By Richard Labonte
"The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government," by David K. Johnson. University of Chicago, 277 pages, $30 hardcover.
Among the several astonishing revelations in this gripping study of sanctioned homophobia in the McCarthy era is the fact that many more civil servants lost their government jobs for being queer than for being Communist. Another is that the baiting, scapegoating, and purging of gays lasted deep into the 1960s, well after hysteria over the "Red menace" had abated. Johnson's detailed study of antihomosexual political posturing is based on recently declassified documents – mean-spirited, matter-of-fact memorandums made vivid by the chilling recollections of surviving federal workers whose lives were demonized and destroyed. The personal stories of early victims of the Washington witch hunts – starting with Frank Kameny, whose own voluminous records from the era guided Johnson's exhaustive research – are a stunning testament to the moral wrong that "The Lavender Scare" lays bare. The book is also a celebration – of the stubborn fight by a pre-Stonewall few that ultimately won rights for many, and of a cultural and sexual underground that survived even at the height of an unrelenting homophobia spanning the presidencies of Truman through Nixon.
"Sapphic Traffic," by Suki Lee. Conundrum Press, 192 pages, $9.95 paper.
There isn't a monotonous moment in "Sapphic Traffic," an urbane collection of one alluring writer's wide range of storytelling skills. The longest of Lee's 20 engaging short stories is "3," an enervating, straightforward tale about women swallowing condoms to smuggle hash oil into Canada from Jamaica. The shortest, utterly different in tone and intent, is "In a Perfect World," a poignantly potent lament – in one sentence of several hundred words – for the many ways the world savages women. "Diva Antoinette Concherez" is an intense reflection on how adulation flirts with obsession, as operatic in form as are its two characters; "Only Once" is erotica about unrequited lesbian lust, raw and sardonic in style and content; "Home Life" is the heartrending story of a lesbian couple coping with one partner's troubled brother – writing that embodies true family values. Each story is illustrated by Elaina Martin's photographs; her delicate depictions of women's bodies complement Lee's fluid, passionate prose nicely. The result is an artful marriage of words and images, and a first book from a writer of stylish promise.
"Best Murder of the Year," by Jon P. Bloch. St. Martin's Minotaur, 278 pages, $13.95 paper.
Openly gay gossip reporter Rick Domino is deeply enamored of deeply closeted action-adventure heartthrob Shane Kirk, a callow opportunist who'll bed any gender to further his career. When Domino is discovered on Oscar night holding a smoking gun over the body of the Best Actress winner, a paramour of his occasional beau Kirk, he's an instant suspect in the slaying. That's the premise of this delightful comic whodunit, in which Domino, desperate to resume his celebrity career, teams up with off-duty cop Terrance Zane, attractively strapping and allegedly straight, to find the killer. The mystery itself is a predictable by-the-zany-numbers effort, but movie buffs will hoot at Bloch's askew view of Hollywood. A trenchant send-up of awards shows is just one of his many satirical zingers – Jewel is joined at the murderous Oscar ceremony by Meat Loaf and Placido Domingo in a performance of the supposed nominated song "I Can't Find Me Anywhere" from the supposed animated feature "Where's Waldo." It's a scenario just as plausible as – though probably less entertaining than – the campy plot of this sly crime caper.
"The Mandates: 25 Real Rules for Successful Gay Dating," by Dave Singleton. Three Rivers Press, 256 pages, $12.
You can't always judge a book by its cover – or, in the case of this relentlessly upbeat advice book, by its quirky chapter headings. A skim of the table of contents suggests spun sugar. To wit (literally): rule 5, "Eager Beavers Gnaw Quickly, Then Drown;" rule 10, "He Opened His Mouth and His Purse Fell Out;" rule 16, "When Male Egos Collide – Mr. Titanic, Meet Mr. Iceberg." But Singleton's cheeky "mandates" do, in fact, provide adequate nutrition-rich relationship tips about self-image, expectations, grooming, first dates, moving in together, meeting each other's friends, and even breaking up. The challenge with how-to books is to pass off basic common sense as something sagacious. This one does so with a zesty combination of witty matchmaking mantras, eye-catching design and packaging, and – for readers with really, really short attention spans – a lot of lists. As essentially useless books go, "The Mandates" contains a critical mass of usefully breezy moments – though the author's inclusion of Will from TV's "Will & Grace" as a Mandates role model is unnerving.
Featured Excerpt:
I am a Vietnamese woman slipping my fingers into the beautiful wetness of the daughter of the President of the United States whose body wears the scars of atrocities committed by her ruling father's oligarchy and who has her face between the legs of an Indian woman who has worked in a sweatshop making running shoes since the age of 12 who has her fingers intertwined with a Jewish Argentinian woman who survived the bombings in Buenos Aires but lost her sister to them who is kissing the neck of a Bedouin woman from Saudi Arabia through her veil who is eyeing the nipples of a Maori woman who lives on the streets of Auckland who puts her arms around a woman from Northern Ontario who was gay-bashed more times than the fingers on her hands…
-"In a Perfect World" from "Sapphic Traffic," by Suki Lee
Footnotes:
AMAZON IS HAVING financial woes – not the dot-com behemoth, but the original Amazon Bookstore Cooperative in Minneapolis, founded more than 30 years ago on a front porch, and proud to be the oldest independent feminist bookstore in North America. The store is turning to the community to raise $50,000 so it can move to a corner storefront a few blocks from its current South Minneapolis location – a move made necessary by "a weak economy, difficulties at the store's coffee shop, downsizing at the women's organization next door, and the continuing popularity of Internet book sales," according to a February e-mail to Amazon's customers. "Unless the bookstore moves again soon, it will not survive," said Barb Wieser, one of the five fulltime owner-workers. The new location promises better foot traffic, lower rent, and nearly the same floor space… THE SECOND SAINTS & SINNERS queer conference – "literary revelry in the heart of the French Quarter" – is scheduled for May 7 to 9. Writers set to appear include locals Poppy Z. Brite, Kevin Allman, Kay Murphy, Chris Wiltz, Patricia Brady, Greg Herren, and J.M. Redmann, and such nationally known authors as Mark Doty, Christopher Rice, Katherine V. Forrest, Felice Picano, Patricia Nell Warren, Bob Smith, Ann Bannon, Val McDermid, M. Christian, Jess Wells, Karin Kallmaker, Jewelle Gomez, and Michelle Tea. For info: http://www.sasfest.com.
