What's Robert Been Reading & Watching?

The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers
by Thomas Mullen

An incredibly deliberate and well crafted tale set in the depression midwest and follows the escapades of the Fireson brothers, Jason and Whit, rogue bankrobbers. Defying the odds, the brothers manage to escape the authorities, both local and federal, in repeated shootouts. Or do they? The brothers commit to complete one final as they make attempts to complete one final "endeavor" that will allow them to escape and set up a new life. Waiting on the sidelines to learn about the Fireson brothers are their mother, brother, Whit's wife and toddler, and Jason's girlfriend, Darcy, whom Jason held briefly as getaway cover after one of their early bank robberies. Smoothly and deliberately paced, with great depictions of the banks, the hideouts and the breadlines and moods of the depression, Mullen weaves a complex tale of family and secrets and truths withheld. I only wished that Darcy, Jason's girlfriend, an intriguing character had been as finely drawn as the brothers Fireson. One of the most thoroughly satisfying and fulfilling reading experiences I have had in quite some time.

One Amazing Thing
by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Simple premise here: Nine people are stranded in the basement office of an Indian passport/visa office in San Francisco. Not sure why the author does not name the city, but provides signature descriptive landmarks of the city throughout the narrative. Uncertain if they will be rescued, their attempts to free themselves prove futile as the structure of their environs is extremely unstable. To pass the time and create a means of distraction, each person is challenged to reveal a secret about themselves that has affected their lives with great impact. As each character reveals something of themselves, the narrative histories engage the reader, but none of the stories are what would be labeled earth shattering; creating strong empathy for the characters. I am flummoxed by the ending of this book, and not exactly certain the authors intent or if the coyness of it is too cloying. It is a powerful and thought provoking read filled with elements of self examination by the characters which greatly explore how choices people make affect their karma and their own lives and those around them. Is the author a bit too coy with her ambiguous ending, which could create ambivalence for the less attached reader.

Wench
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

A quickly paced, absorbing piece of historical fiction which examines the lives of slave women who also serve as mistresses to their masters. Perkins-Valdez presents a glimpse into a lost piece of history, setting her story in a resort that caters to Southern white plantation owners and their slave mistresses. In the second section of the novel, the reader is introduced to Lizzie, one of the four mistresses who meet one summer at the resort. Lizzie's story is told with great empathy as she is slowly seduced by her owner and how her tenuous position as a house slave is strained by her children by the master and his wife. The circumstances of these four mistresses are very believably and lyrically set forth by Perkins-Valdez and make this a fast-paced but very richly rewarding reading experience that gives one much to contemplate regarding this dark period of American history. A very brave and uniquely original first novel that shows great promise of a developing writer.

Horns
by Joe Hill

A very strong second novel from Hill. This tells the story of the complex friendship and romantic entanglements of three high school friends. Ignatius Perrish wakes up after a night of drunken debauchery to find that he has grown a set of devilish horns. These horns have the capacity to allow Ig to hear the true desires of those he comes in contact. He learns how almost everyone he knows including his family believe he is responsible for the brutal rape and death of his longtime girlfriend, Merrin. Add to the mix, best friend to both Ig and Merrin in high school. Only has secrets of mischief and longings for Merrin. Elements of the thoroughly fascinating read may prove controversial to some. Certainly the male voices here are fully developed, but I wished we had been given a less sexist and more fully developed picture of Merrin.

A Dark Matter
by Peter Straub

In the mid-1960s, a small group of high school students, two college students and a self-declaimed guru attempt to perform a ceremony to break through to higher level of spirituality and reality accidentally make a tear into a netherworld filled with evil, leaving one of the participants dead. Decades later, writer Lee ???, married to Lee Traux, one of the high-schoolers, attempts to get to the truth of what actually occurred as he interviews each of the survivors. Each character's own true voice is intriguingly strong, but slightly filtered and skewed through the writer's own interpretation of their stories. The narrative is compelling, but the drama of the true terrors leave one a little unfulfilled. One of the most fascinating voices is ???, former girlfriend to the guru, truly a controlled, cold and frightening individual.

Flower Drum Song
starring Nancy Kwon, James Shigeta, Jack Soo,
Juanita Hall, and Myoshi Umeki

Okay, a few weeks back I decided to work my way through the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals, and had sat down and watched The Sound Of Music. But this true gem of movie musical kept pulling at my heartstrings to watch it again. A lot takes place in this very simple story of a mail-order bride coming to San Francisco in the late 1950s and finding love. The entire cast is quite brilliant in their performances. Also woven throughout the storyline are themes involving the generation gap, racial relations, and patriotism for a new found homeland. Stylistically, the musical numbers are quite broad and provide some of the best of Rodgers & Hammerstein, from the vampy/campy "I Enjoy Being A Girl", "Sunday", "Don't Marry Me", "The Other Generation", "Fan-Tan Fanny" (a burlesque number) to the beautiful ballads, "Love Look Away" and "You Are Beautiful" and the major theme of the storyline, "One Hundred Million Miracles." Do yourself a favor and watch this excellent production of a lesser known classic musical.

Send Me No Flowers
starring Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall and Clint Walker

Yep, this is still my favorite, not exactly sure why, but it is...Doris Day gets to laugh a great deal in this picture, at the antics of her hypochondriac of a husband Rock Hudson. Hudson mistakenly believes he only has weeks to live due to a bum "ticker". With the assistance of neighbor Tony Randall, he spends the next weekend trying to line-up a new husband for Doris. Randall is very very funny in this one, he spends the entire weekend in a mournful drunken stupor over the pending loss of Hudson. And in his bumbling attempts to find a new spouse, they stumble across an even larger man than Hudson, Clint Walker. Hudson and Day are at the top of their games in this truly delightful romantic farce.

Social Disease
by Paul Rudnick

Paul Rudnick's first novel is set in the New York club scene, specifically Club de and its habitues and wanna-bes. We follow the troibles of socialite clubbers Guy Huber, his wife Venice and their gay pal Licky Banes as they hit they favorite nightclub. The next day, late afternoon really, Guy comes to the realization that he is short on funds and runs up to his folks and lays it out for them. They challenge him to accept responsibility for himself and suggest he get a job. Oh the woes. But Licky suggests Guy work as a "door" for Club de--the absolute perfect job for Guy. What follows is a cunning satire on New York club society as well as an indict of our culture at large, involving teen Jerseyites attempts to sneak into Club de, the Sheik Oded Ben Fadood and his harem of wives, who are of speaking the English hysterically and an array of other characters that wind up in the New York courts and a minimum security prison, which resembles not a prison but a spa/retreat. Antics galore, a fast paced romp that uniquely captures Rudnick's delightful humor filled with cynicism and zaniness.

Finian's Rainbow - New Broadway Cast Recording
featuring Kate Baldwin, Cheyenne Jackson,
Jim Norton, and Christopher Fitzgerald

Finally, I've had the chance to sit down and listen to this new recording of one of most favorite musicals. Sadly I didn't get to New York to see the show before it closed mid-January. Someday I will get to see Cheyenne Jackson on stage, though this would have been ideal.

This is a brilliant recording of some absolutely wonderful songs from lyricist Yip Harburg ("Over the Rainbow) and Burton Lane including standards "Old Devil Moon," and "How Are Things in Glocca Morra," "Look to the Rainbow." Rich vocals from the crystalline voice of Kate Baldwin as Sharon and Cheyenne Jackson's smooth tones as Woody lead an extraordinary ensemble through the score. Particular and tremendous stands out here are Christopher Fitzgerald's "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love"; Terri White's vocals in "Necessity" and the four gospeliers singing "The Begat". Again, listeners should take note of the tremendous vocal ensemble chorus throughout this recording, they are of a full and rich sound that is exhilarating to the ear. More on the storyline in my upcoming notes on the film version. (Yes it is usually an annual screening for me long about St. Patrick's Day.)

Lover Come Back
starring Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall, and Edie Adams

I was so uplifted by the viewing of Pillow Talk, I decided for a double feature and watched Lover Come Back, the second film featuring the romantic coupling of Doris Day and Rock Hudson, with Tony Randall as comedic third. Much bolder in sexual innuendo and entendre, Lover Come Back features Day and Hudson as advertising executives in competing firms attempting to win over the new product "VIP" to their own agency. Hudson's character actually created "VIP" to appease dancer/chanteuse Edie Adams to prevent her from testifying before the Advertising Council in answer to charges placed by Day against Hudson and his agency's underhanded tactics in winning over clients. Hudson commissions a scientist to create a product for "VIP" then assumes his identity to mislead and divert Day, teasing her with possibly committing "VIP" to her agency. Sparks fly and truly there is no one like Doris Day to give smouldering burning looks of anger and vengeance.

I am now committed to watching at least Send Me No Flowers, (I think my personal favorite of the three) and Move Over Darling. Who knows what other Doris Day pics I will watch over the next week or so.

Pillow Talk
starring Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall, and Thelma Ritter

Okay, I was getting a bit punchy and down about all the snow, the shovelling and feeling somewhat guilty about the missed work. (Really, seriously!) I thought I'd watch a comedy to cheer me up and decided a Doris Day flick would do me some good. This is the first of three films that Doris did with Rock Hudson and Tony Randall (must not forget Mr. Randall, who is quite entertaining as a third in each of the Day/Hudson flicks). Professional interior decorator Day shares a party-line (apparently it was a bit of a process to get your own individual phone line in the mid to late 50s) with song composer and lothario Hudson. Randall is a client of Day's and has proposed marriage, but alas, she is not in love with him. She wants to be sent to the moon via rockets. Hudson pretends to be a Texan businessman in New York City to attempt to woo Day. Hudson's teasings about Day's lack of a romantic outlets add the conflict, pushing over the edge. The chemistry is quite obvious between Hudson and Day and makes for great screen viewing. Thelma Ritter is also on hand with subtle comedic delight as Day's housekeeper. Witty fun and sadly dated by its sexism. Forgive it and enjoy.

The Associate
by John Grisham

A bit behind on my Grisham reading, decided I needed a break from some of the fantasy series and what not I've been reading, and picked up his most recent novel from last February, The Associate. A quickly paced thriller involving law student Kyle McAvoy, who is finishing his last year of law school and committed to a three year stint working with illegal immigrants. But his past as an undergraduate comes up to haunt him in the form of video, exquisitely shot via a cell phone, putting him and three of his frat mates at the scene of an alleged rape. This little video is in the hands of corporate blackmailers who now what McAvoy to join the big corporate law firm now rather than in three years that he plans to join. They want him to provide documents and information on a pending lawsuit between to big military contractors. Overall this typical fare for Grisham, though one of the better plotlines from him than in the past few years, though I didn't necessarily connect with the characters inhabiting in this story. Twice in the book I also wondered how the book would have been different and possibly more original had he pursued different plot elements and storylines. (The cover art and link for this edition to the hardcover, a mass market paperback edition is also available.)

Jeffrey
by Paul Rudnick

I decided after finishing our club selection for February, Paul Rudnick's I Shudder: And Other Reactions to Life, Death, and New Jersey, that I would go back through some of Mr. Rudnick's other works and dug around for the plays and novels that I have. First up was Jeffrey, a play about one man's, Jeffrey, pursuit of love, happiness, and safe sex in New York during the 90s. It is still as refreshing and vibrant and new as it was when first released. Jeffrey's fears of HIV and romantic commitment still ring true today. Just are as refreshing are the characters of Sterling, a knowledgeable gay man of means and his boyfriend, 'Cats' chorine, Darius, Jeffrey's closest friends. Jeffrey, caterwaiter-slash-actor, meets and is actively pursued by hot bartender Steve, who is also HIV+. Delightfully humourous and touching. I need to find my copy of the film version and sit and watch. (This cover art is from the Plume trade paperback edition no longer in print.)

The Stand: Captain Trips
script by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
art by Mike Perkins
color art by Laura Martin

Stephen King's The Stand has been called one the great American novels and I would have to agree. Great characters, intriguing plotlines and story development, richly textured writing that leaves many lasting impressions and mental images. The television miniseries also brilliantly captured the multitudinous essences... of King's novel and now this graphic novel series is capturing these essences as brilliantly and with even stronger impressions particularly of Randall. This presentation of King's story is excellent, entertaining and had me captivated in the early morning hours this morning. Randall's character became for me much more prominent and foreboding. I'm looking forwarding to the second volume and the entire series. And I will definitely go back and see the miniseries and reread the original book again.

The Swan Thieves
by Elizabeth Kostova

Elizabeth Kostova's second novel is as sweeping and engaging in history and modern story lines as her first novel, The Historian. The worlds in which she sets her newest novel are the world of painting and artists and modern psychiatry. There is much to contemplate about modern psyche and the treatment of mental illn...ess as well as ethical conduct with this tome. Andrew Marlow, psychiatrist and amateur painter, and somewhat a milquetoast, is asked to treat a disturbed artist, Robert Oliver, after he is caught attempting to slash a portrait in the National Gallery. Oliver remains mostly uncommunicative and Marlow is forced into is own questionable investigation as to what is behind Oliver's violent and disturbed behavior. Kostova blends several tales of artists lives in the late 1800s with the women in the present day life of Robert Oliver through letters and conversational confessions. The reader's interested is capture and held for the most part and
the ending and what lies behind all these lives unfolds with intrigue through to the very end. Mary, Oliver' lover and his wife Kate, are given tremendous voices that create great empathy for each of their discussions of their complicated and tortured relationships with Robert. The book unfolds with maybe a bit too much in length, but throughout Kostova demonstrates a marvelous ability to describe scenery and the individual paintings she uses throughout the book.

The Wild Things
by Dave Eggers

The Wild Things - based loosely on the storybook by Maurice Sendak and the screenplay cowritten with Spike Jonze - is about the confusions of a boy, Max, making his way in a world he can't control. His father is gone, his mother is spending time with a younger boyfriend, his sister is becoming a teenager and no longer has interest in him. At the same time, Max finds himself capable of startling acts of wildness: he wears a wolf suit, bites his mom, and can't always control his outbursts. During a fight at home, Max flees and runs away into the woods. He finds a boat there, jumps in, and ends up on the open sea, destination unknown. He lands on the island of the Wild Things, and soon he becomes their king. But things get complicated when Max realizes that the Wild Things want as much from him as he wants from them. Funny, dark, and alive, The Wild Things is a timeless and time-tested tale for all ages.

Fallen
by Lauren Kate

Too easily comparable to the Twilight series, unfortunately which will serve as a touchstone for any such similar books, even undeservedly so. The writing here is stronger but not a lot happens. But new take on past lives and angels could lead to more interesting and faster paced entries in the series. Am intrigued enough to want to read more.

Flawed Dogs:
The Shocking Raid on Westminster
by Berkeley Breathed

What a delightfully fun entertaining read. Only wished all illustrations were in color. Breathed is much better in color. Though there are dark overtones within the story, Breathed skirts some of the very scary stuff with implied courtesy and acknowledgement and admission of just how scary the subject matter can be. Enjoy tremendously the terrific sense of humor expressed by Sam the Beagle in his communications and throughout the book's illustrations as well. A great and valuable lesson in taught in what turns out to be a gripping chain of events at the Westminster Dog Show. Another bravura performance/gift from the author of Pete and Pickles, one of the best children's books and books I've read in a long time. I tip my hat to you, Mr. Breathed. This is definitely one of my favorite books of 2009.

Locke & Key: Head Games
by Joe King & Gabriel Rodriguez (illustrator)

The story continues as family adapts to its new life in New England and the old house of mysteries. Another key reveals the inner thoughts and fears of a person's mind. The evil spirit has taken a form and befriended the family, yet reeking havoc on someone from its former existence. The graphics are as strong as the first volume though the key and the skulls revealing is a bit odd and comes off childish. Stretches the imagination a bit far for me. But still enjoyed this storyline and am eager to continue reading.

To make recommendations for future selections of Big Gay Book Group,
please send your suggestions and recommendations by email to
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Any recommendations will be presented to and voted on by
members of the Group during our Group Gatherings.