Eminent Outlaws tells the history of 20th-century major gay writers

Can a history of 20th-century gay male authors (with a bit into the 21st) be both expansive and succinct? With Eminent Outlaws, author and essayist Christopher Bram has done that. He retells, in succinct form, the major authors' early successes, later failures, and how their lives often intertwined as colleagues and 'frenemies.'

Beginning with pioneering writers Gore Vidal and Truman Capote (and their mutual rivalries), Bram curates a fascinating tour of the pre-Stonewall daring of these and other authors. Throughout the book, he offers no discretion by quoting scathingly anti-gay critics of each era.

Tennessee Williams, a friend to both Vidal and Capote, is given generous exploration, from his early theater successes to his later troubled life after his partner Frank Merlo's death. Later in the book, playwrights Edward Albee, Mart Crowley, Larry Kramer and Tony Kushner's groundbreaking yet different works are recounted, from their historic plays' inspirations and premieres to the (again) vituperative attacks amid praise by (mostly -thankfully- forgotten) critics.

James Baldwin is quoted for his social commentary and, like Vidal and Capote, exemplifies the shift toward authors becoming 'telegenic.' (Imagine this writer, fascinated by a few of these authors on '70s talk shows via some innate gaydar, and later, while still a theater and dance student, privately scribbling bad poems and short stories influenced first by probable bisexual Jack Kerouac, and later by openly gay authors).

Bram also traces Baldwin's numerous treks from America to France, and his struggles with being boxed into gay and 'Black' categories. Expatriate, British/California author Christopher Isherwood's life from Berlin to Santa Monica shows the breadth of his work, and how stage and film adaptations of his stories changed his life.

Edmund White's career is given plenty of depth, from his homocentric/erotic works to more dreamlike tomes, and even his nonfiction works on sexuality and American rural gays.

Poets get a healthy nod, including, of course, Alan Ginsberg's infamous "Howl" publication and the ensuing legal battle. Frank O'Hara and the less remembered James Merrill get coverage.

Armistead Maupin is given ample exploration, from his early Chronicle serial to the multiple Tales of the City books, and his further success with The Night Listener.

Some mentions are more brief, like the short-lived Violet Quill and its authors (Felice Picano, Andrew Holleran and Edmund White being the only surviving members), and the later AIDS-era satirist David B. Feinberg. Bram also modestly excludes his own prolific output of acclaimed novels.

Later authors Michael Cunningham, David Leavitt, Stephen McCauley and others are included toward the end, rounding out this impressive survey of how literature was shaped beyond the gay genre and into larger readership. Additionally, Bram weaves in the rise and fall of independent gay bookstores, big publishers' '80s and '90s support of gay authors, and how each aided gay fiction's growth in spite of later omission by mainstream media.

Bram weaves a deft combination of history, biography, and even critical treatments of each writers' best and lesser known works. Stonewall, the rise of the AIDS epidemic, politics from the '50s to the millennium, are smartly contextualized as reflections of each writer's output.

Having read many of the works cited, including the expansive biographies of several authors, reading it became a bit of a thrill ride ("I knew that! Oh, I didn't know that!'). I hope that Eminent Outlaws is included in every LGBT Literature class. Each chapter shares a fascinating overview that should hopefully inspire further reading into the collective literary past.

Bohemian Rhapsody film reviews - the good, the bad and the angry

It's no surprise that my sixth novel, the Queen-infused Now I'm Here, is benefiting from the publicity for the new Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. Although I started the novel more than twenty years ago, news of the film's pre-production two years ago gave me a kickstart to complete it.

But with reviews for the film rolling in, I'm wondering about associating myself too closely with what is being criticized by some media as a standard "paint-by-numbers' celebrity drama that misses the mark, specifically without a nuanced approach to Freddie Mercury's life and homosexuality.

First, the good news. My novel continues to hover in the top 100 for several categories on Amazon.com. This is despite my recommendations that readers purchase the novel through alternative means, specifically directly from the publisher, and via independent bookstores. Then, you can review it on the corporate websites, thus "playing the game," as Freddie's song goes.

True, the advance screening at the Castro Theatre earlier this month left me giddy with having seen the film. But something wasn't exactly right. Still, that I decided to record the onstage interviews with actors Rami Malek, Joe Mazzello and Gwylim Lee proved smart. I posted the lightly edited clips on YouTube, and it's been viewed more than 8,000 times and received almost 200 likes.

That's due in part to the devotion and eager anticipation of Queen fans, along with my clever keyword usage. You can view it here:




Now that the thrill of seeing the film early and seeing three of the four actors playing the band members has subsided, I've of course been curious to see media reviews. Some are good, some not nice and a few take the film to task for "queer erasure."

Wrestling with Angels, Laughing at Demons

Randy Harrison and Francesca Faridany
 in Angels in America at Berkeley Rep.
photo: Kevin Berne

It would be great if the fact that two major productions of Tony Kushner's two-part drama, Angels in America, could bracket our nation and hold it together. But unfortunately, it reflects the comic chaos then and now, and our confused queries about democracy, death, and justice. On its 25th anniversary, the work continues to inspire, and reminds me of the many people I've lost in the past quarter century.


The story of the play's development is as long and fascinating as the work itself. Here's a Slate oral history of the work's development, which moves from San Francisco to New York, as did my journeys to see the play. A brief quote:

Stephen Spinella with Tony Kushner
in the 1993 Broadway production
of Angels in America

"Tony Kushner’s Angels in America premiered in the tiny Eureka Theatre in San Francisco’s Mission District. Within two years it had won the Pulitzer Prize and begun a New York run that would dominate the Tony Awards two years in a row, revitalize the non-musical play on Broadway, and change the way gay lives were represented in pop culture. Both parts of Angels, Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, put gay men at the center of American politics, history, and mythology at a time when they were marginalized by the culture at large and dying in waves."

Understandably, death plays an important role in the works. But surprisingly, while the main character Prior Walter actually wrestles an angel for answers, and his blessing, the plays are quite funny –hilarious, in fact– because the jokes are paired with serious issues and emotions.

Comedy Salon @ Spark Arts

Enjoy stand-up comedy, and a comedic reading from yours truly, at the premiere of Marga Gomez' 'Comedy Salon,' at Sparks Arts in San Francisco's Castro district.

Hop a bar or three before or after, and enjoy the talents of Natasha Muse, Karinda Dobbins and me, with host Marga Gomez.

 Tuesday, July 26. 8pm. Spark Arts, 4229 18th St.  Gomez recently performed a version of her hit show Pound at the intimate gallery, where art shows open each month.

Here's Karinda Dobbins telling of a "Beauty Shop Beatdown."

As Gomez says, "Do reserve your tickets now - as it's limited seating. If you love comedy but not the noise and heckling of a bar - this salon is the spot for you.  Our closing act Natasha Muse is known for inspired riffing, being clever, hilarious, lovely and chill."

Here's Natasha explaining shoes and her feet. 

Here's the Facebook event page.  See you there!  I'll have copies of my books you can buy and have signed.

I'll be reading an excerpt from my 'Rocky Horror"-inspired short story. Thinking of which, someone suggested I make a trailer for #40WildCrushes, (retweet that hastag, please), like the other three I made for PINS, Every Time I Think of You, and Message of Love.

But I don't have many music references in the stories, and it isn't named after a song title, so who cares? Trailer suggestions appreciated.

Forty Wild Crushes - my short fiction collection

Forty Wild Crushes , my short fiction collection, is now available in paperback on Amazon.com. The Kindle edition comes out June 1, with pre-sale orders available now.

Here's the descriptive blurb:

Teenage lust in summer theatre, cheating boyfriends on The Tonight Show, and an escapee from a pumpkin farm; these are just a few of the characters in short stories from Lambda Literary Award winner Jim Provenzano. The five-time novelist shares new and previously published works, and excerpts from forthcoming novels. Varying from terse accounts of an anti-gay assault to a post-9/11 moment of resolution, Provenzano shares a diverse array of contemporary experiences in rural Ohio, New York City, at funerals and wrestling matches, Manhattan cathedrals and Paris museums. A moment in the life of a gay divorced father, a transgender performer on the rise, and a footnoted feast of pop culture crushes are included in this compelling collection.

"Jim Provenzano's short stories are as beautiful and chiseled as a young Robert Conrad, and they make me swoon just as much." - Aldo Alvarez, author of Interesting Monsters, founder and editor of Blithe House Quarterly

The fabulous cover art is an oil painting by the amazing Kenney Mencher! Check out his website for beautiful sexy art work available at reasonable prices.

Six Degrees of David Bowie

David Bowie fans around the world have shown their love for the multi-talented musician, actor, writer and producer since his death last week of cancer at age 69. While I regret having never seen him perform live (except on TV), and like millions of others, I'm surprised by my emotional reaction to his passing, I want to consider his effect on my life in so many ways.

Giving Thanks, a bit early

I have to be thankful, not for food or health of any of that, but for, after all these years, after trying numerous careers and jobs, finally being a full-time writer. That's not something most people who aspire to it get to do.

And it's been almost a month since I blogged anything because frankly, I was busy writing. Sure, fun features at work, emails, Facebook posts, and birthday cards; okay, I watched some movies. But you know, I just cancelled my Netflix as an impetus to watch fewer movies and write more. Also, Netflix sucks. And Hulu sucks. And even the (alleged) online TV show sites I (may or may not) visit that have cable shows...well, they suck sometimes, too. So it's on to the writing.

Stonewall: Getting History Right, and Wrong

Outside the Stonewall Inn, June 1969.
Used with permission of the Estate of
Fred W. McDarrah,
All rights reserved © 2015

The new film Stonewall has become the object of ridicule and preemptive boycotts over claims of misrepresentation of the pivotal riots in June 1969 that are credited with unleashing the civil rights movement for homosexuals. But that story in itself varies, and some harsh critiques have quickly become strident and shortsighted.

As an author and journalist who has balanced facts and fiction for nearly three decades, with a mostly gay focus, it's been fascinating, and distressing, to see this near sacred event turned upside down to fit differing agendas, all based on a two-minute trailer.

First, some facts. The Stonewall riots emerged when drag queens, gay men, some white, some Black, some Latino, and some simply self-proclaimed 'queens,' were harassed by New York City cops as yet another raid on the small gay bar in Sheridan Square faced more harassing intimidation. People refused to get into paddy wagons, and violent reactions ensued.

Logrolling in My Time

Readers of a certain age (i.e. older) may recall Spy Magazine's pithy and satirical features and columns, specifically those with a focus on New York's crass 1980s cultural buffet of absurdity. Before I had even finished my first novel (which was published second), the Logrolling in our Time column stuck out for its deft exposure of cronyism in mainstream publishing. 

One author would write a praise-filled jacket blurb for a fellow author, and then, later on, that author would do the same for his/her colleague.

"See?" my frustrated twenty-something wannabe author self would mutter internally (and often externally). "That's why I'll never get a publishing deal!"

Actually, the reason was that my work at the time wasn't very good.  But it is true; logrolling, that is. One famous author offers a generous superlative, and readers and potential reviewers are then supposed to be impressed enough to like that book. 'Well, Famous Author #45 says it's good, so it must be.'

And so, books get sold, and trees get felled. At least that's what my naive self thought was the derivation of the term logrolling; the publication of books led to trees being sacrificed for authorial ambition.

Floored

This is a photo of me with author David B. Feinberg at an ACT UP New York meeting at Cooper Union in 1990. Maybe it was 1991, or 1992. I don't remember. 

What I do remember is my desire to capture us together while the meeting took place in the historic East Village hall, where the AIDS activism group, having outgrown its weekly space at the LGBT Community Center in the West Village, continued to develop ideas for protests and information-gathering groups in the fight against the AIDS pandemic.

On that early evening, some thought in the back of my mind might have been, "He's going to die some day, and this photo, with the very interesting checkerboard tile pattern, may be one of our only documented moments together."

Coupledom

As the Supreme Court hearings on the unconstitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8 are debated online, on radio, and this evening, on one of KRON4's alternative channels, I've been alternating between Facebook and its sea of red equal sign profile images, with hundreds of creative variations.

I just finished a chapter where Reid listens to Everett use his amazing debate skills on another issue relevant to the setting of the sequel, the early 1980s.  I'm wondering if he would have have considered debating gay marriage rights, if they could even imagine this situation, where hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in multiple cities, and the multiple aspects of these lawsuits are beguiling, if not confusing.

Reality Shown

"How much of the stories in your books are real?"

That's one of the most frequently asked questions from readers and interviewers. Undoubtedly, other writers are asked the same question. 

Explaining the various aspects of real life and fiction is kind of like dissecting your dinner before you eat it. It's not pretty. When you order coq au vin at a restaurant, you don't want to see the chicken get plucked.


It also makes me wonder. Why do you want to know? Does figuring out what actually happened versus what I made up make the book better, easier to understand? If I wrote a memoir, would you ask which parts were made up? More than a few memoir writers have been called out for using a heavy dose of "creative nonfiction," a valid genre, but one that's gotten a few authors in hot water (James Frey on Oprah being the most notorious example).

But more, the question leads me to be cautious about revealing the true source of my inspiration. It's not unlike the drag term "showing your candy." You know what's down there, but you don't want to see it.

Leap 'Frog'

This has very little to do with my new book.
But I attended the opening of the Asian American Film Festival and made a short video of the post-screening Q&A of Quentin Lee's new film, White Frog.

The film stars Booboo Stewart (the Twilight Saga), Harry Shum, Jr. (Glee), Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf), B.D. Wong (M.Butterfly, Oz), and Joan Chen (The Last Emperor)!

It's a very sweet film with some handsome young actors and veterans of stage and screen. Gay and disability themes are an important part of the script.

Here's my clip:



Here's the trailer.



I hope White Frog gets a distribution deal. It's very sweet, with an uplifting message, and a cute cast.