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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

May 18, 2012 www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

Delusions with wolves

by Anthony Glassman

Artistic minds are renowned for examinations of madness, of insanity. Vincent Van Gogh, as a notable example. One of his most famous paintings is a self-portrait with the bandage clearly visible from having cut off his ear; he was in a right state over fears that fellow painter Gauguin was going to stop working with him.

More recently, the novel and film of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club are both about the dangers of dissociation; the narrator thinks Tyler Durden is a separate person, leading him astray, when it reality it is the narrator himself.

The similarities between Tyler Durden and Vincent Van Gogh are fairly shallow overall, but they do have something else in common: They are/were both annoyingly heterosexual. Thankfully, we have Daniel Allen Cox, who must sit in his luxurious manse in Montréal plotting ways to write gaily about people going insane.

His third novel, Basement of Wolves, is now available from Arsenal Pulp Press (trade paperback, $15.95), everyone's favorite Canadian publishing company. Seriously. They wear their pinkolefty agenda with pride, as all true liberals should, and provide such a strong outlet for LGBT writers, as well as fascinating travel guides, vegetarian cookbooks and a slew of other literary delicacies.

But, back to the matter, or novel, at hand. Basement of Wolves is the tale of MichaelDavid, an actor leaving his youth and not yet in the realm of distinguished roles. He's in that period that we all wish Tom Cruise would enter where he would become per-

sona non grata before returning as a silver fox like Ted Danson.

He sees a chance to avoid a self-imposed exile, however, when auteur filmmaker Chris asks him to be in his new opus, not yet

Daniel Allen Cox

guing fantasia of ho Sara Shulman

BASE

MENT

OF

written, not yet plotted, but sure to be an intense experience. It's about a boy whose father raises wolves, but treats them horribly, so the boy frees the wolves, runs off into the woods with them, then returns 20 years later as Michael-David.

WOLVES

The only problem is, in addition to being narcissistic, Michael-David is also deeply paranoid, and begins to see plots and schemes designed to irreparably shatter his career, if not his psyche. What was supposed to be a story of redemption becomes a tale of revenge, and his behavior on-set is increasingly erratic before filming

wraps.

Once it does, an internet hook-up goes awry, and Michael-David decides to go into hiding from his trick, from his director, from everything. He takes a room at a tourist hotel in Los Angeles, where he meets Tim, a skater-cum-terrorist who might actually be MichaelDavid's only salvation.

The liner notes refer to the novel as "a work of dream logic." It might be more pointed to call it glorious nonsense. Either one works, really. The book makes the same sense as a dream, while being both incredibly silly and deeply meaningful. Cox is almost uniquely able to do this, while at the same time avoiding a literary devolution into soft-core pornography, a fate that befalls many a gay author. Basement Wolves proves that a single well-placed sex scene is far more potent than all the Viagra-induced, overlysweaty hornball crap that lines the gay lit shelves much of the time.

a novel by DANIEL ALLEN COX

author of Shuck and Krakow Melt

Who you love should not

determine how you are treated

when looking for a home

Unfortunately, not every city protects you from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. To find if your rights are protected where you live, call 216-361-9240 or visit our website at www.thehousingcenter.org

Call the Housing Research & Advocacy Center if you think you have experienced housing discrimination in making a housing choice.

216-361-9240

www.thehousingcenter.org

Nancy Marcus, S.J.D.

Attorney at Law

Berkman, Gordon, Murray & DeVan

Constitutional Law and Civil Rights Criminal Defense Trial and Appellate Practice Personal Injury Medical Malpractice General Civil Practice www.bgmdlaw.com Free Initial Consultation

(216) 781-5245

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