Literary Therapy

 

I had planned to write that I finally "got my life back" yesterday after finishing both Jonathan Franzen's "The Corrections," which I'd started in 2003(!), and Vincent Bugliosi's "Helter Skelter," which I'd started while babysitting in eighth grade(!!), but then I immediately resumed another title I have struggled with forever -- Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" (purchased at a bookstore in the Marais in 2001) -- only now that I'm back in the reading groove, I'm whizzing right through it, "life" intact. (Wow, it's good!) 

To back up a little: I had restarted and then abandoned "The Corrections" again last month, telling myself that reading is supposed to be fun, so why force myself if I wasn't feeling it? But then my obsessive-compulsive disorder kicked in -- do I really want to leave unfinished something I'd started? can I really buy new books when my shelves are littered with ones I haven't read? -- and discovering that my brother Bill had urged me to read it ages ago and that Meryl Streep had recently signed on to play Enid in a Netflix adaptation sealed the deal to forge ahead. 

In the end, Franzen's writing is not for everyone. But the chaotic family dynamic was definitely something I'm comfortable with, so I have no regrets.

In addition, I completed Damian Barr's "Maggie & Me," which I'd bought in 2014 around the time my memoir came out but struggled with because it's written in working-class Scottish English -- when I say they have a different word for everything, I mean they have a different word for everything -- so it made it hard to get into when you were constantly confused. 

A decade wiser, I muddled through and when I finished last week, I immediately tagged the author on social media saying I wanted to give him a hug. (If you've read it, you'll know why.) 

My Damian saw this and got sentimental, asking if I remembered what he'd said to me right after reading "Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?" early in our relationship. 

Off the top of my head, I did not, so he reminded me: "I said I wanted to give you a hug." 💓

My hubby explained that he was so moved by how vulnerable I had made myself and my gay inner child, which is exactly how I felt about Mr. Barr. (I'm sorry, but younger people will never understand what it was like to grow up thinking you were the only person in the world who felt this way -- something many of us didn't even have a word for -- and that everyone you loved would disown you if they knew -- only to discover there actually were other people like you, and they were dying because of it.)

On a similar but more uproarious note: I couldn't get enough of the audiobook of Jeff Hiller's "Actress of a Certain Age.” He too grew up gay at a difficult time in a difficult place (Texas). And while it would be a great read no matter how you slice it, hearing his delivery took it to the next level!

Soon to come: The new Olivia Newton-John biography, Barry Walters's "Mighty Real" and a colleague reminded me that I still need to check out Mackenzie Phillips's "High on Arrival," although the list goes on and on ...

Tell me what you're reading in the comments. xo

Remains of the Day (05/15)

PBS: Congrats to my college friend John Reburn -- onetime model and Hollywood "It" boy -- whose short film about his printmaking business in Roanoke just got nominated for two Emmys! Watch HERE.

Out: Charles Barkley on Jason Collins's death: "We live in a homophobic society"

The Advocate: For 34 years, Broadway Bares has fought AIDS -- one striptease at a time

Instinct: Will Pride flags be banned from the World Cup?

Saturday 'Stache: I wonder what his hourly rate is

ICYMI: Ilya Rozanov puts the "spread" in magazine spread

MetroWeekly: “The Boys” goes out in a spray of blood, bile and brutal satire as the hit Prime Video series reaches its gleefully unhinged end

PinkNews: Sexy Reform U.K. councilor quits as porn persona uncovered: "I’ve not broken the law"

NYT: Why so many men are obsessed with testosterone 

Greg in Hollywood: Jonathan Bailey gets pumped

THR: Claudine Longet, French singer-actress who got away with killing lover/skier Spider Sabich because she didn't "intend to spend Christmas without him," is dead at 84

The Randy Report: Seattle is emerging as a refuge for LGBTQ people fleeing increasingly hostile conservative states.

Attitude: Britney Spears’s ex-husband Sam Asghari strips down for PrEP campaign

Gayety: Netflix rolled out plenty of LGBTQ content at its 2026 upfronts

Speedo Sunday: I see red

Hot Cat of the Day: Guarding the butter cookies (a toll fee may apply)

Music to My Ears: Congrats to Rosanne Cash ("The Wheel"), the Go-Go's ("Beauty and the Beat"), Gladys Knight and the Pips ("Midnight Train to Georgia") and every other artist whose work was inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry for 2026!

Tragedy at the Regal Beagle

Damian and I went to see Verdi’s "La Traviata" at the Metropolitan Opera last night, a vibrant Michael Mayer production featuring soaring arias and spectacular sets. Ermonela Jaho was sublime as Violetta Valery, with Kang Wang holding his own as Alfredo.

I believe this was our seventh opera -- all at the famed opera house -- yet it was only during the intermission that we concluded that most plots are essentially an episode of "Three's Company," so the important thing is to just ignore the story "logic" and let the spectacle of the sets and costumes and the sound of the music and voices wash over you ... and then we nearly drowned! 

 

"Bit" player with plenty of bits 

Afterward we walked down to The Flame on 58th Street. While this may seem like a mundane detail, it’s noteworthy because it’s one of the few 24-hour eateries left in New York, a city that decided after the pandemic that not only does it sleep, it goes to bed ridiculously early -- both diners right near our apartment now close at 9 p.m.(!). 

On the Rag, Vol. 907

 

This week's rag 'n' mag roundup features Carlos Alcaraz, Colman Domingo, Marco Calvani, Olivia Newton-John, "Ilya Rozanov," Andy Warhol, Charles Melton and more BELOW.

Remains of the Day (05/13)

Stolen Holiday: From nude-swimming scandal to Wi-Fi pioneer, Hedy Lamarr’s life was somehow even wilder than Hollywood mythology -- and far sadder too

The Caftan Chronicles: A gay Bronx teen sneaks into 12 West at 16 and lives long enough to watch disco’s euphoric freedom curdle into the devastation of AIDS in this haunting oral history of vanished New York

Attitude: Prime Minister Donald Tusk apologizes to LGBTQ people as Poland moves to recognize same-sex marriage

Wrestle Wednesday: "Heated Rivalry" on a wrestling mat? 

NYT: Heartbroken to hear that Jason Collins -- who broke barriers as the first openly gay man in one of the four major U.S. team sports -- has died after a battle with brain cancer at just 47. What a sweet man he was. xo

Out: LGBTQ community mourns Jason Collins, "giant" of the movement

AFP: EU won’t ban LGBTQ "conversion therapy" but will push states to act

Instinct: Finally, you can hold hands on safari without a police escort 

The Small Bow: Having recently read her 2004 memoir, I didn't think I could be more horrified about Tatum O'Neal's life. Her son Kevin Patrick McEnroe's Mother's Day post proved how sadly wrong I was.

Reuters: Can a single infusion of immune cells suppress HIV for years?

GCN: LGBTQ authors and bookworms converge at 14th annual New York Rainbow Book Fair

Gr8er Days: Rex Reed, ultimate bitch critic, dies at 87

Hot Cat of the Day: The doctor will see you meow

Colt Classic: Richard Bernstein -- aka Colt star Mickey Squires -- joins Matthew Rettenmund for the first full-length episode of his “Boy Culture" podcast, available on YouTube and Spotify.

Tennis Tuesday Six-Pack

 

Six men who clearly warrant individual posts of their own BELOW.