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At the moment I'm reading three books. I'm re-reading Too Queer: Essays From A Radical Life by Victoria Brownworth and you can read some of my thoughts on that book on the main page. One of the things that made me like this book from the start was that she quoted an excerpt from an interview with James Baldwin at the very front of the book: "The victim who articulates the situation of the victim is no longer a victim. He or she is a threat." I think that is one of the dominant threads that run throughout her writing and that strikes the strongest cord in me as well. The second book I'm reading is a new one, the first new one I've gotten in a while. Bears On Bears: Interviews and Discussions is by Ron Jackson Suresha. For those folks who don't know what the term 'bears' means. It refers to a subculture that began as gay and bi men who have thick body hair, often some form of thick beard, and who are generally not thin or skinny. However it has been expanding into the lesbian/dyke communities as well as, I believe, queer cultured heterosexuals though I may be wrong on that point. At the moment I'm being wonderfully blown away by the first chapter, an interview with Eric Rofes titled "Bears as Subcultural Subversives". Rofes says, "Bears defy traditional gender norms even as they affirm aspects of traditional masculinites. We are nurturing and macho at the same time. This is what I find to be the radical potential of the Bear movement." While I'm not a fan (in fact generally quite the opposite) of Camille Paglia, Suresha quotes her in his interview with Rofes as saying, "The gay Bear is simultaneously animalistic and nurturing, a romp in the wild followed by nap time on a comfy cushion." I think those two quotes sum up quite well part of what it is that draws me to the Bear culture. Throughout the interview I continue to see statements that draw from academic disciplines such as cultural, queer and feminist studies. This seems to be the place where I can find some men who share similar values, at least at a higher rate than anywhere else I've looked. The last book I'm reading is purely for brain candy, you know empty calories? With the movie "Sum of All Fears" newly out I decided to re-read the book, since I had it, instead of paying eight bucks for a couple of hours of entertainment. I've already finished that one and I've neurotically moved on to the next in the series Without Remorse both by Tom Clancy. What can I say but that it's a good book to read while on a bus, waiting for the computer at work to finish conversions, or sitting at a printer waiting for documents to spit out. You can get any of these books at your local independent bookseller. If you don't know where one is located you can find a list of independent bookstores at Booksense.com. Two of my favorite bookstores are Food For Thought Books in Amherst, MA and New Words in Cambridge, MA. Both of those stores are very friendly and if they don't have a particular book they will happily order it for you. Direct links to buy books: Too Queer: Essays From a Radical Life Food For Thought New Words Bears on Bears: Interviews and Discussions Food For Thought New Words Without Remorse Food For Thought New Words |
