Upcoming:
FEET TO THE FIRE Focusing on the four years since 9/11, Kristina Borjesson talks to ABC’s Ted Koppel, Hearst Newspaper’s Helen Thomas, Paul Krugman of the New York Times, Barton Gellman and Walter Pincus of the Washington Post, Associated Press President/CEO Tom Curley, Harpers publisher John MacArthur, Peter Arnett, and many other and presents a unique and utterly fascinating record of self-examination by some of America’s top working journalists. This collection of masterful interviews unveils a journalistic environment that rivals any long-running soap opera on television, ranging from deadly war zones to high-rise corporate offices. Borjesson appears at Barnes & Noble, Union Square, 33 E. 17th St., Nov. 11, 7 p.m.
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THE FREEDOM: SHADOWS AND HALLUCINATIONS IN OCCUPIED IRAQ Christian Parenti reads from his new book and joins in discussion with John Crawford, author of the best-selling memoir “The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell: AN Accidental Soldier’s Account of the War in Iraq.” Housing Works Used Bookstore and Café, 126 Crosby St., btwn. Prince & Houston Sts., Nov. 15 7 pm.
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PHOTOGRAPY REBORN Jonathan Lipkin chronicles the rise of digital technology and explores its impact as well as the limits of its possibilities. Every kind of digital image from MRI scans to fine art is highlighted here, from an obscure scientific application, through its adaptation by pioneer computer artists, to its acceptance by the mainstream of the art world. The text is supplemented by fascinating images and examples by contemporary artists Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff, Pedro Meyer, Nancy Burson, and Loretta Lux-is uniquely appropriate for anyone interested in visual communications, photography, and culture. Lipkin appears with Nancy Davenport, Maki Kawakita, and Charles Traub at Barnes & Noble, Chelsea, 675 Sixth Ave. at 22nd St., Nov. 10 7 p.m.
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Recently Noted:
ALEC GUINNESS: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY Talent is a deep mystery, but in Guinness’ case, the secret of his celebrated range is exposed in Piers Paul Read’s new biography, one of the best actor’s biographies ever written. Read makes clear that Guinness’ chameleonic gift at submerging himself under the skin of diverse personalities was nothing less than an essential survival tactic. (David Noh)
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MIDNIGHT AT THE PALACE The subtitle of Pam Tent’s “Midnight at the Palace: My Life as a Fabulous Cockette” promises an insider’s account of the primarily queer male, drugged out, improvisational San Francisco-based theater troupe enormously popular from roughly 1969 until 1972. The troupe spawned such queer icons as Hibiscus, the charismatic and famously beautiful lead organizer, as well as the disco star Sylvester and Divine of filmmaker John Waters fame. Unfortunately, Tent’s book is literally a memoir, and a painstaking one at that. It reads like the musings found in a 16-year-old hippie’s stoned diaries and not in a good way. (Abby Tallmer)
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THE ONLY BUSH I TRUST IS MY OWN “The Only Bush I Trust Is my Own” is not a feminist critique of the White House, as the title suggests, but a light-hearted rant about everything from airport security to coprophilia, or getting off on defecation. At any rate, Periel Aschenbrand’s funny little book is like sitting down to coffee with an artsy, sardonic, native New Yorker friend. (Sheila Cosgrove)
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PHALLOS Enigmas fill the ancient world––a turtle bests Achilles in a foot race; Zeno’s arrow never reaches the target; the Sphinx dares the traveler to name what animal possesses a different number of legs during different parts of the day. Samuel R. Delany’s latest novella is centered on this tradition of ancient enigmas. Not riddles, but enigmas. Riddles are meant to be solved. (Stefen Styrsky)
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Raising Boys Without Men Dr. Peggy Drexler addresses the much-debated but little-researched subject of same-sex and single-parent households and concludes that lesbian and single moms are producing the “next generation of exceptional men.” The book marks the first in-depth, scholarly study on the matter. But, while debunking myths, Drexler also reinforces many of the stereotypes she presumably wishes to challenge. (Eileen McDermott)
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THE SECRET LIFE OF OSCAR WILDE Neil McKenna’s biography reveals for the very first time how Wilde was a militant precursor of the modern gay liberation movement long before his famous speech from the dock in defense of “the love that dare not speak its name.” This extraordinary book also gives an entirely new and revealing portrait of Wilde’s sexuality. (Doug Ireland)
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TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL Possessing Southern California golden boy looks that would have had Bruce Weber salivating, Tab Hunter literally fell into a pot of jam when he was discovered at age 17 by Hollywood agent Henry Willson, famous for grooming the likes of Rock Hudson, Guy Madison, Rory Calhoun, and Troy Donahue—all names he gave them—to stardom. After appearing, barely clad, in “Island of Desire” (1952) opposite Linda Darnell, Hunter’s looks and clean-cut appeal made him a teen idol. A very private man, Hunter has penned his autobiography. (David Noh)
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THE COMMITMENT I heard an excerpt on NPR from Dan Savage’s latest tome, and was impressed by the delicacy of his approach to the gay marriage debate. He didn’t rant about right-wing hypocrisy or lampoon gay and lesbian couples spending thousands on ceremonies more appropriate to a debutante. He didn’t roll his eyes at radical queers who reject gay marriage as a capitulation to heterosexual patriarchy. (Chris Schmidt)
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THE LIFE OF POETRY Muriel Rukeyser—lesbian, feminist, Communist, activist, and most of all poet—was the author of 15 volumes of poetry, plays, children’s literature, and biographies, and 10 years ago her landmark book was reissued by Paris Press. (Betsy Andrews)
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MOTHER OF SORROWS This is an arresting collection of stories, a refreshment of tellings, by Richard McCann. The stories are not rendered in the deadening and consumer-oriented rubrics of thick description, but rather in the fleet and sometimes strophic manner of the ode. This collection could not conceivably have written itself; it could not and would not have voluntarily relinquished for inspection its many troubled and troubling secrets. (James McCourt)
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SMOKING CIGARETTES Want to read a book about hot sex, larceny, finding true love among multiple bedfellows, murder and the Lord? In his second novel, “Smoking Cigarettes,” Reginald L. Hall presents all of this in his account of the life of Rashad Smith, a 22-year-old African-American, gay man in Philadelphia, delving into the anguish of looking for love in dangerous places. (Tyler Pray)
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