Band of Thebes

On MLK Speech Anniversary, Remember Bayard Rustin

If only we lived in a world where the media sought out historian John D'Emilio to ask him what he thought black gay progressive Bayard Rustin, the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, would make of today's straight white conservative rally.

Like gay genius Billy Strayhorn working in Duke Ellington's shadow, Rustin was a monumental talent simultaneously exploited and protected by his more famous heterosexual colleagues in an era when homosexuality was illegal. According to D'Emilio's sterling biography Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King Jr. severed ties with him in 1960 rather than stand up to NAACP head Roy Wilkins' man Adam Clayton Powell Jr. who threatened to spread the falsehood that Rustin and King were lovers. They soon reconciled and Rustin planned the epic march with A. Philip Randolph. Leading up to that event, Strom Thurmond denounced Rustin as a "communist, draft-dodger, and homosexual" whose "background showed the moral depravity of the March on Washington." Thurmond also held an FBI photo of Rustin clothed talking to a bathing MLK as proof that they were having sex with each other. Former nemesis Wilkins used the Thurmond incident to argue that Rustin should not be publicly credited for his work. Too often this was Rustin's fate but he does get fair credit in Charles Euchner's brand new Nobody Turn Me Around: A People's History of the 1963 March on Washington.

Earlier this week Autumn Sandeen recalled Rustin's words when reflecting on a Republican operator's coming out. In his 1986 From Montgomery to Stonewall, Rustin wrote:

There are four burdens, which gays, along with every other despised group, whether it's blacks follow slavery and reconstruction, or Jews fearful of Germany, must address. The first is recognize one must overcome fear. The second is overcoming self-hate. The third is overcoming self-denial. The fourth is more political. It is to recognize that the job of the gay community is not to deal with extremists who would castigate us or put us on an island and drop an H-bomb on us. The fact of the matter is that there is a small percentage of people in America who understand the true nature of the homosexual community. There is another small percentage who will never understand us. Our job is not to get those people who dislike us to love us. Nor was our aim in the civil rights movement to get prejudiced white people to love us. Our aim was to try to create the kind of America, legislatively, morally, and psychologically, such that even though some whites continued to hate us, they could not openly manifest that hate. That's our job today: to control the extent to which people can publicly manifest antigay sentiment.

Library of Congress Launches LGBT Web Portal for Pride Month

This week the Library of Congress launched a significant lgbt web portal in honor of pride month, celebrating the contributions of lgbt Americans and highlighting the queer content in their collection. After reminding visitors that the LOC "is the largest single repository of world knowledge in a single place," Librarian James Billington says in his welcome letter:

"The contributions of members of the LGBT community are preserved as part of our nation’s history, and include noted artistic works, musical compositions, and contemporary novels. The Library’s American collections range from the iconic poetry of Walt Whitman through the manuscripts of the founder of LGBT activism in Washington, D.C., Frank Kameny. The Library’s month-long celebration demonstrates how LGBT Americans have strengthened our country, by using their talent and creativity to help create awareness and goodwill."

In addition to the papers and collections of the likes of civil rights pioneer Bayard Rustin and photographer Carl Van Vechten, the site promotes lesser known aspects of the library's holdings such as the LGBT Life Database and their collection of LGBT dissertations. Their exhibit Serving in Silence pays homage to lgbt veterans of the armed forces.

One way the site could be even better is if the banner photos on each section page included some L, B, or T people. Currently the government site shows exclusively G men.

Block of DC's 17th Street Renamed for Frank Kameny, Historic Picket Signs Still MIA at Smithsonian's Museum of American History

This morning, DC's mayor Adrian Fenty is at a ceremony officially renaming a popular block of 17th St. Frank Kameny Way in honor of the pioneering gay rights leader. Fifty-three years ago in 1957 Kameny (2nd from left, below) was fired from his astronomy job with the Army Map Service because he is homosexual, unleashing a one-man starburst galaxy of indignation, outrage, and action for gay equality. Last month he turned 85 and he's still at it. My partner has edited an absolutely awesome book of Kameny's papers, Gay Is Good, currently in publishing limbo because of the problems at Alyson. Even more troubling, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, which lobbied hard to get their twelve original pickets that Kameny, Barbara Gittings, and other early members of the Mattachine Society used to protest outside the White House in 1965, continues to refuse to display these historic signs. (One picket sign appeared in a temporary installation of new acquisitions, shown in the Air & Space Museum, while the NMAH was renovated. The total number of complaints from the public about displaying a pro-gay sign was zero.) At no point in the entire museum devoted the sweep of the nation's history can visitors find any mention that lgbt Americans have ever participated in democracy or even existed. Frank's work isn't over.

Allen Ginsberg's Photos Degayed at National Gallery of Art

 

You don't think of simple, 2-D, single-frame photos as being cubist but Allen Ginsberg's prints capture ordinary moments in the lives of a core group of friends, ex-lovers, and partners, and they simultaneously offer a view back from the future, as Ginsberg wrote descriptions of each sitting when he reprinted the images decades later. On display in three rooms of the west wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, until September 6, Beat Memories radiates all kinds of love. I saw it on Friday and loved the portraits and snapped moments of William S Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Peter Orlovsky, Gary Snyder, Neal Cassady, Larry Rivers, Francesco Clemente, and Gregory Corso (above, in Paris). The subjects are almost exclusively male and the vibe is proudly queer. Indeed, Ginsberg says the idea for writing on his images came from wondering what Rimbaud and Verlaine were doing before and after they were photographed.

Senior curator Sarah Greenough and NGA director Rusty Powell repeatedly acknowledge the gay aspect of Ginsberg's life (while perhaps missing the centrality of it in the creation of his work) in their respective smart essay and welcoming letter in the handsome exhibition catalogue, which retails for $50. However in the gallery itself, and online, all the places the text information is public and free, every curatorial mention of homosexuality has been banished. If the image of a young Peter Orlovsky cartwheeling nude in tall grass by a pond speaks for itself, his relationship to Ginsberg remains a mystery to viewers. Typical of the museums cowering in the shadow of the Capitol, with one hand they write on the wall about the Beats' "sexual openness" and with the other hand they erase every trace of it from their visitors' gaze. Greenough unwisely wondered aloud at a recent press preview what Ginsberg would think of her exhibit. She already has the answer, in Ginsberg's own handwriting on the museum's piece 2008.131.14, in which he complains of Heavy Petting, "final movie version cut out Bill's queer loves." If that's not clear enough, then Howl.

The exhibit was co-funded by the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. View 12 images here.

DADT: the Action, the Arrests, the Book

Yesterday, HRC and self-promoting celebrity Kathy Griffin staged an ineffectual rally at Freedom Plaza in DC calling for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Openly gay Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo transformed the event into real news with major coverage by marching from the plaza to the White House and handcuffing themselves to the fence. They were arrested and spent the night in jail. Robin McGehee, an organizer of the October march and co-founder of Get Equal, also was arrested and she was released with a $35 fine. Choi said, "But what I was taught at West Point and learned in war is -- hope is not a strategy. As officers, James and I both find it a dereliction of our moral duty to remain silent while thousands of our brothers and sister are not allowed to serve openly and honestly."

Unusual for the case of civil disobedience, the police are denying bail to Choi and Pietrangelo. They spent the night in DC Central Cellblock, which AmericaBlog reports is "a nasty place." The blog further reports Choi is being denied his phone call:

This is increasingly disturbing. It increasingly looks as though someone has decided to play hardball with Dan and James. The Park Police say that Dan is not being released on bail. Dan also has not made his phone call to the person designed to pay his bail - the person's phone number is written on Dan's arm, so there's no chance he doesn't have it.

Choi and Pietrangelo will appear before a judge in DC Superior Court today.

Also highly unusual: Today the NYT is covering a self-published book. Photographer Jeff Sheng, recently noted for his series on out gay varsity athletes in high school and college, has just released Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Volume 1. The series of photos of active-duty closeted lesbian and gay servicemembers pointedly depicts them hiding their faces. He said of his sitters, they “didn’t want to risk their careers, but who wanted to take some kind of stand.” 

The NYT interviewed two of the subjects using pseudonyms. Both men discussed the additional stress of the closet. One said,

“Once you are deployed, you live with people in an intimate way. You trust them with your life and they become brothers and sisters. I couldn’t help thinking that if something happened to me, no one would know who I was. That is not the way I want to leave this world.”

The man in the cover shot said, 

“I love the photo,” he said over the phone a few days ago. “It’s great but it’s also revealing. If you knew me, you would know it’s me in that photo. I didn’t realize that my photo was going to be that out there. I did worry that something might happen, but nothing did. I’m proud I did it. I think it shows to conservative Americans that gay military is just normal.”

After serving in Afghanistan, Jess was moved from what he called a “more liberal” unit to one where he was “pushed back in the closet.” He finds his situation difficult. “You can’t get to know people,” he said. “You can’t develop bonds with the people you’re fighting with day in and day out. I can’t talk about myself. I’m afraid I’ll reveal something. I’m constantly on guard.” 

Buy the book, or look at Sheng's dadt portfolio.

ENDA: the Actions, the Arrests

Please, somebody sing a Gleeish mashup with "I believe the children are our future" mixed into Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves. Yesterday, to protest Congress's long inaction and indifference on ENDA, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, the fierce young activists of Get Equal staged sit-in protests at Speaker Pelosi's offices in Washington and San Francisco.

In DC, eight activists arrived for a prescheduled meeting with staff, then refused to leave until ENDA was brought for a vote or they were arrested. They tweeted about police trying to move in and arrest them "but we lock the door from inside. *standoff*" After four hours, the police prevailed and arrested four lesbians. They were taken to DC Central Cellblock and released without needing to post bail. Their court date is April 6.

In SF, eleven Get Equal activists staged a similar sit in at Pelosi's California office. Six were later arrested, detained, and released with a fine for disturbance.

Rad.

(Photos by Omar Clarke, Get Equal)

Visibility Matters: DC, Mexico City Gay Marriage Applicants

Ellen & Portia, Elton & David, Melissa & Julie, Will & Grace, the Modern Family couple, Kurt & his mirror on Glee**... the happy faces of same sex couples in the media are a parade of whiteness. Not to oversimplify but it does seem marginally easier for antigay ministers to stir up black congregations against equality if they consider gay marriage a white phenom. That makes one more reason to celebrate Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend for being first in line Wednesday morning for an application for a marriage license in DC.

As you know, Wednesday also marked the first day same sex couples in Mexico City could legally apply for marriage licenses. Judith Vazquez and Lol-kin Castaneda discussed their plans in an audio interview with the BBC.

(**Kurt's boyfriend in season two will be "a male Mercedes." Just another singing dancing interracial twink couple in western Ohio.)

Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend

Darlene Garner and Candy Holmes

 

Rocky Galloway and Reggie Stanley

Cuc Vu and Gwen Migita

 

Jonathan Howard and Gregory Jones escaped the HRC sticker madness

Judith Vazquez and Lol-kin Castaneda in Mexico City

Carlos Alberto Ramos and Javier Gutierrez in Mexico's capital

Mexican accessorizers wait for their marriage application

DC Council Passes Gay Marriage: Pray for Congressional Inaction

By an 11 to 2 vote yesterday the D.C. City Council passed a bill that would allow same sex marriage in the nation's capital. The law will apply equally to residents and non-residents of the District, so couples from the 46 inhospitable states could marry in D.C. Mayor Fenty has promised to sign the bill, after which Congress has 30 days to "review" the measure. Foes would need the cooperation of the house, the senate, and the president to completely undo the bill, but in future years they can use "budget maneuvers" to halt the marriages. Antigay killjoys have already promised a voter referendum to overturn the law. A D.C. homophobe named Bob King told the Washington Post, "God's war has just begun."

January 20: The Inauguration

(The shoe throwing in Dupont Circle was January 19.)

You'll find this hard to believe but thousands of people around us left immediately after the inaugural address, before the poem. To my mind, both the speech and the poem were sincere efforts and missed opportunities, without any phrase or imagery that will endure. I did, however, appreciate the Bush/Cheney criticism.

Ultimately I think Obama is a better speechmaker than speechwriter. He creates a lofty, vague mood but nothing specific stays with the listener. If I'm wrong, recite your favorite lines from the Denver speech. Or summarize its thesis.

Understandably, everyone is focused on the new, and thank god for that, but I did think the Official Bush Farewell Poem, released late yesterday morning, was more to the point.

There was a man from Texas
Who was hated by both sexes.
Everything he tried
Depended on a lie,
And he left with no successes.

Born December 17: Paul Cadmus

Although the controversy over his 1934 WPA painting The Fleet's In! was sparked by homophobia and led Henry Latrobe Roosevelt to remove it from the Corcoran show, Paul Cadmus was always aware that the outcry helped establish him. For the rest of his life, he said he was grateful for it. By 1937 his paintings at the Midtown Galleries in New York attracted more than 7,000 visitors. He had grown up in Manhattan and was fascinated by sailors, frequently hanging out at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Riverside Park, where he was often propositioned by navy men on leave but was too shy to go with them, preferring instead to sit on the benches with them and talk. By his twenties, he was over his shyness and traveled through Europe for three years with his lover Jared French, who urged him to quit advertising and paint fulltime. Back in New York, they formed a circle of prominent gay artists including George Platt Lynes, who used Cadmus as a model, and Lincoln Kirstein, who married his sister, Fidelma Cadmus, and fifty years later wrote the catalog as Cadmus was being rediscovered. He enjoyed more than a decade of increasing interest in his work before he died, eleven days after 300 friends had gathered to celebrate his 95th birthday. He was survived by Jon Anderson, his partner of more than thirty-five years.

Born October 31: Natalie Barney

Of course Natalie Barney rode astride her horse rather than side-saddle as a child. Decades ahead of her time, she knew she was a lesbian from the age of twelve, in 1888, and considered it unusual but perfectly natural, like being an albino. Born into one of DC's wealthiest families, she refused to hide. In 1900, she published a book of her love poems to women and her mother sketched the illustrations. Alas, when her father found out, he bought up every copy still available and paid the printer to destroy the plates. So she moved to Paris, where she published ten more books and for sixty years held a weekly salon that was the epicenter not only of lesbian life (yes, Mata Hari really did begin her Lady Godiva dance by entering on a white horse) but also the city's literary culture. Frequent guests included T.S. Eliot, Rilke, Rodin, Ezra Pound, Colette, Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas, Djuna Barnes, Isadora Duncan, Radclyffe Hall, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Janet Flanner, Andre Gide, Jean Cocteau, Peggy Guggenheim, Sinclair Lewis, Sherwood Anderson, Thornton Wilder, Virgil Thomson, Truman Capote, Mary McCarthy, Marguerite Yourcenar, Somerset Maugham, Ford Maddox Ford, William Carlos Williams, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce a few times, but never Hemingway. He was probably jealous that she could keep women longer than he could. And she kept her partners enthralled despite juggling multiple long-term open relationships. including one with the painter Romaine Brooks for fifty years, as well as Elisabeth de Gramont and Oscar's niece Dolly Wilde. When Barney was newly arrived in Paris, she seduced the most famous courtesan by dressing as a page and presenting herself at the woman's house. Not only did it work, but this Liane de Pougy wrote a book about their affair which captivated France and went through 70 printings in its first year, 1901. Such zest kept Natalie Barney going until 1972, when she died at ninety-five. You tell me why there's never been a biopic of her.

"Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture" in DC

The first ever Roman exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington is indeed a convincing trip back in time: to the McCarthy era. The wan written commentary seems designed to reinforce what viewers already believe rather than educate them about what they don't know. Many, many artifacts have no commentary at all. Although the show's subtitle specifically promises the culture of the ancient world, nowhere do the curators acknowledge the prevalence of same-sex relationships. The exhibit is packed with male subjects who exclusively or enthusiastically loved men, yet this aspect of their lives is  whitewashed: Plato, Alexander the Great, Epicurus, Julius Caesar, Caligula, Nero, and Achilles.

Of course the statues, busts, frescoes, pilasters, vases, cups, jewelry and other artifacts are ravishing. [Photography is not allowed.] Their ennobling beauty conveys its own truths, but as for academic enlightenment, you're on your own. Even Carol Mattusch's pretty, 360-page catalog does not have index entries for gay, homosexuality, or sexuality. 

Is the enormous painting above Vesuvius erupting or my mind exploding? The curators' decision to degay their exhibit was twice as painful coming a week after the British Museum's superlative, superior Hadrian show. Just as it was doubly disappointing that this screaming omission was ignored by art critics at the Washington Post and the New York Times.

You must go. It's free, no tickets required, in DC until March 22. Then it's in Los Angeles, at LACMA, from May 3 to October 4.

Newman & Woodward Gave to First Gay Congressional Candidate

Here's one thing you didn't read in the weekend's obituaries and tributes to peerless legend Paul Newman. Way back in 1971, Frank Kameny became the first openly gay candidate to run for Congress. Out of the blue, Kameny received a $500 check from Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Very, very awesome.

Kameny Papers Now Available at Library of Congress

For a little historical background, when was the Library of Congress's first LGBT civil rights collection made available to the public? The 1970s? The 1990s? No, it was yesterday. Gay activist pioneer and pack rat extraordinaire, Frank Kameny co-founded The Mattachine Society of DC in 1961; organized the 1965 gay picket marches in front of the White House, Philadelphia's Independence Hall, and the Pentagon; succeeded in convincing the American Psychiatric Association to delist homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973; and has been a blaring siren for gay equality for nearly five decades. He is still fighting the ban on gays in the military, having been fired from the Army's mapmaking division in 1961. Lucky for history, he seemingly saved every scrap of paper through it all. The Library of Congress cataloged 50,000 Kameny documents, organized by Michael McElderry with the assistance of Kimberly Owens and Tammi Taylor. After months of work, they've indexed all the papers which now fill 142 containers stretching 56.8 feet. Frank, on the right above, is shown with John Hayes, the head of the Manuscript Division at the Library.

For more, click here, but first read below.

How did this happen? In a word, the BF. Working with Frank, Charles Francis rescued the papers from a disarray that called to mind, at best, Jackson Pollock and, at worst, Hurricane Katrina. Charles gathered a team of invaluable experts, Bob Witeck, Dudley Clendinen, Adam Goodheart, Gary Cohen, and Rick Rosendall, to form the Kameny Papers Project. On Frank's behalf they approached the country's most significant archives, all of whom were interested, and with Frank they determined the most appropriate repository for the papers was the Library of Congress, at once local, national, and historic. The Library's acquisition, in October 2006, was made possible thanks to major support from Mike Huffington, Don Capoccia, and Ellen Ratner, among other donors. Frank also gave twelve of his picket signs to the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. Last September, two were displayed as new acquisitions alongside Joe Louis's boxing gloves and a teapot protesting the Stamp Act.

Allan Gurganus on Whitman, Eakins at the NPG

"Calling Walt Whitman asexual is like calling Mozart tone deaf," Allan Gurganus said Saturday afternoon at the National Portrait Gallery in DC. He remarked of the gay poet, "From Walt, all blessings flow. He is not simply the Father of American letters, but its Mother, too." The always-quotable novelist lectured for an hour on Thomas Eakins' painting of Whitman which Gurganus explained is actually a "double portrait" of both men, "two renegades so alike" who "came to echo one another." At the time, Whitman was 69, "a Sun God in his senescence," and Eakins was 44, and their many joint endeavors, including Eakins photographing Whitman nude, reflected "the joys of outlaws hanging out together." Luckily for those of us who missed his presentation as I horribly did [quotes and photo via my favorite proxy], Gurganus intends to publish it in a small volume. In the mean time, reread his excellent novel of life in New York, Plays Well with Others, which I've always felt was not given the attention it deserved because its characters are gay, his really wonderful quartet The Practical Heart, especially relevant here as the title novella, which won the National Magazine Prize in 1994, concerns a woman sitting for John Singer Sargent, or return yet again to his sensational debut, Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All. His talk was the inaugural address in the gallery's American Pictures Distinguished Lecture series, under the directorship of Adam Goodheart, award winning NYT critic, superstar of Washington College, and friend of Thebes. An equally fascinating pairing comes next Saturday when Laurie Andersen discusses Warhol's Electric Chair. Tickets, free of charge, become available at 3:30 for her lecture at 4:30. Be there.

Sindy Felin's Touching Snow

Tonight is the (otherwise lackluster) ceremony for the National Book Awards and you should put on your lucky socks or whatever you do to make certain Sindy Felin wins the YA category. She's not your garden variety black lesbian paralegal first-novelist turned National Book Award nominee and abuse survivor of Haitian descent. Oh, no. She's also pregnant with triplets. Two readers have tipped me to this interview in the Washington Post. It's a great profile for many reasons, especially the naturalness with which it includes her partner, their hunt for a sperm donor, and the "budding lesbianism" of the book's seventh grade protagonist. Apparently Touching Snow contains considerable violence, always handled in a manner sensitive enough for today's young readers. Make sure to support it. Judging from the vague profiles of two other nominees, it's possible we have three runners in this race, but Sindy Felin is the only one who's out. Either way, Brian Selznick's intricate The Invention of Hugo Cabret, about a lonely boy in Paris, looks wonderful. And not just because Martin Scorsese may direct the movie.

Born October 31: Natalie Barney

Of course Natalie Barney rode astride her horse rather than side-saddle as a child. Decades ahead of her time, she knew she was a lesbian from the age of twelve, in 1888, and considered it unusual but perfectly natural, like being an albino. Born into one of DC's wealthiest families, she refused to hide. In 1900, she published a book of her love poems to women and her mother sketched the illustrations. Alas, when her father found out, he bought up every copy still available and paid the printer to destroy the plates. So she moved to Paris, where she published ten more books and for sixty years held a weekly salon that was the epicenter not only of lesbian life (yes, Mata Hari really did begin her Lady Godiva dance there by entering on a white horse) but also the city's literary culture. Frequent guests included T.S. Eliot, Rilke, Rodin, Ezra Pound, Colette, Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas, Djuna Barnes, Isadora Duncan, Radclyffe Hall, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Janet Flanner, Andre Gide, Jean Cocteau, Peggy Guggenheim, Sinclair Lewis, Sherwood Anderson, Thornton Wilder, Virgil Thomson, Truman Capote, Mary McCarthy, Marguerite Yourcenar, Somerset Maugham, Ford Maddox Ford, William Carlos Williams, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce a few times, but never Hemingway. He was probably jealous that she could keep women longer than he could, and that she kept them enthralled despite juggling multiple long-term open relationships, including one with the painter Romaine Brooks for fifty years, as well as Elisabeth de Gramont and Oscar's niece Dolly Wilde. When she was newly arrived in Paris, she seduced the most famous courtesan by dressing as a page and presenting herself at the woman's house. Not only did it work, but this Liane de Pougy wrote a book about their affair which captivated France and went through 70 printings in its first year, 1901. Such zest kept Natalie Barney going until 1972, when she died at ninety-five.

Historic! Smithsonian Highlights Gay Signs from 1965

Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the Kameny Papers Project, twelve of the picket signs used to protest anti-gay policies in 1965 during White House demonstrations organized by Frank Kameny and Barbara Gittings are part of the Smithsonian's collection and two of them are now on display. Earlier this week, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History updated their new acquisitions showcase to include a teapot protesting the Stamp Act, Joe Lewis's boxing gloves, and two signs reading "Discrimination Against Homosexuals Is As Immoral As Discrimination Against Negroes & Jews" and "First Class Citizenship for Homosexuals." Three buttons accompany the pickets, including one with the famous slogan "Gay Is Good."

      The display case is part of a larger exhibit called Treasures of American History on view in the Air & Space Museum because the history museum is closed for renovations until next summer. A quick look at the exhibit--which has 150 items including R2-D2, C-3PO, Abraham Lincoln's bullet-riddled tophat, George Washington's military coat, Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves, Ray Charles's sunglasses, a draft of the Declaration of Independence, a panel from the aids quilt, Jackie's inauguration ball gown, and Dorothy's ruby slippers-- appears below.

Andrew Holleran's Grief

   

      
Today the paperback of Andrew Holleran’s exceptional fourth novel Grief goes on sale. Two good interviews with Holleran can be read here and here. Last year, reviewers loved the book, yet their swooning might have made it sound precious.

The New York Times Book Review: “concise and beautiful.”

The Washington Post: "haunting and unexpectedly exhilarating."

The Seattle Times: "a far-reaching masterpiece."

Salon.com: “a strange, slim, beautiful book… a short novel, but like a single note struck on a perfect silver bell, it carries far.

Booklist: "A pensive, creative, and haunting novel that speaks to the heart.”

The Washington Times: “An extraordinarily fine work of fiction.”

Kirkus Reviews: “A haunting, exquisite novel.”

USA Today: "should be savored, because its emotional theme and elegiac tone are mesmerizing."

For whatever reason, no reviewer adequately conveyed the novel’s humor. The unnamed narrator, his unnamed landlord, their mutual friend Frank, and Frank's boyfriend the Lug toss off hilarious remarks, but they’re often painful. Maybe critics weren't certain if it was okay to laugh.

With the story unfolding entirely within a few square miles from Dupont Circle to the Mall, history casts a soft shadow over their present loneliness. The narrator having nursed his mother through her final, twelve-year illness, now tries to lose himself in a seemingly endless book of Mary Todd Lincoln’s letters as she drifted, grieving and shopping, without a permanent home, for seventeen years after her husband’s assassination. Her grief is deftly contrasted with Henry Adams', who forbid anyone from mentioning his wife Clover again after her suicide. Yet Holleran makes certain to weave gay Washington history into his work too, including Walt Whitman and Peter Doyle, J. Edgar Hoover and Clyde Tolson, Eleanor Roosevelt (inexplicably without Lorena Hickok), and Leonard Matlovich who used to rent a room from the landlord.

When so much of today’s fiction is plotted like television, or is too self-consciously soulful, awaiting a sweeping Miramax treatment, it’s gratifying to find another outpost of serious literature. Like Kazuo Ishiguro’s masterpiece The Unconsoled, the action here is all interior and utterly unfilmable. But what a pleasure to spend an hour or two in a contemplative world where nevertheless the characters drop social grenades such as, “I used to think the eighties were like a very nice dinner party with friends, except some of them were taken out and shot while the rest of us were expected to go on eating.” That’s Grief.

Fellow Travelers Book Party

The sole downside of co-hosting last night’s book party for Thomas Mallon’s universally-praised new novel Fellow Travelers is that journalism ethics and simple good manners prohibit saying it was a tremendous success. The crowd of 100 people—ages ranging literally from 18 to 82—was so intelligent and fun it was hard to remember it was D.C., except that Charles Francis’s triplex apartment rocked with D.C.-area authors and shakers: Last week’s Triangle Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award winner Andrew Holleran whose most recent novel is Grief; newscaster Jim Lehrer, whose 16th novel The Phony Marine came out last November; public relations guru Bob Witeck, whose savvy and essential Business Inside Out was published last September; the Washington Post’s Hank Stuever, author of the “personal and profound” [PW] Off Ramp: Adventures and Heartache in the American Elsewhere; Chris Bull, author of Perfect Enemies and editor of Come Out Fighting; Michael Barone, whose Our First Revolution was published last week; San Francisco Chronicle Washington correspondent Carolyn Lochhead; essayist and frequent NYTRB critic Adam Goodheart , whose book on slavery is forthcoming from Knopf, and Dale Carpenter , whose book Sex, Lies, and the Law: The Story of Lawrence v. Texas, will be published next year by Norton.

After the charming/disarming Mallon’s remarks about the world’s progress with democracy and America’s ongoing quarrel over gay equality—two of the novel’s three themes, with faith—he invited legendary activist Frank Kameny to join him on the staircase. Kameny’s long and ultimately successful battle with the government over sexual orientation as grounds for dismissal or denied security clearances has provided protection for two generations of gay employees since the McCarthy-era witch hunts faced by Mallon’s characters in Fellow Travelers. Kameny thanked the crowd and reassured everyone that although the next issue of the Advocate magazine will include a report of his death from aids, the issue after that, two weeks later, will carry a correction.

Charles quoted reviews of Fellow Travelers that, nationwide, have been extremely good to great to euphoric, especially here, here, and here.