by Richard Labonte
"By Nightfall," by Michael Cunningham. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 256 pages, $25 hardcover.
The allure of astounding beauty and how the mind can betray the body are the core of Cunningham's elegant novel, whose efficient narrative arc echoes that of Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice" (Cunningham prefaced a new translation a few years ago): older man is enraptured by younger man's physical perfection. Here, the older man is Peter Harris, happily married to Rebecca, with a burgeoning career as a middle-aged art curator in Manhattan. The younger man is his wife's rapscallion brother, Ethan, a lithe 23, known to the family as Mizzy, "the mistake" – his birth, decades after Rebecca's, wasn't planned. He's a moocher, a drug addict, a Yale dropout and, in Peter's eyes, hypnotically handsome, all the more so because he is his much older sister's male-model look-alike, recalling for Peter Rebecca's beauty when they first met. Mid-age angst, the hollow nature of elites, the elusiveness of once-dreamed goals, the vanity of unexamined lives – all are qualms confronted in a poetically pyrotechnic mix of humor and pathos about achieving the strength to forgive self and others.
"Missed Her," by Ivan E. Coyote. Arsenal Pulp Press, 148 pages, $16.95 paper.
There is something to be said for knowing what to expect from an author. From Coyote – certainly for her story collections – that means a divinely astute and gently witty lot of life-based vignettes (though the book is labeled fiction). The short-shorts – most just four pages long, revised from Coyote's regular column in the Vancouver paper "Xtra West" – cover a spectrum of situations and experiences, but most are rooted in the author's mixed-signal gender identity: she's a boyish-looking butch lesbian with a lapdog for a pet. The 30 tales, a bracing blend of self-effacing and brave, embrace universal themes within singular moments – "Good Old Days," about teaching memoir writing to a class of senior citizens, confronts Coyote's concerns about their potential prejudice and realizes the sentiment that "love is just love." Fans of the author's four previous collections won't find a new take on queer life here, or a distinct departure in style. But in the case of Coyote's warm, perceptive storytelling, familiarity breeds contentment.
"The Right to Be Out: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in America's Public Schools," by Stuart Biegel, 300 pages, $19.95 paper.
With queer-teen suicides suddenly in the news – not that they haven't deserved coverage before now – Biegel's academic analysis of how America's educational system handles sexual orientation takes on a deserved populist mantle. That said, this isn't always an easy read – though it demands to be read by more than the education professionals constituting its primary market, it definitely belongs in every school library, and Biegel often humanizes the abstract by telling the stories of teens who have confronted homophobia. From examining the legal foundations of the right to be out and the tension between rights on paper and the realities of the classroom, and from exploring how to create change in the classroom to the oppressive culture of school sports, teen bullying – though not the book's focus – is a thematic, timely presence; so is a concluding chapter on challenges faced by transgender teens, the newest frontier in the struggle for gender identity rights and freedom. Rigorous scholarship and empathic writing come together to shape a breakthrough book.
"Something About Trevor," by Drew Hunt. JMS Books, 184 pages, $12 paper.
One "something" about Trevor is that he's gay – and pretty proud about it, or at least defiantly open. Another "something" about Trevor is that cricket player Paul – not quite a stereotypical straight man, though not far from one either – verges on panic when, homeless because of a flood, Trevor offers a spare room in his flat. Paul demurs, but after a couple of nights on the lumpy couch of a loutish friend, he girds his emotional loins and accepts. Yet another "something" about Trevor is that, as time passes, Paul's tolerance of his queer ways increases – especially after the flamboyant lad proves to be something of a whiz cricket bowler (the novel is set in small-town England, where weekend cricket is a jockish norm; think of the bowler as the pitcher in baseball). Hunt's easy-read romance, aimed at readers slightly older than young adult, tackles sports bullying, cultural homophobia, fear of intimacy and coming out with storytelling that is more earnest than stylish, yet with an emotional honesty that propels the tale.
Featured Excerpt
"When is Mizzy coming?" he asks. "He said sometime next week. You know how he is." "Mm." Peter does, in fact, know how he is. He's one of those smart, drifty young people who, after certain deliberations, decides he wants to do Something in the Arts but won't, possibly can't, think in terms of an actual job; who seems to imagine that youth and brains and willingness will simply summon an occupation, the precise and perfect nature of which will reveal itself in its own time. This family of women really ruined the poor kid, didn't they? Who could survive having been so desperately loved?
Footnotes
First, there was "Speaking Out ," an anthology of young adult (YA) stories, announced earlier this year, edited by Lethe Press publisher Steve Berman for Bold Strokes Books – "inspiring stories of overcoming adversity (against intolerance and homophobia) and experiencing life after coming out," according to the publisher's announcement. "Queer teens need tales of what might happen next in their lives, and editor Steve Berman showcases a diversity of events, challenges and, especially, triumphs. More recently, two YA-themed anthologies of essays and short stories have been announced in the wake of a spate of teen suicides: Dutton Books has signed advice columnist Dan Savage and his husband, Terry Miller, to edit "It Gets Better," a print offshoot of the couple's YouTube videos aimed at LGBTQ-identified kids, collecting essays by both celebrities and "ordinary people," and due in March 2011. Meanwhile, Cheyenne Publishing's Mark R. Probst has announced "Awake" for June 2011, with net proceeds going to the suicide-prevention program The Trevor Project. Nancy Garden – whose pioneering YA novel, "Annie on My Mind," was published in 1982 – is among contributors, as is Kathe Koja, "a straight ally and proud mother of a gay son." About the book, Probst said: "I know that gay kids committing suicide is nothing new, but now it is finally being reported on … I can't help but wonder if the political climate isn't contributing to the despair LGBT youth are feeling today, as well as all the recent bullying."
