10 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE June 28, 2002

evening'sout

These two family tales complement each other well

Lucky in the Corner

by Carol Anshaw

Houghton Mifflin, $23 hardcover

The Big Book of Misunderstanding by Jim Gladstone

Harrington Park, $17.95 trade paper

Reviewed by Anthony Glassman

If there is one universal constant in the human condition, it is family. An orphaned child on the streets of Bangladesh will create his or her own family, while half a world away an adolescent is rolling his or her eyes at something stupid coming out of a parent's mouth.

Or, as Oscar Wilde once said, "All girls turn into their mothers; that is their tragedy. No boys do; that is their tragedy."

It seems, however, that Fern is unlikely to become her mother in Carol Anshaw's Lucky in the Corner. First of all, shortly before Fern

entered pubescence, her mother Nora came out as lesbian and left

Lucky Fern's father.

in the

a novel

Second, while Fern is just beCorner ginning to explore the relationship between her life and the concept of true love, Nora is cheating on the love of her life with an adult education student at the local community college.

Carat Anshaw

Throw Nora's brother Harold-the ballsiest broad this side of the Mississippi— into the mix, and Anshaw has given the reader perhaps the most engaging family tragicomedy since Nancy Mitford's preWorld War II novels.

Not to be outdone, Jim Gladstone takes us

deep into the darkest jungles of the Royalton family in his novel, The Big Book of Misunderstanding.

Joshua Royalton is young, gay, attractive, and wondering whether it might be a good idea to end it all just so he can stop being a kid. He starts off the book with an open bottle of pills in his hand. From there, however, he takes the reader through the last few decades of his family's lives.

His grandfather, a womanizing traveling salesman, was never there for his wife or his son, Joshua's father.

Joshua's father, on the other hand, was entirely too present, overcompensating for his lack of a paternal role model by smothering his wife and sons until, one by one, they flew the coop, getting as far away from him as they can.

Joshua eventually returns to his father's house, in part to see what has become of the once robust, now broken patriarch of his childhood. More than checking up on his father, though, Joshua is seeking clues in his past to the person that he has become. After

The Big Book of Misunderstanding

a novel

JIM GLADSTONE

years of putting on persona

after

persona,

mask and

visage after

façade and

ruse, he has

lost the little

boy that was supposed to grow into

a man.

Primarily written in flashback, Misunder-

standing is a wonderful companion piece to Lucky. One deals with fathers and sons, the other with mothers and daughters. Both deftly weave the intricate web of the ties that bind and finally prove that, while blood might not necessarily be thicker than water, it is certainly more elastic.

Serving the Lesbian & Gay Community for Over a Decade

Edele Passalacqua

Attorney at Law

Keep it in the Community!

Free Initial Consultation

Call for Free Considtation. Evenings & Weekend Hours Available

2830 Franklin Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44113 216-696-0040

Primary Areas of Practice Includes

Criminal Defense

Commercial and Civil Litigation

Wills/Durable Power

of Attorney

Domestic Partnership Agreements

OUTSTANDING

Come and See the Newly Redesigned 2002 Camry... It's ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!

New & Used

See or Jim Greenfield Sales & Leasing

Experience the Metro difference!

METRO TOYOTA

W. 137th & Brookpark Road OFF 1-480

want a shot at a good time?

how about

3,

Men who have sex with men are at risk

for Hepatitis A and B, two viral STDs.

Now, in three shots, you can get a combination vaccine that makes you immune to both.

To get the vaccine:

Check with your

Call HEAT at 216.651.5428

physician. Your to find a location of a local

or

insurance may

cover it.

clinic that offers reduced cost vaccines.

Receive the shots

for $5 each for a

or

very limited time.

Call HEAT for info.

32 Years of

Sales Service

Excellence!

216-267-7000

On average, a person will miss 27 days of work

when first infected with Hepatitis A.

For more information, visit www.lgcsc.org heat

HEAT is a program of the Lesbian/Gay Community Service Center of Greater Cleveland.