The Best LGBT Books of All Time

The website for the Good Men Project recently ran a very interesting article listing the best LGBT books according to famous authors such as Michael Cunningham and Edmund White. Benoit Denziet-Louis, who compiled the list, had this brilliant thing to say:


"I wish someone had given me a list of required gay reading when I was coming out. Gay men gave me a lot of things back then (porn, theater tickets, crabs), but no one gave me book titles. As a young gay man, I could have used a literary roadmap to help me put my experiences—and my feelings—in some historical and sociological context."


This statement summarizes what I also aim to do with this blog: to steer young LGBT people towards books that can influence our lives. While most of what I read and review is fluff (Chelsea Handler, anyone?), it is my hope that my readers and I will find books together that cause us to think and challenge us to be become our best queer selves. Books have impacted the way  I think and the way I see myself. So let's to get to readin', homos!


There are several books listed in the article quoted above that I am considering reading in the future including Tales of the CIty, The Color Purple, Giovanni's Room (the book mentioned the most in the article), and Stone Butch Blues. My salutations to the people at the Good Men Project for giving me such a good place to get ideas for this blog!


Coming tomorrow will be two new book reviews. The first will cover Hero by Perry Moore, a Young Adult novel about a gay teenage superhero and the second is Coming Out Spiritually, which tells of LGBT-friendly spiritual paths. I thank everyone for your continued reading!

Lez Book Review: Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi

Wow. This chilling account of actress Portia de Rossi's struggle with an eating disorder was mesmerizing. I have to admit that I'm a sucker for celebrity memoirs (or any memoirs for that matter as you can probably tell by now) but admit that the reader can usually tell that they weren't actually written by the celebrity who has been credited. De Rossi on the other hand seems to be the real deal. As the immortal Augusten Burroughs says "De Rossi is... a fine writer with a sharp mind and substance." 

De Rossi transports you into her once-crazed mind, describing herself in an extremely derogatory manner to clue the reader in to how she was feeling. You sink with her into the despair and the pain she experienced. As a child model she was told that she was too heavy, and from then on as she pursued her career in modeling and acting she put herself through grueling exercise and diet routines to attain the perfect image for her craft. As her popularity heightened while acting on the legal dramedy Ally McBeal she listened to the voice of the media (and the pessimistic whispers of her mind) and believed she could never be pretty enough.

When she reached her lowest she was on a bizarre diet of Jell-O, tuna, and artificial butter-spray that kept her daily calorie intake at less than 300 per day. As you can discover for yourself, she reaches such a low-point that it has a profound negative impact on her body, but not her career. When she had literally starved herself into a sickly figure her career was thriving. She was featured in tabloids as being sexy and desirable while glossing the covers of big magazines like Rolling Stone. De Rossi tells the remarkable lengths someone can go to in order to be "pretty."

Needless to say, there is a happy ending. De Rossi was able to recover, come out of the closet, and marry the woman of her dreams, Ellen DeGeneres, who she says showed her "what beauty is." The account she presents is at times a little redundant and there are a few typos in the book, oddly enough. Nonetheless, this book is well recommended for anyone, gay or straight, who has ever felt inadequate or unattractive. 

Review: Mr. Right is Out There- The Gay Man's Guide to Finding and Maintaining Love by Dr. Kenneth D. George

I saw this book in the relatively small LGBT section of the Half Price Books in my hometown and decided to pick it up. I figured that it might be a good book for me considering I seem to be on a downward trajectory towards forming a domestic partnership with my right hand. I flipped through this book fairly quickly and was a little annoyed at the format.

Throughout this book, Dr. George interrupts the chapters with "activities" to do with yourself or a partner such as stand naked in front of the mirror examining your body's strengths and weaknesses, go on a date with yourself, or schedule in a time on the calendar to have sex. These suggestions are probably not going to be performed by most of the men reading this book sitting comfortably (albeit impatiently) on their couches. He could make a better use of page-space by dishing out some more advice instead of activities. 

That being said, his advice is hit and miss. It ranges from the truthful ("What many men believe is love may in fact be lust") to the bizarrely offensive ("All people are homophobic, including gay people").  Like any gay television makeover guru, he also gives some advice that both helps you and makes you feel self-conscious about your body. After all, while it is important to develop your personality it won't help you when you first walk your fatass into a roomful of gay men. Dr. George even mentions plastic surgery as an option to have on the table, just in case.

I feel like there was probably some good advice somewhere in this book. However, I have forgotten about it because I was too distracted by ridiculous activity suggestions and Dr. Phil-esque bullshit about resolving personal conflict through the most obvious means necessary. This book isn't going to eliminate my singleness any time soon. 

Not Gay, Just Fabulous: My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler

I will admit that at first I was a little apprehensive about this book. I had seen Chelsea Handler's TV show, Chelsea Lately, and wasn't that fond of it. I found her humor to be a little tacky and the guests on the show to be unintelligent and not very interesting. However, when I saw this title at a used bookstore, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands, I couldn't resist picking it up. After all, there is nothing gay men like more than slutty women.

The book is a collection of stories involving men that Handler has had sex with (or in some cases, almost had sex with). Some of the stories are more engaging than others, but when Handler gets rolling with a funny story she tells it with a high level of smart-ass wit that should keep you glued to the pages. She tells stories of getting caught observing her parents have sex, having a drunken romp with a little person (whom she refers to as a "nugget"), her affinity for vodka, and sex during her years at a community college. I really enjoyed these stories as Handler could easily be replaced with a gay man and they would still make sense.

This book is a fun, summer read. For a gay man, it feels like a naughty conversation you would have with a fag hag. If you are looking for some mindless entertainment involving stories about penises and alcohol, this book is for you. After reading this I can say that I finally get Chelsea Handler and her style of humor. I can now tune in to Chelsea Lately and laugh along with her audience at the dumb jokes she makes at the expense of The Kardashians, knowing that Handler is probably much more intelligent than they are.

Review: The Kid by Dan Savage

What isn't to love about Dan Savage? For those of you who have been living under a rock, Savage is an openly gay syndicated sex columnist who is the founder of the It Gets Better Project (See Google Chrome commercial featuring the It Gets Better Project here). He is known for his frank discussions of sexual topics, as well as his harsh criticism of the Religious Right. His column (and podcast "Savage Love") is both informative and hilarious, and I definitely recommend it to any open-minded people. 

When I discovered that Savage has written several books I knew I had to pick one up. As The Kid was originally published in 1999, it was a little difficult to locate a copy in bookstores and I had to resort to downloading an e-book copy for my iPad. Despite the difficulties in searching for the book, it was well worth it. The Kid is a humorous memoir that describes Savage's turbulent process in adopting a child with his boyfriend. While the premise may suggest that the book will be sappy, it actually presents Savage's trademark cynical nature.

Savage is very practical in his explanation for why they decided to adopt. He doesn't resort to bullshit. He tells of his concerns about needing hobbies with his boyfriend as they grow older and describes his worries of not having an excuse if he should ever get fat. He doesn't resort to cheesey sentimentalities. Savage and his boyfriend eventually decide to go for an open adoption, a type of adoption that is only legal in certain states.

Open adoptions are unique in that they allow the birth parents to have some degree of contact with their biological children throughout their lives. This gives the birth parents the reassurance that the child they handed over is being well taken care of. Savage makes a pretty good case for this type of adoption in his book, describing the unfair turmoil parents would have to go through if they never knew what happened to their child. When Savage and his boyfriend are matched up with a birth mother, they discover that she is a homeless "gutter-punk." Their culture clash creates some hilarity, and Savage and his boyfriend end up sticking with this girl because they fear other birth mothers won't choose gay male parents.

Throughout the book, Savage inserts his opinions on subjects ranging from gay parenting, politics, child custody, and the adoption process mixed in with his memories of adopting their son. He includes his trademark witticisms and brings up many valid points. For example, his view for the reason gay sons often have distant relationships with their heterosexual fathers really resonated with me. Some Evangelicals believe that distant fathers create homosexuality in their sons by giving them an unfulfilled longing for same-sex intimacy. As Savage points out, these distant relationships don't make sons gay, they happen because the sons are gay and macho heterosexual men who have been conditioned to reject anything feminine don't know how to handle it.

I will admit that this book isn't a very difficult read. Dan Savage is not the new Mark Twain. However, his hysterical delivery of what would normally be very difficult topics to write about makes for a good page-turner. The thing that really shines through in the end of this book is the love that Savage has for his son. While he is normally crass and cynical, he has his moments where you can tell he really has a good heart (once again, see the It Gets Better Project). Because Savage doesn't always show his true colors, the moments when he is sentimental make them much more meaningful. In short, I loved this book.

Welcome to my blog!

G-books is a blog that will cover reviews of books geared towards (or about) gay men. This will include selections from all genres, both fiction and non-fiction. Overall, the blog will provide a delightful compendium of posts about books for the studious homos of the world.

To avoid isolating any readers, I will occasionally review books that aren't gay, just fabulous. Additionally, I will also include reviews of books pertaining to other members of the LGBTQQIA community.

If you know of any books that you would like to see reviewed on this site, don't hesitate to shoot me a message.

Here are some books I have read recently that may featured in upcoming posts:

-The Kid by Dan Savage
-Coming Out Spiritually by Christian de la Huerta
-Mr. Right is out There by Dr. Kenneth D. George
-Between Men 2: Original Fiction by Today's Best Gay Writers by various authors
-Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
-Chelsea Chelsea, Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler

Here are some books I am considering reading:
-And the Band Played On by Randy Shifts
-A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham
-Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

I hope everyone enjoys this blog!

Peace,

Matt