Last February, I reviewed “Pixiegate Madoke” by Michael Sean LeSueur at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography (CCLaP). I had an email interview with Michael, where we discussed gender politics, bizarro literature, and pop culture. Continue reading An Interview with Michael Sean LeSueur
Tom House: Tom of Finland in Los Angeles “celebrates the still transgressive world of gay leathermen and Tom of Finland’s place in Los Angeles’ architectural history.” Continue reading More NSFW Files: Tom House: Tom of Finland in Los Angeles, by Michael Reynolds
This week I review the 1997 classic “Pagan Kennedy’s Living: A Guidebook for Aging Hipsters,” where the Queen of ‘Zines offers advice and lifestyle tips. Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: Pagan Kennedy’s Living: A Guidebook for Aging Hipsters, by Pagan Kennedy
The Argument David Bowie’s recent death has closed a page on music history. On a more personal level, Bowie has been a constant in my life for decades. Beyond mere 80s nostalgia (Labyrinth) or 90s nostalgia (Lost Highway, Outside, and Earthling), Bowie has been instrumental to me personally as a taste-maker. He led me down strange avenues and provided the raw material for discovery and aesthetic experimentation. Embryo My fascinating with David Bowie began early. I can still remember the first Bowie album I bought, sometime in the Nineties. It was a CD of Tonight (1984), an album even Bowie … Continue reading Critic’s Notebook: David Bowie and the Physiology of Taste
This week I review Norman Mailer’s selected letters, giving a new perspective on an iconic and controversial author. Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: Selected Letters of Norman Mailer, edited by J. Michael Lennon
Horizontal Collaboration, by Mel Gordon is “an illuminating linguistic, cartographic, and historical exploration of Parisian lusts.” Continue reading Horizontal Collaboration: The Erotic World of Paris, 1920–1946, by Mel Gordon @ NYJB
“Stormtrooper Families” offers a much-needed historical reckoning against commonly held falsehoods, bringing lucid scholarship to a neglected area in the history of the Nazi regime. Continue reading Stormtrooper Families, by Andrew Wackerfuss @ NYJB
The Driftless Area Review 