In Cursed Legacy, Spotts does an impressive job of capturing Klaus Mann’s legacy as a novelist, essayist, editor, playwright, journalist, political activist, gay rights activist, war correspondent, and American soldier. He also offers considerable insight into the emotions, the suffering, and the dreams of this multi-faceted individual. While he gained some renown for his accomplishments during his lifetime, most of this recognition came posthumously. Thus Klaus would never know that he had finally succeeded in stepping out from under his father’s shadow and into the light of day.

Same-Sex Sexuality in Later Medieval English Culture by Tom Linkinen Amsterdam University Press 334 pages, $99. IN 1394, according to London court records, one John “Eleanor” Rykener was…More

Girls Will Be Boys: Cross-Dressed Women, Lesbians, and American Cinema, 1908-1934 by Laura Horak Rutgers. 311 pages, $29.95 EVEN IN ITS TITLE, Girls Will Be Boys sets out…More

Hide is a wonderful first novel. Full of humor and tragedy, the book reveals the sacrifices that people are often willing to make to keep their love, even if they must hide it from the world.

IN THIS MEMOIR, Castillo writes about her childhood in Chicago when it was the crucible of the Civil Rights movement, about motherhood and the complications it inspires, and about life as a bisexual Chicana feminist author. Black Dove is stunning in its range of interests and subversive for its linkage of the intimately personal with our current political landscape.