Will Gardner, Author at Portland Mercury

The Five Percenters: Islam, Hip Hop, and the Gods of New York

by Michael Muhammad Knight(Oneworld Publications)

Will GardnerAugust 23, 2007 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:23 pm

I’m not sure whether the Five Percenters themselves would have respect for me, despite the immense respect I have for them. After all, as a white man and a homo, I represent the devil (doubly). Nonetheless, reading their history only strengthened the esteem I hold for them. Michael Muhammad Knight’s The Five Percenters: Islam, Hip […]

Books

The Writer’s Edge Literary Workshops

Will GardnerJuly 26, 2007 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:22 pm

Summer is indeed the time for writing workshops—at least in this city. And while most are populated with published writers admonishing your overuse of adverbs and the word “indeed,” the Writer’s Edge Literary Workshops strive to provide something different. Perhaps a piece comprised solely of adverbs? Maybe not, but it’s at least the only workshop […]

Books

Androphilia: Rejecting the Gay Identity, Reclaiming Masculinity

Jack Malebranche

Will GardnerMay 24, 2007 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:21 pm

When I discovered this book, with its subtitle “Rejecting the Gay Identity,” I was anxious to read it. Despite the fact that I am not at all ashamed of being homosexual, I do hold that sexuality is incidental. Who men like to fuck is tantamount to which dressings men like to pour on their Cobb […]

Movies & TV

I’m Staying Home

Happy Chinese New Year!

Will GardnerFebruary 15, 2007 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:20 pm

With Chinese New Year on February 18, we must adhere to certain customs in order to avoid bad luck: We should wear red, we should not wash our hair, and we can’t say “four” (in Chinese, “four” is a homonym of the word for “death”). As it turns out, it’s hard for honkies to follow […]

Theater & Performance

The Heidi Chronicles

Will GardnerFebruary 1, 2007 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:20 pm

The best stage productions are those that make me forget I’m in a theater. It’s a rare play that distracts me enough that I’m not aware that those on stage are actors spouting a playwright’s speeches. Profile Theatre’s production of The Heidi Chronicles succeeds in being engaging to this point of distraction. The material and […]

Books

Calling Out

Rae Meadows

Will GardnerJanuary 11, 2007 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:20 pm

Jane, the protagonist of Rae Meadows’ Calling Out, is a recent transplant to Utah from Manhattan. Just jilted by her long-term boyfriend (who still phones her regularly), Jane takes a job as a switchboard operator at a Salt Lake City escort agency. Initially she only works the phones; as expected, however, she soon begins escorting. Drawn to […]

Books

Not Enough Indians

Will GardnerDecember 21, 2006 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:20 pm

Harry Shearer—in addition to appearing in multiple Christopher Guest films and hosting the NPR program Le Show—is well-known as the voices of Montgomery Burns and Ned Flanders on The Simpsons. The setting of Shearer’s first novel, Not Enough Indians, when considering its motley cast of character-denizens, is not too unlike Springfield. The story even seems […]

Theater & Performance

The Return of Ulysses

Will GardnerDecember 14, 2006 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:20 pm

I’ll be honest. I find the vocals to be one of the least interesting aspects of an opera—I am much more fascinated by the art direction, the lyrics, and the orchestra. The Portland Opera Studio’s production of The Return of Ulysses—staged in the 150-seat Hampton Opera Center—makes it difficult to ignore the singing. The sets […]

Theater & Performance

Faust

Will GardnerNovember 9, 2006 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:20 pm

Not since their 2001-2002 season has the Portland Opera produced a French-language opera. For their foray back into French, the company opted for a production of Charles Gounod’s Faust. Gounod’s opera, immensely popular ever since its Paris premiere in 1859—so much so that it was the first-ever performance at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House—was a […]

News

Cuddle Me, Please!

Author Will Gardner Looks for Just a Little Bit of Affection at a Portland “Cuddle Party.” Is That Too Much to Ask?

Will GardnerSeptember 21, 2006 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:19 pm

Almost immediately upon entering, I spotted the dude I wanted to mack. With a shaved head, an arm tattoo that wasn’t a yin yang, and robust facial features, he was the dreamiest of the lot. But the lot was a lot of hippies, normally not my ilk—so “dreamy” was relative. They were friendly hippies, though, […]

Feature

A Look into Your Future: Your Fold-Up Fortune Teller

Will GardnerSeptember 14, 2006 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:19 pm

Pullout: Passing Notes: The Mercury’s Back to School Issue

Books

To Feel Stuff

Will GardnerAugust 24, 2006 4:00 amJuly 12, 2022 7:19 pm

In no way am I comparing Andrea Seigel’s new novel to the insipid song “Love in an Elevator,” but I found myself warbling “Love in an Infirmary” to the same Aerosmith tune repeatedly while reading To Feel Stuff. It’s one of those books compelling enough to stick in my mind even when I wasn’t reading […]

Just Can't Get Enough?