Lambda Rising, Autumn 1993

л Lambda Rising SNEWS A Autumn 1993 1625 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20009 • 202-462-6969 Autumn 1993 Covering the Expanding Lesbian and Gay Book Universe New Books A plenty This Fall at Lambda Rising by Jim Marks, Senior Editor Lambda Book Report Randy Shilts on over¬ turning the military ban: 'This really caught the gay political leadership with their pants down." Diane Salvatore raising the cur¬ tain on Rita Mae Brown, Martina Navratilova and Judy Nelson. John D' Emi¬ lio assessing Michaelan- gelo Signorile's Queer in America. Sarah Schulman casting a skeptical eye on liberated 90s lesbian sexu¬ ality. Harlan Greene on Coleman Dowell's dishy New York memoir. Mal¬ colm Boyd on Christ as Queer. Lesbian mother¬ hood. A treasure trove of "boxy" private photos. Vassar girls, interracial love, mad monks and Roy Cohn, too. These stories were just some of what you'd find in a recent issue of Lambda Book Report, the nation's only periodical devoted exclusively to the universe of gay and lesbian litera¬ ture. And what an expand¬ ing universe it is. "So many books, so little time." When it comes to gay and lesbian books, as readers of the Lambda Rising News know, the slo¬ gan has never been more accurate. And if it is a wave, the crest is yet to come. With the 25th anniversary of Stonewall and the fourth Gay Games both slated for next June in New York City, the New York-centered publishing industry will be redou¬ bling its gay and lesbian publishing efforts. The Lambda Book Report is an indispensable guide to making sense of this out¬ pouring of our literature. Published six times a year, Lambda Book Report lists and reviews every gay and lesbian book published. Each issue contains a review section in which some of our best writers and thinkers give their assessment of the latest novels, anthologies, bio¬ graphies, mysteries, sci-fi adventures and poetry col¬ lections. We spice up the review section with brief interviews with the people behind the books, explor¬ ing their reasons for sitting down to write and their views on the world. In addition, the Book Report collects shorter See "Book Report" on page 2 Autumn is a very busy season in the book indus¬ try, with publishers every¬ where scrambling to get new titles out in time for that all-important Holiday season. The gay and les¬ bian book industry is no exception this year, as pub¬ lishers everywhere intro¬ duce new titles and re¬ prints of old favorites. More than half of this issue of Lambda Rising News is dedicated to "new" titles this season, as pages 8 through 15 of the News are filled with new titles and paperback re-releases of some of your favorites. Among the highlights for Autumn are the paperback editions of Armisted Mau- pin's Maybe the Moon (page 6), Virginia Woolf's Orlando (recently made into the movie featuring Quentin Crisp as Queen PK Elizabeth 1!) on page 8, Jack Ricardo's compelling mystery The Night G.A.A. Died (page 11), Joe Stef- fan's biography Honor Bound (page 12), a reprint of Manuel Puig's Kiss of the Spider Woman on age 13, and Florence ing's Southern Ladies and Gentlemen (page 15.) Autumn is also a busy season for author appear¬ ances at Lambda Rising, beginning with the first days of September and car- rying right through the season. Wednesday, Sep¬ tember 15, Raymond Luczak reads from, inter¬ prets, and signs his book Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay and Lesbian Reader (Alyson) from 6 until 7 p.m. at Lambda Rising/ DC. Coming out is difficult enough, but it becomes a new challenge altogether Steven Corbin visits Lambda Rising /DC Thursday, September 30 to read from and sign Fragments that Remain when one can't take communica¬ tion itself for granted. Eyes of Desire is a col¬ lection of stories of lesbians and gay men who are deaf. They tell about their lives, discovering their sexual identities, overcoming bar¬ riers and creat¬ ing their own deaf lesbian and gay culture. Sunday, Sep¬ tember 19 from 3 until 4 p.m., local DC area artists Chuck Tarver and Craig Reynolds read from and sign Sojourner: Black Gay Voices in the Age of AIDS (Other Countries) at Lambda Rising/ Balti¬ more. This collection, pub¬ lished by the New York Foundation for the Arts, is a powerful collection of poetry, essays, letters, art¬ work, and prose by Black gay writers who evoke the full range of human emo¬ tions through this passion¬ ate, life affirming docu¬ ment. The next day, Mon¬ day, September 20, con¬ tributors Sam Jennings, Steve Langley, and An¬ thony Knight-Dewey will appear at Lambda Rising/ DC from 6 until 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 22 from 6 until 7 p.m., See "Fall Signings” on page 2 Lambda Rising News Now Boasts Largest Circulation in the Country! i” • . •i.w -- f %. . /V The Lambda Rising mail order division continues to grow at a phenomenal rate this year as the circu¬ lation of Lambda Rising News quickly approaches 350,000 quarterly catalogs. In addition to our own mailing list of Lambda Rising customers, the News is now distributed in more than 20 gay and les¬ bian newspapers across the country, bringing our products to areas that do not yet have stores that stock books of interest to gay and lesbian cus¬ tomers. We add increasing numbers of new cus¬ tomers to our lists each SIGNINGS AT-A-GLANCE: Lambda Rising/DC 9/15: Raymond Luczak. Eyes of Desire 9/20: Sam )ennings. Steve Langley. Anthony Knight-Dewey. Sojourner: Black Gay Vokes in the Age of AIDS 9/22: Bernard Cooper. Year of Rhymes 9/23: Jennifer DiMarco. Escape to the Wind 9/27: Rochelle Schwab, A Different Sin 9/30: Steven Corbin. Fragments That Remain 10/12: Larry Duplechan. Captain Swing 10/14: Dell Richards. Superstars 10/27: David Leavitt. While England Sleeps 1 1/4: Stephen Leinen. Gay Cops I 1/8: |oan Slonczewski. Daughters of Elysium I I / i 0: Edmund White, Genet: A Biography Lambda Rising/Baltimore 9/19: Chuck Tarver. Craig Reynolds. So|oumen Black Gay Voices In the Age of AIDS week from all parts of the country, many of whom are seeing our catalog for the first time. As we continue to expand our mail order operations, Lambda Rising News has grown into the largest gay-owned and operated mail order book catalog in the country. With that growth, we want to do everything within our power to also make the News the best catalog in the industry. We listen carefully to cus¬ tomer suggestions and add as many of them to the catalog as possible. Our customers asked for more new titles in each catalog, so beginning with the Autumn 1993 issue, we are including as many new titles and re-releases as we can fit on the pages! Even though each issue of Lambda Rising News lists only a small portion of the total number of gay and lesbian titles available, you might not see your old favorites listed as fre¬ quently, but those titles are still available. If there's a particular book you're interested in but don't see listed, please call our order line, 800-621-6969, See "Circulation" on page 2 aids..,4 1993 Art... 13 Bestsellers, Men's... 5 Bestsellers, Women’s. . 4 Biographies . 1 2 Condoms and Dental Dams.. ••■••••••■••«а» 22 Cookbooks . 15 Drama. . . . 1 3 Erotica, Men’s . 17 Erotica, Women's . 16 Fiction, Children’s and Young Adult... 13 Fiction, Men's» . 6-7 Fiction, Women's . 8 Gay Studies . 7 Gifts . 23 Horror . 3 Humor............... - - — ..».....»..». 1 5 Lambda Book Report •■•••••••••••••••■•a 10 Lubes . 22 Magazines . 22 Music. . 19 Mystery . 1 1 Poetry..» . 10 Sale Books . 18 Science Fiction . 9 Self Help. •••■•••■■a aaasaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 15 Short Story Collections . 9 Spirituality . 10 T-shirts . 24 Travel . 15 Video.......»....».»»»»...»»»»..».20-21 Women’s Studies . 8 We Ship Books Anywhere! Overnight Delivery Available (at slight additional charge)