The Gay & Lesbian Review

Paul Rudnick on Jeffrey, Jersey, & His New Novel Interview with Paul Rudnick by Frank Pizzoli: PLAYING THE PALACE is Paul Rudnick’s new novel (reviewed in this issue), … He is also a regular contributor to The New Yorker, and his articles and essays have also appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, Vogue, and Vanity Fair.
Clubbing Family Values By Michael Musto: Clubs are hedonistic pleasure domes populated with people striving for enjoyment and approbation, and the result became a glittery microcosm of show biz, full of hopefuls and the hopeless, with me as a combination of MGM cofounder Louis B. Mayer and gossip columnist Walter Winchell.
Mister Wrong By Andrew Holleran: THE MYSTERY of the serial murders whose perpetrator came to be known as the Last Call Killer began when a maintenance man was cleaning up a rest area on the Pennsylvania Turnpike one spring afternoon in 1991, and he discovered in one of the garbage bags ...
The Wildlife of Fire Island Book review by Raymond-Jean Frontain: [Golan] Moskowitz reveals Sendak to have been a pivotal proponent of the necessity of exploring and even indulging “the wild” in modern life. The child of lower middle-class Yiddish-speaking immigrants who lived in Brooklyn, Maurice grew up preternaturally aware of the world as a place of threat and trauma.
‘Only Here to Sin’ By Colin Carman: The American rapper Lil Nas X dropped his single “Montero” and created a firestorm. Subtitled “Call Me by Your Name,” an allusion to the gay novel by André Aciman [discussed, coincidentally, in this issue], “Montero” reached its target audience like a heat-seeking missile.
An Artist Who Talked It Out A review by Giancarlo Latta of Wojnarowicz’s movie F--k You F-ggot F—ker directed by Chris McKim. In the film, we watch as Wojnarowicz’ worldview, artistic vision, and commercial success expand.

By Scarlett Davis
For most of us, adulthood is a series of choices, a one-night stand or a bad haircut. For teenage Holden, adulthood would be condensed into the events of one fatal night and its aftermath.

July 23, 2021

Hey UK: Treat LGBT Asylum Seekers Humanely!

By Aaron Gates-Lincoln
It is now more clear than ever that LGBT migrants, especially those seeking asylum and refuge, are singled out and subjected to tougher scrutiny by immigration officials.

July 15, 2021

Disclosure: A Netflix Documentary

By Craig Hale
While the journey of trans representation has come a long way, Disclosure makes it clear that representation can only be a small part of the “broader movement for social change” required to change the conditions of daily life for trans people.

Here's My Story View all

August 3, 2021

An Observer Transformed

By Martin Smith

I, too, was comfortable with my ignorance, flawed assumptions, and biases. But I set out to educate myself, as anyone can, and must, if we’re ever to overcome prejudice.

July 27, 2021

Why Doesn’t She Like Me?

By Patricia Grayhall
Why do any of us, after all, persist in wanting relationships whether platonic or romantic with people who are not available?

July 21, 2021

One Night in Paris

By Rafaelito V. Sy
We can only control our destiny to a certain degree. Up to that point, we need to trust in fate. And fate would have it that he and I were meant for one perfect night only, a night that today inspires every love story I write.

More Here’s My Stories

Book Reviews

Sissy Boy Survivor

Jaime Cortez’s new collection of short stories, Gordo, is set in this region’s agricultural worker camps in the 1970s. These are not fictionalized narratives of hardscrabble destitution but ebullient tales about the chubby, effeminate Gordo and his friends.

A Highsmith Hypothesis

THE PRICE OF DREAMS is a fictionalized autobiography of Patricia Highsmith, a translation from the Italian novel by Margherita Giacobino, structured with point-of-view changes in vignettes that move the narrative forward. The title is an allusion to Highsmith’s first novel, The Price of Salt …

The Good Father

“WHO WOULD ever want to become a parent, if he knew every trouble ahead?” asks a character toward the end of Chinese-American writer Yang Huang’s new novel, My Good Son. The year is 1990, a year after the Tiananmen Square demonstrations. …

The Dying Years

FIRST LOVE swirls at the center of Christopher Zyda’s memoir, The Storm, followed in short order by illness and death. The book recounts the fifteen-year period from 1983 to 1998, during which the promising UCLA English literature major who had “set my career sights on writing in Hollywood” meets and falls in love with 33-year-old Stephen, “a muscular man with brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and a beautiful smile.” …

The Prince and the Planner

WHAT HAPPENS when a gay American man and the heir to the British throne meet and fall in love? In Playing the Palace, Paul Rudnick makes full use of his comedic skills—evident in such screenplays as Jeffrey, Sister Act, and In and Out—to bring this improbable romance to life. …

Coming Out Keeps Evolving

FIRST NOVELS, especially coming-out novels, arrive with a certain amount of baggage. I tend to open them with trepidation, prepared to be assaulted by clichés about the closet and bad sex. That’s why Justin Deabler’s first novel, Lone Stars, comes as a welcome surprise. Deabler avoids the traditional landmines of coming-out stories by working on a broader canvas. …

July-August 2021
Features From Current Issue

Features

‘My process is organic and instinctive.’

Ilana Rapp talks with Alan Ball – film writer, producer, and director. Ball’s latest film, which he both wrote and directed, is a comedy-drama called Uncle Frank. The film is about a gay professor living with his partner in New York City who returns to his roots in South Carolina, and it’s scattered with bits and pieces from Ball’s own biography. In the film, Frank’s partner is played by Peter Macdissi, Ball’s partner in real life.

Features

‘Classicism percolates through all time.’

Franco Mormando talks with ANDRÉ ACIMAN who is best known to LGBT readers as the author of Call Me By Your Name, the critically acclaimed, bestselling novel about the tormented burgeoning of same-sex love, which was turned into an Oscar-winning film in 2017. But he’s also the author of several other well-received novels, a collection of essays, and a memoir about his childhood in Alexandria, Egypt. The interview (abridged and edited here) was conducted last February.

Dialog

Writing & Relationships in Viral Times

Authors Michael Lowenthal and Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore discuss what’s on their minds.

Features

‘Change is made by coalitions.’

Matthew Hays talk with the author of Let the Record Show. PROVING HERSELF equally adept at fiction and nonfiction, Schulman has been a prolific writer of novels, plays, and books of political history. Her most recent book is an expansive history of the crucial years of ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), which is now regarded as one of the most important organizations in the annals of American activism.
Blog
1. July 29, 2021 Aftermath of a Hate Crime
2. July 23, 2021 Hey UK: Treat LGBT Asylum Seekers Humanely!
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