Reading Again
Yes, I’m back to reading again after a pretty lengthy hiatus. And I’ve decided to re-read a couple of gay classics.
QueerJoe Is Reading Again
I was chatting with a very well-read friend about the seminal book, The Front Runner, by Patricia Nell Warren. She had never heard of it. I was somewhat surprised.
Years ago, when I came out to my best friend in high school, she wrote to me from college to tell me about this must-read book for gay men. I bought it and read it. It was groundbreaking at the time and transformative for me. It really shaped many of my ideas about what it was to be gay.
So, I decided to re-read it.
Suffice it to say, it hasn’t held up very well over the decades. Written in 1976, there’s a lot of judgmental, shaming stereotypes. It’s size-ist, sissy-shaming and downright racist in some parts. And I’m not even halfway through it. It’s also about a college track coach that has a lot of less-than-admirable feelings and actions about one of the college students he coaches.
I understand that our world has evolved in the almost 50 years since the book was written. And I can forgive the ideas that were acceptable back then that weren’t very supportive of our community. But I also realized that the book isn’t very well-written. As an 18-year old, I found it to be a great book. As a 66-year old, not so much.
I liken it to being starved for information and stimulation as a newly-minted gay man and having someone feed me fast-food. It tasted amazing! But it wasn’t exactly the best sustenance as a foundational text for living my best gay life.
I tasked myself with reading something a bit more nutritional. I chose a book originally published in 1956, Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. It has many of the same less-than-supportive concepts about what it is to be a gay man. But the prose is amazing and makes me really want to read more of Baldwin’s writings.
What are you reading these days?
Current Knitting
In the last two days, I have completed a lot more than I expected on the All-Over Patterned Pullover.
It’s completely assembled and all yarn ends on the body and sleeves have been woven in! I only have the collar to complete and a few yarn-ends around the neck opening. I’m thrilled with how it turned out.
I also made a few more inches of progress on the second helical-striped sock on this latest pair.
Just a dozen or so more rounds before I get to the hemmed cuff.
The sweater is beautiful.
The Lavender house. By Lev A.C. Rose. As a fan of mysteries, It was a different twist , for me, how the gays were treated by the police in the 50’s and the underground world they created to survive.
Brava, Corinne! I also loved The Lavender House and his subsequent novel, The Ruby, also a must-read.
The pullover is superb. I’m looking forward to seeing it completely finished soon. This is one of the most beautiful garments I have seen you create. Thanks for sharing!
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There was a time when Paul Newman was attached to play the coach. But now, we could have Chris Pine! Or Bradley Cooper!
Joe, and company, please consider honoring the brilliant writer Edmund White, who died a week ago Tuesday by reading his work. You’ll have a cornucopia of choices from his many novels (several considered to be works of “autofiction,” a term he is credited with creating), and memoirs. His latest, The Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir was recently published to his usual rave reviews; it’s on my shelf alongside library copies of City Boy, a collection of short stories, and another of his novels. Read now, thank me later.
I read The Front Runner in galley proofs before its initial publication and imagine it has not aged well. It was a revelation then, as you write, Joe.