of Difference and Inequality: Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality > < Deculturalization and the Struggle for Equality: A Brief History of the Education of Dominated Cultures in the United States > < Privilege, Power, and Difference > < Women: Images&Realities, A Multicultural Anthology > < Case Studies in Assessment of Students with Disabilities > freaks

< Taking Woodstock > < Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace&Music Director's Cut (40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition with Amazon Exclusive Bonus Disc) > < The Road to Woodstock > < The Woodstock Story Book > < Woodstock '69 Festival - 3 Days of Peace and Music > < The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test > Elliot Tiber,Tom Monte

price：~~$8.48~~
Square One Publishers
Usually ships in 24 hours
customer 's review
(Funny Story About 2 *HISTORIC* Events!)

(Take It! It's A Funny Story)

(Taking Woodstock and the music with it.)

(Taking Woodstock)

Elliot Tiber's book, TAKING WOODSTOCK, is a funny memoir about his days as a young man and his involvement in helping Woodstock happen.

He's witty with self-deprecating humor and brutally honest about his life with his crazy family, being in the closet and his sexual adventures, and the experience of being at the epicenter of the Woodstock festival.

Tiber's family owned a run-downed motel in Bethel, NY and he was friends and neighbors with Max Yasgur (owner of the farm where Woodstock took place) and suggested Max's farm to producer Michael Lang. He was also president of the White Lake Chamber of Commerce and had a permit to hold art and music festivals. Anyway, through a series of funny turns in the road and being at the right place at the right time, Tiber becomes witness to and involved in two historic events in 1969: Woodstock and Stonewall Inn (Gay bar that was raided and kicked off riots that started the Gay Liberation movement).

He encounters a bunch of odd characters along the way including famous people like Truman Capote, Rock Hudson, and Robert Mapplethorpe--all the while being hammered by his Jewish mother--and has a life altering experience with Woodstock.

The book is a quick read and if there are any faults it's that it doesn't contain any pictures. But otherwise very enjoyable.
This book made me laugh. It's full of rich characters and absurd situations, all allegedly true. Tiber doesn't flinch from describing the sordid things he did in his journey to find himself and happiness. The name dropping is jaw dropping - seems Tiber was in all the right places at all the right times (even if not for the right reasons). I had to wonder if I was being put on, but then just gave in to the wonder of the events themselves. Like "Running With Scissors", if Tiber's stories weren't true you wanted them to be! A light and breezy read that reveals another side to the Woodstock legend - the days leading up to it - and how one man saw the world (and himself) change: for the better. Can't wait to see the movie.
When trying to review "Taking Woodstock" you have to consider the audience. The book is about a closeted gay man who manages to feel trapped by his parents who are always needing his help. The other is a concert that changed his life.

The story is the memoirs of Elliot Tiber. He starts out with a very poorly written first part. He manages to be very repetitive and over drought. He tells you once and then tells you again describing it in detail and then remind you within two chapters. Elliot also drops names of people he knew while in New York. He seems very uptight for the first part of the act.

The second part of the book, the start of the beloved Woodstock mayhem, is when the book becomes very decent and an easy read. Even though the book is not so much about Woodstock itself, its about the struggling man and his family trying to handle the massive crowd. The book ends on a very nice note and makes the book overall a good enjoyable read. The reader can feel his change along with the other people around him and that in itself is a great "coming of age" story. A few really neat characters pop up too. "Taking Woodstock" is a decent easy read with a good story to back it.
Woodstock was a part of our lives but we were not there. Instead we were home raising our small children. It was interesting to read Elliot Tiber's tale of what went on. Needless to say the news reports had no idea of the "behind the scenes" events at the local motel. When the movie comes out next summer, we'll all be there. A great part of it was filmed in our area and we know a number of the people who are in the movie, including our son who had a few of his older cars in it.
This is a definite read for those who remember the summer of Woodstock. You need to have an open mind though, and realize that it was the beginning of a different way of life.........what is now an open and accepable way of life. Entertaining and amusing!!!
Entertaining, fast moving story about being gay in the 60's, a background on how Woodstock came to be, and an excellent snapshot of the era. Based on a true story, this book shows indeed, that truth is stranger than fiction. The scenes range from bizarre to wildly hilarious. The author touches on the many issues and nuances of the time without getting weighed down by them. I found it a thoughtful rendition of Woodstock experience, from an entirely different perspective. An easy read, I read it in a day.
Rerations
< Taking Woodstock > < Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace&Music Director's Cut (40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition with Amazon Exclusive Bonus Disc) > < The Road to Woodstock > < The Woodstock Story Book > < Woodstock '69 Festival - 3 Days of Peace and Music > freaks

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 >>