GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

AUGUST 30, 1996

Chevrei Tikva

Chevrei Tikva, Cleveland's Synagogue with an outreach to the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual community is a member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the World Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jewish Organizations. P.O. Box 18120⚫ Cleveland, Ohio 44118 CTLine (216) 932-5551

High Holiday Schedule 1996/5757

Friday, September 13

6:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

Erev Rosh Hashana Home Hospitality in Members' Homes. Call CT Line by Friday, September 6 to R.S.V.P. Erev Rosh Hashanah Service led by student Rabbi Lauren Neuborne.

Saturday September 14

10:30 a.m. 1:00 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

Rosh Hashana Morning Service led by Lauren Neuborne. Rosh Hashana lunch at Aladdin's at Cedar Fairmount. R.S.V.P. by September 6 to CTLine.

Tashlich ceremony; meet at "The Thinker" in front of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Sunday September 22

6:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

Erev Yom Kippur dinner at Cirino's Pewter Mug, 12905 Cedar at Cedar Center. R.S.V.P. by Sunday September 15th to CTLine. Kol Nidre Service led by Lauren Neuborne.

Monday September 23

10:30 a.m.

Yom Kippur Morning Service (with Yizkor Service) led by Lauren Neuborne.

Torah Study led by Lauren Neuborne.

2:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m.

N'ila (Concluding) Service, at the home of Brynna Fish.

6:30 p.m.

Pot Luck Break-the-Fast, at the home of Brynna Fish. R.S.V.P. for dinner by Sunday, September 15 to CTLine.

PLEASE NOTE: Services are held at the Unitarian Society, 2728 Lancashire Road in Cleveland Heights except as noted. Dinner and break-the-fast reservations are required. For reservations, membership, or additional information, please call the CTLine, 216/932-5551

Chevrei Tikva wishes the Gay and Lesbian Jewish community L'shana Tova Tikatevu.

North Coast

Cruise

ཁ་ག

'96

Celebrating our 8th Cruise! Saturday, Sept. 21st

7:30 p.m. 11:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. Rain or Shine

$25.00 Donation

Proceeds to benefit Agape

Community Based AIDS Support Services

BOOKS

A hard, then soft story of a

man's fight to

Pagan's Father by Michael Arditti Soho Books, $24 hardcover

Reviewed by Nels P. Highberg

Not so long ago, a day couldn't go by without some media mention of gays in the military. Today, the same is true about gay and lesbian marriage. I don't think it will be long until the same can be said of lesbians

Michael Arditti

and gays as parents, a topic that has already garnered a fair amount of press.

British novelist Michael Arditti has given his perspective on this issue in his newest book, Pagan's Father. The novel, set for

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keep his child

American publication in September, is rich in both technique and narrative. Arditti's story fits within a framework of strong British and American fiction and focuses on themes and issues that have gained scattered attention in recent years.

The narrator, Leo, tells the story to a "you" that turns out to be a friend who has recently died, Candida Mulliner. Candida and Leo share a relationship that many around them find confusing. After meeting a number of years earlier, the two have lived together for most of their adult lives in an intensely loving yet non-sexual relationship.

After Candida dies, her disease is not discussed in detail. Leo becomes the custodial guardian of her five-year-old daughter Pagan. Leo has functioned as Pagan's father since her birth, as Candida kept the birth father's identity a secret from Leo and everyone else. Things go as smoothly as they can after Pagan and Leo lose someone as important as Candida. That is until Candida's adoptive parents enter the picture. Their fight to see Pagan eventually turns into a battle for custody that takes up the bulk of the book.

Obviously, a book like this questions the definitions of family and home. Candida is adopted herself, and her own childhood leads to her adult estrangement from her adoptive parents. Several other heterosexual relationships in the book crumble or sit on a shaky foundation, and the question of what makes a "good" home gets complicated to say the least.

But the book raises other topics as well. First, there is the subject of relationships between gay men and heterosexual women. The notion of celebrity and outing becomes a theme because Leo hosts a popular talk show and the press quickly jumps onto his battle over Pagan. Finally, the question of parental rights, children's rights, and a host of other rights gets a lot of attention in this book.

One thing that stands out to me is the way that this novel connects to other texts. As Leo describes Candida's death, I could not help but think of Jeanette Winterson's provocative novel Written on the Body. Each book eloquently questions the definition of loss.

Arditti's inclusion of court documents within his narrative and the quite unexpected twists and turns the novels takes (pay attention when a woman in a veil appears toward the end) connect to A.S. Bryant's Possession.

Finally, the story reminds me of the groundbreaking American novel Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison because of the descriptions of abuse and pain in both texts.

This novel does a lot in its four hundred pages. It is painful, then comforting, then surprising, and constantly changing throughout. This book will be getting some attention for some months to come.

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Entertainment Music Dancing Beer Soft Drinks

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Cash Bar

Join us for our second Sunset Cruise for the '96 season on the Goodtime . leaving from the Jackson Street Pier in downtown Sandusky.

For Tickets

Tickets can be purchased at

X-Centricities Niteclub

or send

self-addressed stamped envelope with check or money order

to:

North Coast Cruise '96 P.O. Box 1264. Sandusky, Ohio 44870 before Sept. 14th for more information Call (419) 627-2525

ONLY 300 TICKETS AVAILABLE

Pre-Cruise Party

5:00 7:30 p.m. X-Centricities Niteclub (419) 624-8118

(1 Block from Dock!)

306 W. Water Street, Sandusky

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