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reviews_and_ramblings
Date: Wednesday, June 15 Time: 19.00 - 20.00
Place: Housing Works Used Bookstore and Cafe
126 Crosby Street , NYC
Featuring David Pratt reading from his 2011 Lambda Award winning title, Bob the Book, comic strip artist Howard Cruse celebrates the publication of The Complete Wendel, and Steven Haas reveals George Platt Lynes: The Male Nudes.
Bob the Book by David Pratt
Paperback: 202 pages
Publisher: Chelsea Station Editions; First edition (October 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0984470719
ISBN-13: 978-0984470716
Amazon: Bob the Book
Just what is a 'gay book'? -A book attracted to books of the same gender! Meet 'Bob the Book,' a gay book for sale in a Greenwich Village bookstore, where he falls in love with another book, Moishe. But a freak accident separates the young lovers. As Bob wends his way through used book bins, paper bags, knapsacks, and lecture halls, hoping to be reunited with Moishe, he meets a variety of characters, both book and human, including Angela, a widowed copy of Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park' and two other separated lovers, Neil and Jerry, near victims of a book burning. Among their owners and readers are Alfred and Duane, whose on-again, off-again relationship unites and separates our book friends. Will Bob find Moishe? Will Jerry and Neil be reunited? Will Alfred and Duane make it work? Read 'Bob the Book' to find all the answers.
The Complete Wendel by Howard Cruse Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Universe; Reprint edition (April 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0789322161
ISBN-13: 978-0789322166
Amazon: The Complete Wendel
The complete collection of the entire groundbreaking gay comic strip series. Originally published in The Advocate throughout the 1980s, Howard Cruse’s Wendel is widely considered the first gay comic strip to be featured in mainstream media. A topical and heartfelt chronicle of one gay man’s journey through the often-rocky Reagan-Bush years, the strip followed the adventures of Wendel Trupstock, his boyfriend Ollie, and an unforgettable cast of supporting characters. More realistic than most comics of the time, Wendel did not observe the traditional comic strip formula. Instead, it presented realistic depictions of relationships, politics, personal struggles, and public triumphs, all seen through a gay perspective that was just coming into relative widespread acceptance. Wendel became more than a comic strip as it, and Cruse, were propelled into the rarefied pop culture category reserved for art and artists that not only entertain, but also influence and are influenced by shifts in public consciousness. Its influence was such that Tony Kushner wrote, "Wendel unfolds with the narrative complexity, nuance, detail, and honesty of a great satirical novel." The Complete Wendel contains every episode of the series and includes a new foreword by Cruse, who contextualizes the story of the creation and publication of the strip within the often tumultuous political zeitgeist of the 1980s. It also features a new cover and a special "where are they now" section created for this book.
George Platt Lynes: The Male Nudes edited by Steven Haas Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Rizzoli; First Edition edition (May 3, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0847833747
ISBN-13: 978-0847833740
Amazon: George Platt Lynes: The Male Nudes
The elegant male nude photographs of George Platt Lynes, many never before published, from a newly discovered archive of negatives. George Platt Lynes was the preeminent celebrity portraitist of his day, shooting for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and creating distinctive photographs of iconic cultural figures such as Diana Vreeland, Salvador Dalí, and Orson Welles. But he also produced a separate body of work, kept largely hidden during his lifetime: photographs of the male nude. Many of these photos were shot in the studio and, like his fashion and dance work, were painstakingly posed and lit. They have a cinematic allure that evokes 1940s Hollywood and the lost era of New York’s café society. Many seem to illustrate some unwritten mythology. Others reveal private obsessions of the photographer, who was always alert to the sculptural qualities of a young man at his most vital. This is the only Platt Lynes book to focus on the male nude images in a comprehensive and carefully considered manner. It is the first book to be published with the cooperation of the artist’s estate, which has provided unprecedented access to institutional and private collections, including the Kinsey Institute and the Guggenheim Museum. The result: a trove of unpublished images that are sure to cause a sensation.
