Good as Dead by Mark Billingham published by Little Brown

Billingham is one of the big names in crime fiction. His cops are human and focussed on doing their jobs well.  In this story a visit to a convenience store by a police woman quickly becomes a crisis as the store owner pulls a gun and takes Helen and another customer hostage.  Mr Akhtar’s son was taken into custody a year ago and the investigations have determined his death 8 weeks ago was suicide.  This resolution is not acceptable to this father.  In his heart it does not ring true with the son he knew. 

The response by the police gets complicated when Mr Akhtar insists that DI Thorne must investigate what really happened.  Time is against him as the hostage situation gets more and more tense.  Slowly but surely Thorne digs through the known facts trying to unearth the truth of what happened in the youth institution that young Amin was held in.  What lead up to the crime he went down for?  Was he really guilty?  Why was he in the area and the big question is why and how did he actually die?  A key part of this story is young Amin’s sexuality.  His parent’s knowledge or lack of knowledge of his life typifies most families.  The depraved lives lead by the adults in the world he is growing up in have not made his life an easy one.

The plot develops steadily.  Thorne has been in previous Billingham novels; however familiarity with previous books is unnecessary to enjoy this one.  There are plenty of twists and personal connections to flesh out this novel and they all add together to make it a very enjoyable read.

Disadvantage Line by Ron Davis published on Kindle books at Amazon.com

When I met Ron Davis the other day, he told me that he had always wanted to find the time to see if he could really write.  Life had kept him rather busy, but he had found time to do a writing course.  He has since then taken the opportunity afforded by the internet and self published his book Disadvantage Line online.  And can he write?  Yes.  Ron has written the book he knew he had in him.  He has not allowed himself to be hindered by any genre limitations.  This at times one handed read is a well crafted thriller with a love story about rugby player Ryan and our nation’s favourite game at its heart.

Ryan takes us into the heart of his world when we meet him at his first game as an All Black.  During the first game at the big new Christchurch rugby stadium in 2014 he realizes he knows the Lions player kicking the conversion in a way that he doesn’t want to share with any of his team mates.  Ryan then takes us back a few years to when he first realised he had a chance at serious rugby and also when he realised he could get turned on by guys more than girls.  His urges then lead us into a story of sport and lust as this young guy copes with a life of turmoil.   Ryan’s strict father has kicked him out and he is living with his best mate Ethan, whose family is both Maori and devoutly Christian.  Ryan’s team plays rugby in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom, while he lives with his secret desires.  The action does flow well and the plot is well developed.  I mostly enjoyed sharing Ryan’s world.

This book has a strong teen/ young adult protagonist.  In many ways this could have been a book that qualified as helpful reading for a young guy figuring out his sexuality.  However I personally have misgivings about some of the morally repugnant violence in the book, that lacks serious consequences.  This readership group should be offered some guidance if reading this book.

Davis says he will look at other e-publication outlets, so if you don’t like Kindle other formats may soon be available.  If you want to contact Ron you can search “disadvantage line” on Facebook. I was pleased to see that on his facebook page “Ryan” shows some regret for his actions.

Jack Holmes and His Friend

Jack Holmes and His Friend $36.99 Bloomsbury/Allen and Unwin

This is going to get a bit gushy.  If you have enjoyed Edmund White’s earlier writing, please put down this copy of Express and simply go buy yourself a copy of Jack Holmes and His Friend, curl up in your favourite book reading spot and enjoy this beautiful novel. 

This is a coming of age novel that reflects the halcyon gay age of the 1960s.  While you will remember White’s Boys Own Story as the autobiographical tale of a young boy discovering himself in his parochial small town, this is the story of a young man discovering himself in big city New York.

We meet Jack Holmes as he moves on from his small town university life to discovering his adult self in New York.  Exciting friends and new experiences enthrall and also frighten him.  He has a wonderful perspective on the characters he meets as he finds himself a magazine job via interviews with  “two dear old alcoholic fussbudgets” who run the publication’s personnel department.  Then the wonderful Will Wright starts work in the same office and our Jack realizes he is in love.  It is the unrequited never go anywhere love many a gay man has for his straight buddy who obliviously continues the friendship while talking earnestly of his lusts and love for women.

Later the book switches and Will tells us of his life in the 10 years since he met Jack.  He is married to a glamorous mutual friend and has two children and a successful business.  The two men reconnect and the intricacies of their relationship swell up to complete the story of male friendship in what is now 80s America.

The strands in this tale unfold, blossom and takes you in.  It is storytelling of coming of age made fresh.  In the afterword White tells of how he was encouraged to write in a new style.  It left me a bit emotional and very much moved.  This is literature that cements White’s reputation alongside Philip Roth and John Irving.

Reviewed by Andrew Rumbles

The Hungry Heart Journeys with William Colenso

Peter Wells has presented a wonderful book to us with Hungry Heart, his thorough biography of 19^th century Cornish missionary, William Colenso.   The name Colenso is linked to many important parts of our nation’s history.  He arrived here as a young missionary and printer with a charismatic passion to spread the Good Word.  Peter Wells has made his name as a novelist, but his skills as a researcher and collector shine through in this book.  He charts the life of William in New Zealand from his marriage to Elizabeth, his presence and outspokenness at the signing of the Treaty at Waitangi and then his life and trials in the Hawke’s Bay where he spent the majority of his life.

The realities of colonial life, coping with every day trials and the political realities of being in the vanguard of settlers arriving on this land are well documented and beautifully described.  Colenso’s downfall when the truth of his relationship with his domestic servant, Ripeka, became public, causing the end of his marriage and indeed his family has dominated much of historical recall of his life. 

There is a small chapter on rumours that Colenso may have had sexual relations with Maori Men.  This surprised Wells and despite hearsay about what some lost diaries may have said, he found no evidence to enable anyone to know what nugget of truth there may or may not have been to this aspect of the missionary’s nature.

Colenso always spoke out.  Biting his tongue or showing tact was not his nature.  He also reflected and thought things through.  In his later life this made him a pioneer.  Wells tells us: “ Yet From today’s viewpoint it was just this insistence on a personal truth that seems so authentic.  Time – and the Waitangi Tribunal – has borne out so much of what he said.  He was speaking in December 1871 to an audience who were sure they were never going to be caught out. “

I wish I had personally known this more human and well-rounded Colenso, rather than the zealous Anglican Missionary from earlier chapters.  If more people had listened to what he had to say, our nation’s path to reconciliation might now have been completed.

Published in Express Newspaper 22 February 2012

Surfer Boys : Gay Erotic Stories edited by Neil Plakcy

Surfer Boys : Gay Erotic Stories edited by Neil Plakcy $33.99

A cover shot of a cute everyman clutching his surfboard attracted me to this book.  Plakcy has collected together an anthology of sexy stories from writers from many parts of the globe.  The common thread to Surfer Boys is the world of surf, wetsuits and board shorts.  The beaches aren’t all the Californian clichés with Texas, Sydney and even Tunisia setting the sexy scenes.  One story questions if a gay guy can be hard enough to surf, another is the story of a man getting over a break up and finding new beginnings on a beach as he rescues a fallen surfer.

Plakcy’s own experience as a writer and as editor of a previous collection of erotica show in his selction of well crafted stories.  And yes you might need a tissue or two to clean up the aftermath, but these are also great stories that celebrate sex, a little romance and the pleasures and potential of guy-love.

There are 19 stories in all from many noted writers.  This is a diverse and yes sexy collection to tide you through until your life next includes your own Mr Sexy Boardshorts.

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood, Random House $29.99

Christopher Isherwood was a true twentieth century man.  Born in England in 1904, living in Berlin, China and finally Los Angeles where he died in 1986.  His life reflects the enlarging of the world that had come with the colonization of America.

In his novel A Single Man he chronicles one day in the life of George, a middle aged gay English Professor teaching at a Los Angeles University.  George’s lover has been killed in a car accident some months earlier and George is getting on with his daily life, as illustrated by the first scene of waking and struggling out of bed.  He lives in a high state of self awareness, which redefines his everyday experiences  for you. Take his thoughts during his drive into Los Angeles : As he drives, it is as if some kind of autohypnosis exerts itself.”  And in this state George shares with you his fantasies and thoughts of new realities for his world, with himself in a centre of power.

Isherwood is at his best however when describing George’s awareness and interaction with his neighbours and especially his students.  He nervously balances teaching the meaning of literature with avoiding causing offence to any of the many minority groups in his 1960s Californian classroom.  This anxiety is beautifully contrasted with the comfort he later experiences during his gym workout with people he can be comfortable with. 

This is a very personal novel.  George is exposed to us in all his better and worse qualities.  The language of this intimacy satisfies while leaving a taste for even more.

Shift by Rhian Gallagher

Shift, poetry by Rhian Gallagher Auckland University Press $24.99 In store 1 September 2011

Rhian Gallagher was born in 1960’s Timaru.  She has studied with Bill Manhire and at London University.  Many of her poems have been published.  This is the second collection of her own work.   She fits in writing around her day job at the Otago University Bookshop.

As you begin reading this collection, Gallagher’s verse transports you with familiar sentiments, perplexing journeys, a sentiment of missing pieces,  and a desire to live up to the image of a twin sister who disappeared before you became fully acquainted.  This is a very personal collection of poetry. 

The journey takes you on to Europe where the world is described as truly foreign to what was home and then love arrives in a section named “Butterfly”.

After the initial passion of the new romance, the visit home to the new lover’s parents produces many images.  A delightful memory I savoured and indicative of the fresh engaging poetry of this book is:

Excerpted from Under Cover page 36

Lapping the Freezer...

Your gentle step

Breaks between single beds

And we’re almost invisible,

With our hush of unison,

Making love like the drowned.

Eventually the love story surrenders to the incredible tension this great planet exercises upon people and connectivity.  Our poet has come full circle and is home again reconciling the feeling of belonging and still remembering the missing piece from her childhood and family.

I often engage only tentatively with poetry.  This is poetry that doesn’t demand to be read out loud.  It invites you in and slowly builds to an idea of a true story, hinted at, rather than factually retold.  A delight.  Well done Rhian.

Boy Crazy: Why Monogamy is So Hard for Gay Men and What You Can Do About it, by Michael Shelton

Boy Crazy: Why Monogamy is So Hard for Gay Men and What You Can Do About it, by Michael Shelton $36.99.

 

Michael Shelton is an American clinician focusing on behavioural and addictive sex and sexuality concerns.  I opened this book expecting to be sold monogamy as a nirvana or absolute goal.  My personal feelings were discomfited and challenged as I read a wide ranging survey of masculinity and maleness concluding with the author’s opinion that men don’t cope well with monogamy, thus their need for sexual variety.  

Can one relationship fulfil all our emotional and sexual needs?  A possible answer appears to be yes, but only if all parties have worked through their own issues and communicate and share ongoing intimacy and passions.  Genetics, upbringing and role modelling have made it difficult for gay men to show intimacy and emotions with their male mates. 

When faced with a partner’s infidelity many of us instinctively flee or avoid dealing with what is going on.  Shelton explores the options and motivations in Boy Crazy and impresses me with his practical approach.  We have options and if we communicate our feelings honestly, all parties to a relationship can make more appropriate and positive choices for either monogamy or non-monogamy. 

This little gem is a thorough examination of relationship, emotional and sexual issues for gay men and how to deal with our primary relationships as our desires ebb and flow.

Michael Kirby: A Private Life $39.99

Michael Kirby: A Private Life $39.99

Michael Kirby is a well known public figure in Australia.  He has served in the High Court and on many other public bodies.   Like me you may have heard his name when he publicly came out several years ago.

After a long and successful career on the bench this is Michael’s opportunity to share his private self.  It is a book that talks of the challenges growing up in overtly homophobic 1950s Australia.  This was a country with similar attitudes to New Zealand.  In New South Wales the prevailing attitude of the police and other authorities was that homosexuality was a perversion to be deplored and stopped.  Michael tells us of meeting his life partner of 30 plus years when they were both in their late 20s.  That was a long time to wait to be brave enough to actually seek out a partner for love and companionship.

The warmth in his stories and essays bring this little book alive.  The care he took to keep his private life from being public is something many of us can relate to.  Michael Kirby’s family and close friends knew Johan was his partner, but Johan was completely invisible in the public and work life of Michael for many years.  I was moved by the telling of their first public outing in the latter part of Michael’s career.

He also tells of visits to schools, Africa and many human rights conferences where he shared his personal tales and also the experiences of Australia as a nation finding ways to cope with AIDS in the 1980s.

Michael Kirby nicely captures the feelings of coming out in a repressive society.  He also sets an example of how to make a positive impact on the lives of others by getting involved and sharing his story.

Pierre et Gilles

Pierre et Gilles, Double Je 1976-2007 Taschen $135.

Taschen always produce gorgeous illustrated books with wonderful photography.  The series of books that have consistently delivered beauty are those from Pierre et Gilles. This edition is a celebratory biography of their life and work.  These two artists celebrate the beauty in all things using an interesting amalgam of photography and painting.  The major part of this book is devoted to beautiful reproductions from their portfolio.  This work overflows with superlatives of beauty. They celebrate excess and ambiguity.  The natural beauty of the subject be it Marc Almond , Nina Hagen, Jeff Stryker or even themselves is beautifully exaggerated with perfect make up and fabulous sets.  What a beautiful book!  But is it art or something more sexual?

Outback: Currawong Creek by Paul Freeman

Outback: Currawong Creek by Paul Freeman $110.00

Paul Freeman first came to my attention when he wrote a biography of out rugby league player Ian Roberts in 1996, which at the time seemed quite daring. Since then Freeman has developed his photographic career with a number of exhibitions and some particularly daring photographs of Australian men in his four Bondi  books. Now there is Outback: Currawong Creek: his second Outback book.

This new one is a large format coffee table book featuring glorious duo toned and full colour images of hunky, mostly nude, men in outdoor farm settings. Although the men themselves are pretty good to look at, the context in which they’re seen is relaxed yet totally credible, whether they are alone or in scenes of playful camaraderie.

Freeman has captured a male spirit that while not specifically gay will still hold enormous appeal for many gay men. I think I have found my man’s Christmas present.

No Fretful Sleeper, A Life of Bill Pearson, Auckland University Press $59.99

No Fretful Sleeper, A Life of Bill Pearson, Auckland University Press $59.99

In No Fretful Sleeper, Paul Millar explores the life of West Coast writer Bill Pearson. Born in 1922, Pearson embraced reading at an early age and grew up aware that while he enjoyed the company of girls he felt amorously towards boys.  For a Presbyterian West Coaster this created difficulties, thus he headed to London in his 20s, where he wrote prodigiously, mostly exploring his leftist principles and how New Zealand’s small society stifled and oppressed anyone who was different.  Prior to ths period in his life, he found a sense in belonging when he served in the New Zealand Army at the end of World War 2 and later as a member of the Maori Club at the University of Auckland.

He published one novel, Coal Flat, and a couple of non-fiction works on literature and wrote lots of reviews and critical surveys.  Publishers Blackwood and Janet Paul considered Pearson’s critique rare in the local scene.  “We have both been struck with your careful and judicious criticism”. However Pearson’s serious response to writing did not endear him to everyone he reviewed and he perceived that some reviews of his own work were in return vengeful.

Pearson’s upbringing and wariness had created the heart of this problem.  In being ever watchful of giving himself away Pearson was seen to be a very unemotional academic character.  Even his close colleagues such as CK Stead had no chance of knowing the real Bill.  Millar writes that Stead doubted the capacity of the Bill Pearson he knew to properly understand Sargeson. But the man Stead knew as a colleague was the closeted persona, not the warm caring man many such as the members of the University Maori club had come to know.

 No Fretful Sleeper is a well written study of a major figure from New Zealand’s literature and also an intriguing insight into growing up different in 20^th century New Zealand.

 

Mary Ann in Autumn, A Tales of the City Novel, $38.99, Random House

Mary Ann in Autumn, A Tales of the City Novel, $38.99, Random House

Do you need to be a brave author to revisit a collection of protagonists and stories that have attained cult status in the way that Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City did in the late 1970s?  For many of you who have reached a certain age, these stories defined a world you were sure should exist somewhere.  And that somewhere really had to be San Francisco.  At the same time Michael, Mary Ann, Brian, Anna, Mona and all their friends encouraged us with the lives they lead that seemed in many ways similar to our own experiences.

Its strength came from Mary Ann’s wide eyed innocence upon arrival in San Francisco from Cleveland and the quick moving action of the lives of the quirky inhabitants of this city on the bay whom she met and became friends with.

Mary Ann in Autumn reintroduces us beautifully to Barbary Lane and the people who have lived there.  Mary Ann, who fled her adopted daughter and friends for a high flying media job in New York, has returned and this return is not being immediately welcomed by everyone.  Michael and his young husband Ben, Michael’s business partner, Jake and many other characters have to adjust their busy lives to fit in Mary Ann and the problems that have driven her to seek out her old friends.   

Yes Maupin has successfully pulled off a great story in this revisit.  He delivers a longed for update on everyone’s lives within a contemporary story that rings true.  If you get this book as a gift this Christmas you will certainly treasure and enjoy it.

Mahu Vice: A Hawaiian Mystery by Neil S Plakcy

Mahu Vice: A Hawaiian Mystery by Neil S Plakcy $31.99

‘What's new and hot in gay men's fiction these days?’ I asked my gay Sydney-based bookseller friend, Cameron. ‘You’ve got to read the new Mahu from Neil S Plakcy called Mahu Vice,’ was his immediate recommendation.  As this author was new to me, ideally I would have liked to start with the first in the series. But life doesn’t work like that so without further ado I introduced myself to the fourth book in the ‘Mahu series’ featuring a mixed race and openly gay homicide detective who goes by the name of Kimo Kanapa'aka.

In Mahu Vice the story begins with Kimo being challenged by his older brothers to sort out his crap and stop moping. For the last year he’s been avoiding surfing and communicating with his normally close family, because he has broken off his relationship with hunky fire investigator Mike Riccardi after discovering evidence of some playing around on Mike’s part.  Next thing they meet up at a suspicious fire at a small shopping centre that used to be owned by Kimo's father.  However, the building isn't the only thing that is smouldering.  But ever the professionals, Mike and Kimo start working on their respective parts of the investigation. Any clues to the cause of the fire are scarce but Kimo and his straight partner Ray conduct a thorough investigation that keeps uncovering more and more leads. 

While a conventional thriller, gay men and extreme sexual acts do play a part in the story, but at the end of the day it is a mystery crime novel, not a jerk-off fantasy read. The characters are fully formed with clearly described personalities and relationships and the workings of the police department ring true. All in all it’s Hawaii from Waikiki to Oahu's North Shore - seen and written about from a local's view. 

At 276 pages it’s shorter than your standard Deaver or Rankin, but it certainly makes a pleasant change to read about the life - and somewhat fraught times - of a gay cop. And it would make a very enjoyable holiday read, not least thanks to the affirming gay scenarios in this rather straight world of ours. Recommended summer reading.

Mahu Blood by Neil S Plakcy

Mahu Blood by Neil S Plakcy $35.99

Plakcy’s previous Mahu books have been great reads.  The series is set in Hawaii with a local gay couple as the central story line.  Kimo is a police detective and his life partner Mike works for the fire service.  Their everyday lives at work and at home have made for refreshingly familiar thrillers with an underlying gay familiarity.  In this new book, Mahu Blood, Plakcy confronts us and his protagonists with the reality of land rights issues that have been bubbling under the surface in the Aloha state for over a century.

While doing a shift in uniform during a march for Native rights, Kimo hears rifle shots.  An old Hawaiian lady has been killed with 3 bullets.  This doesn’t look like a random killing.  The ensuing investigation takes us into the history of the kingdom of Hawaii.  Money, coffee, the sex industry, land rights and family all collide in this story.  We read the day by day slow development of this difficult case as well as the ups and downs of Kimo’s home life.  He has moved in with Mike but after years as an independent man this newfound domesticity isn’t all sex and happiness.  He also misses the opportunities for spur of the moment surfing his old beach apartment provided.  His work partnership with mainland trained Ray also adds some interesting work life detail.

This is a thriller with tension, context and warm relationships.  The “real” feelings associated with Kimo and Mike building a life together ring very true.