Between The Covers, the Gay City LGBT Library book club, is currently on hiatus as we prepare for our upcoming move. Look for Between The Covers to resume meeting this summer in our brand new Gay City LGBT Library space!

Between The Covers Book Reviews

Gay City: Volume 4 (At Second Glance)

Gay City Volume 4: At Second Glance is a multi-genre collection that offers a variety of mediums for even the most diverse of interests, including comic art and playscript. Contributing authors range from famous (Felice Picano) to local up and coming writers. The premise for this delightful anthology is casting a second look at well-known stories – anything from myths to fairy tales, to modern plays and tv shows, to contemporary novels.

In taking “a second glance” at these beloved and popular tales, the authors imagine a world where heterosexual norms are not all-pervasive; a world where Princes can marry other princes, for example. Each new story surprises the reader with a new twist – we won’t spoil all the endings, but let’s just say that Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn might be a little bit more than just friends! The book is engaging, thought-provoking, and definitely worth more than one glance.

by Susan Rees

Latter Days - C. Jay Cox and T. Fabris

As a novel that is labeled as a film adaptation, I expected it to be very similar to the film. Latter Days turned out to be almost identical, down to quoting most of the dialogue from the movie. The only exception is that it makes an attempt to add a couple of scenes, assumedly to clear up some ambiguities in character and plot development.

Unfortunately, characters still fall flat, with such one-dimensional personalities that I had a hard time caring about them. Christian, a stereotypical gay man, spends his days partying and having sex. Aaron, a supposedly closeted Mormon missionary, suddenly realizes he is The Gay as soon as he meets Christian. The plot progresses from there at an unrealistic pace, and involves a couple of devices and catalysts that caused me to raise an incredulous eyebrow. The characters themselves occasionally behave in ways that are out of character or just plain not believable.

While the story is really quite sweet and endearing when taken at face value for what it is – a romantic comedy – I couldn’t help but be disappointed that it addressed such serious issues as religious intolerance and homophobia in such a clumsy way. It’s as though the author wanted to write the story as both a romance and a serious, hard-hitting expose at the same time. Regrettably, he doesn’t quite pull it off, and really fails to portray the horror and torture that someone in Aaron’ situation would really be going through.

All-in-all, a worthwhile movie to watch if you’re in the mood for a gay twist on the traditional romantic comedy (I mean, Christian pursues Aaron on a bet with his roommate that he can conquer the poor boy. Seriously?). But if you’re looking for anything more, don’t bother. Either way, reading the book is unnecessary unless you prefer the written word to the visual film.

by Susan Rees