10

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE June 15, 2001

woopelave

A DAY OUT

PET SHOP BOYS SOFT CELL

MAIN STAGE

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

FESTIVAL AREA

CONTINUOUS NON STOP DANCE MUSIC BY THE WORLD'S BIGGEST CIRCUIT DJS

辨了

GAY LOM

Planes OutƠI.

HUMAN

RIGHTS

LYDIA PRIMM SUSAN MORABITO

COM BLOSS

LIGHT

CONCERT

SERIES

Tickets On Sale Now!

M USI C

M

HOUSE BLUES

CENT E R CONCERTS

July 23⚫ 6:00 PM

Tickets are available at all ticketmaster ticket centers including Kaufmann's and select Giant Eagles, online at tickom Fox.com or charge by phone at (216) 241-5555 (Cleveland) or (330) 945-9400 (Akron). Group sales information call (330) 916-6088. www.blossommusic.com⚫ hob.com

Joy of Coin

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

GAY PEOPLE'S

chili's Chronicle

SIRIUS

::

DISCOVER hob.com

125 150

COORS LIGHT— TAP THE ROCKIES!

EUROPTICAL

OLIVER PEOPLES

theo

D&G

IXX MALSISANA

OCCHIALI

BOSS

HUGO BOSS

VERSUS

Gramin Vermaa

eveningsout

Publisher makes major mark independently

by Anthony Glassman

In the world of publishing, there has been an old maxim: Bigger is better.

Large publishing houses have expanded by merging with other houses, and a corporate mentality has ruled all.

Until now.

Akashic Books. a Brooklyn, New York publishing house headed by Johnny Temple-freelance cultural critic and bassist for the rock band Girls Against Boys-is an independent company that publishes "urban literary fiction" and political non-fiction. The company gives a voice to authors who are ignored by mainstream publishers or who do not want to work in the corporate publishing world.

One of their goals is to produce great gay and lesbian fiction-and they seem to be succeeding. In their short history, they've had two authors take the Lambda Literary Award for Small Press, impressively garnering them two Lammys in three years. Michael

Henry Flesh, who won the 1999 Lambda Literary Award for Small Press for his novel Massage, has returned with this apocalyptic tale of the last days, the Rapture and sleeping with angels.

The novel has the feeling of a fever dream. which is apt. The protagonist. Stephen. feels feverish throughout the book. spending as much time in his memory as in the real world. caught between idealized remembrances of his dead lover and the truth that they really didn't get along very well with each other. A cult that has swept the nation storms into his life. led by Charlene. a small, silent girl with mystical powers.

As the Biblical end times approach. with the world teetering on the brink of nuclear holocaust and people disappearing without explanation. can Stephen find grace? Does he want to?

Henry Flesh

It's a fine line being straddled by Flesh in this novel, well, novella: at 118 pages. it's hardly the longest read on the shelf. On the one hand, his protagonist, like Flesh himself. is unabashedly and unapologetically gay. He's here, he's queer. get over it. On the other hand, he's tackling a touchy subject: the ultimate acceptance of God for all of his children, no matter whom they love.

The archangel Michael does appear, by the way, and our hero is redeemed. Is it by repentance for something that is not a sin, or through God's acceptance of Stephen as he is?

Read it and find out.

It is difficult to decide whether the occasional illustrations by Manhattan artist John H. Greer add to the narrative or detract from it. Perhaps the pictures, like sexual orientation. are just something to be accepted as fact.

Kamikaze Lust

Lauren Sanders' fun. funny and fast-paced novel won this year for Henry Flesh's honor. in the Small Press category. It could have easily been a contender in Lesbian Fiction, standing toe-to-toe with the big boys and girls of publishing.

Rachel Silver is at loose ends when the newspaper she works at goes on strike. She doesn't want to be a scab, but she needs to

Lauren Sanders

eat, so she takes a job ghostwriting the autobiography of Alexis Calyx. porn-starcum-feminist-erotic filmmaker. Calyx sees in Rachel what the reporter herself cannot, the powerful woman wanting to emerge, the woman who loves other women-well, at least her co-worker Shade: the archetypal strong, black, urban woman who's urbane. witty, sensual.

Silver, the product of a dysfunctional Jewish family, struggles to maintain her "normality. having a brief affair with Calyx's ex-porn star ex-husband, but will the affair doom her relationship with Shade before it has a chance to begin?

This book takes off in so many directions. with so many subplots. it's amazing they don't confuse. Finely woven into a masterfully created tapestry, it is a mystery why Sanders work hasn't garnered far more attention. She has written for magazines and edited anthologies, true, but her deadpan wit should give her a standing near Muriel Spark. Fay Weldon and other incredibly witty. vicious authors.

Hell, even Amy Ray liked the book. The last sentence of Ray's blurb on the back of the book says it all:"In Sanders' hands, what is usually cliché or gratuitous is hot." ✓

19113 DETROIT RD DR. MARK DAVIS, OD

ROCKY RIVER

440.895.3030

Rely on Someone You Can Trust in Our Community

▼Full Time Agent Over 9 Years

▼Top 10 Office Producer

I have the "411" on Over 6,000 Homes

Many Qualified Buyers

I'm on Your Side of the Negotiation Table

Century 21.

Beyond 2000 Realty 1-800-219-9471 Office 1-216-389-6965 Voice Mail

Mark Snyder

Multi Million Dollar Producer Professional of the Year Award President's Sales Club Award

At Your Disposal "24/7"!! 216-533-6965