Buy from: Rattling Good Yarns Press In 1972, a twenty-thousand square foot building known as Verdandi Hall went up for sale. Originally constructed fifty years prior, and located in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, just south of Andersonville, it had most recently housed the Verdandi Society, a social club for Swedish Americans. That year Chuck Renslow and Dom Orejudos purchased the building, and after extensive renovations, a new social club, Man’s Country, opened its doors on September 19, 1973. Owen Keehnan’s aptly titled Man Country: More Than a Bathhouse chronicles the impact of this se ..read more

It’s April again, meaning National Poetry Month, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to present four volumes to celebrate the form and its artistry. We have some wonderful poets with unique styles and fresh, exciting images, so let’s get right to it. Snap.Shot – Brandon Blue (Finishing Line Press) Buy from: Finishing Line Press Ekphrasis, or writing about the art of others, is a revelatory weapon in the poet’s arsenal–from the subject to the homage, it may be the most personal of poetry because it not only tests the poet’s artistry but reveals something about their composition of their ..read more

Preorder/Buy from: Kensington Press The life course of a gay man born at the end of World War I is the subject of Yates’s latest novel, and it’s an interesting study of how a queer fellow of the Greatest Generation might have navigated the many turbulent events of twentieth century America, as well as family, friendships, and love. Yates tells his subject Isaac Dahl’s biography in a first person narrative of twelve shortish chapters. Each chapter is a day (or so) in Isaac’s life, and an eight year increment forward in his tale. Beginning in 1926, when Isaac is eight years old, we meet his ..read more

From Rebel Satori: Mercedes General – Jerry L. Wheeler Buy/Preorder Saints & Sinners New Fiction from the Festival 2024 – Amie Evans & Paul Willis Buy/Preorder Saints & Sinners New Poetry from the Festival 2024 – Jan Edwards Hemming & Paul J. Willis Buy/Preorder From Rattling Good Yarns Press: Domestic Affairs: Tales of American Males – Daniel M. Jaffe Buy/Preorder From Queen of Swords Press Terror at Tierra de Cobre – Michael Merriam Buy/Preorder From Bold Strokes Books: The Romance Lovers Book Club – MA Binfield and Toni Logan Preorder/Buy Dancing To ..read more

Buy From: Rebel Satori Press With the repeal of censorship laws in the 1960s, magazines such as Mandate, Honcho, and Blueboy began to appear on newsstands in the 1970s, displaying photos of full frontal male nudity (followed by Advocate Men, Torso, Inches, et al. in the 1980s). Taking their cue from Playboy, these magazines included articles of interest to the growing out Gay community, reviews, perhaps a celebrity interview or two, and erotic fiction, often illustrated by non-photographic art. French Quarter Nights & Other Stories by JR collects ten such stories from the 1980s, with a ..read more

Buy from: Amazon Since outsiders dwell on the borders of society–either by choice or by nature–who is better situated to shape its history? And LGBTQI+ individuals have been dwelling on those borders for hundreds of years, quietly (and sometimes not so quietly., G&LR editor Richard Schneider Jr. has collected twelve fascinating essays by distinguished gay historian Martin Duberman profiling influential and interesting gay men and women, spanning twenty years from the pages of G&LR in a wide swath of fields and occupations, all with a hand in advancing queer welfare. Beginning with ..read more

From Blazing Heart Publishing: Mystery Dance – Richard Natale Buy/Preorder From Rebel Satori Press: The Simple Magick of Wild Things – Dave Gaddy Preorder/Buy The Shaman of Heaven and Hell – Chris Kim Preorder/Buy From Bella Books: Season of Eclipse – Terry Wolverton Preorder/Buy From Bold Strokes Books: You Had Me at Merlot – Melissa Brayden Preorder/Buy When Tomorrow Comes – D. Jackson Leigh Preorder/Buy Guide Us Home – Jesse J. Thoma & CF Frizzell Preorder/Buy Lost Harbor – Kimberly Cooper Griffin Preorder/Buy Never a Bridesmaid – Spencer Greene Preorde ..read more

Buy from: Queer Space/Rebel Satori Press One hot summer day, fourteen people–the owner, bartender, three line cooks, salad maker, dishwasher, and seven servers of a supper club in a sleepy college town in northern Missouri–wake up to a changed world: people everywhere, from the President of the US to major celebrities to random citizens have all disappeared, and many have been replaced by (to them) strangers. Moreover, as far as the entire world is concerned, nothing is amiss; only the fourteen employees of the supper club Lake | Drive remember any of the missing people or the world as it ..read more

From Bywater Books: No Shelter But the Stars – Virginia Black Buy/Preorder From Bold Strokes Books: Dreamer – Kris Bryant Buy/Preorder Appalachian Awakening – Nance Sparks Buy/Preorder The Secret Duchess – Jane Walsh Buy/Preorder Of Auras and Shadows – Jennifer Karter Buy/Preorder All Things Beautiful – Alaina Erdell Buy/Preorder Winter’s Spell – Ursula Klein Buy/Preorder Not Just Friends – Jordan Meadows Buy/Preorder Head Over Heelflip – Sander Santiago Buy/Preorder Eyes On Her – Eden Darry Buy/Preorder Lost in the Wild – Kadyan Preorder/Buy Lette ..read more

Buy from: HarperCollins Can a high school theater superstar turn an awkward loner into the stylish, confident gay boy he was meant to be? Such is the appealing premise of Brian D. Kennedy’s modern YA reboot of Pygmalion, and despite the challenges of working with a literary classic that rings socially problematic to the modern ear, Kennedy’s queer interpretation is a delightful teen drama that captures the high school theater world with authority, balance, and a lot of heart. Wade Westmore is the Pygmalion, or Henry Higgins of the story. He’s a B.M.O.C. at suburban Minnesota’s Monroe Acade ..read more