Books

Dixie By Curtis Wilkie (Simon & Schuster) Why am I so excited about Curtis Wilkie’s book, Dixie: A Personal Odyssey Through Events That Shaped the Modern South? Because the Southern United States is part of the very same country that I live in, yet I feel like I know nothing about it, except from what […]

Mr. Show: What Happened? (Self-Published) by Naomi Odenkirk The cult of Mr. Show remains ravenous. Five years after the HBO sketch comedy program ceased production, fans continue to trade (and sell) tapes, quote lines, imitate voices, and memorize trivia in order to initiate anyone who hasn’t yet heard the gospel. For those who haven’t, the […]

by Dorian Solot and Marshall Miller (Marlowe & Co.) Dorian Solot and Marshall Miller started the Alternative to Marriage Project, a national non-profit, in 1998 after facing discrimination as an unmarried couple trying to rent an apartment. Recently, they brought the ideas behind the organization together by publishing the book, Unmarried to Each Other: The […]

Stark Raving at the Coho Theatre, 2257 NW Raleigh, 232-7072, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 7 pm, $10-$15 A good example of relevant theatrical nudity can be found in Peter Shaffer’s Equus, during a sex scene between a stable boy and a girl in the barn with the horses. The nudity is relevant, and even necessary […]

Outlaw: The Lives And Careers Of John Rechy By Charles Casillo (Advocate Books) John Rechy, author of numerous novels including City Of Night and Numbers, was one of the first gay writers to gain widespread popularity and recognition. A legendarily narcissistic literary figure of the 20th century, most of his writing is an autobiographical recounting […]

The Looks Book (Penguin) Written by Esther Drill, Heather McDonald. Written and Illustrated by Rebecca Odes (of the awesome band Love Child) You know that feeling when you create an outfit and something’s wrong? It looks mostly fun, sexy, or smart, but there’s just something that’s throwing it off? The jeans are maybe too modern. […]

Carrying the Body Dawn Raffel (Scribner) I am a big fan of stylistic experimentation in writing. I thought the stream of consciousness in Ulysses was interesting (although way too long) and Denis Johnson’s poetic narrative in Jesus’ Son created one of my favorite books of all time. The cutesy, repetitive, and oblique technique used in […]

Essential Acker: The Selected Writing of Kathy Acker Edited by Amy Scholder and Dennis Cooper (Grove Press) It’s January, 1968. As an unpopular war in Southeast Asia escalates; the primordial ooze of punk rock has started seeping into the streets of Detroit and New York City. Bands like MC5, The Stooges, and the New York […]

David Rees Reading at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Wed Dec 11, 7:30 pm (Basic Books) David Rees’ comic strip, Get Your War On, was originally e-mailed to a group of friends. His friends liked it so much, they e-mailed it to their friends, who in turn e-mailed it to 20 million people […]