by itabix | Nov 25, 2018 | Coming out, Earthrise, eBooks, The First Man, The First Man
1 Neil Armstrong was difficult to live with and probably denied Janet, his wife, and his sons what they may have wanted most from him—warmth and love—but Armstrong stumbled into the one place on Earth where what was wanted from him was exactly what he had to offer—a...
by itabix | Sep 25, 2018 | AIDS, Anger, Earthrise, eBooks, Gay literature, Gay Pride, Where meaning comes from, Winter Rain, Writing
Winter Rain 1 I set out to write a gay novel about alcoholism, and when I completed it and then couldn’t get it published, I put it in a box on the floor at the back of my closet. It eventually was moved to my first computer, and then moved from computer to computer....
by itabix | Jun 13, 2018 | bookstores, Coming to terms with the past, Courage, Daniel D'Addario, Earthrise, eBooks, Gay literature, In Search of Lost Time, Sodom and Gomorrah, Where meaning comes from
During most of my life, there has been only one way to get a manuscript into format in which everybody can read it, and that is through the publishing industry, owned and operated by large corporations whose expertise is in making money, not literature. They do it by...
by itabix | May 8, 2017 | books, Bookstores, bookstores, eBooks, Gay literature, print on demand, Publishing
Some of us have been thinking about an LGBTQ bookstore for Boston, along the lines of what I have described in “The death of our bookstore (3).” See here and here and here. If you are interested in a non-profit LGBTQ bookstore for Boston which would sell new and used...
by itabix | May 3, 2017 | books, Bookstores, bookstores, eBooks
The current crisis around LGBTQ bookstores is not a conflict between print books and digital books. Digital books are here to stay and are going to learn to coexist with print books. Consequently, a bookstore will offer a maximum number of titles of books of interest...
by itabix | Apr 28, 2017 | Bookstores, bookstores, Daniel D'Addario, eBooks, Gay literature
Most of us are complicit in the failure of bookstores. The bookstores themselves didn’t modernize. We wanted our coffee, and they didn’t serve coffee. They weren’t in the right location. The books themselves became less interesting. Shorter, less deep, less...
by itabix | Apr 22, 2017 | books, Bookstores, bookstores, Daniel D'Addario, eBooks, Gay literature
I used to say that there were three places in Boston which were at the center of gay life for me. There was, obviously, the Ramrod, the gay leather bar on outer Boylston, where numerous overlapping communities met to socialize, perhaps meet for sex, and to feel gay....
by itabix | Mar 9, 2017 | books, bookstores, Daniel D'Addario, eBooks, Freedom, Gay literature, print on demand, Publishing, Writing
Well, today is a new day, and I am here to tell you about a discovery that is going to make a difference to gay people. I was looking for a book (Henry James, Art of the Novel). I went back to Barnes & Noble and found a print-on-demand version of the book I...
by itabix | Jan 10, 2017 | Adam in the Morning, Alcoholism, Barack Obama, Being gay, Bookstores, bookstores, Ceremonies, Coming to terms with the past, eBooks, Gay literature, Publishing, Race Point Light, The effects of bigotry, Uncategorized, Walking wounded, Winter Rain, Writing
I read an article on Slate today on writing and money, and it compels me to respond. The point of the article is the fact that so few writers actually make any money at their writing. Just about all writers are supported by doing something else, like teaching, and yet...
by itabix | Mar 11, 2016 | APA, books, Coming to terms with the past, Gay literature, Movies, Reviews, Walking wounded
In the flurry of marriages and commitments at the end of Downton Abbey—Edith to her Marquess, Mary to her racing car driver (the week before), Daisy to Andy (prospective), Mrs. Crawley to Lord Merton (promised), and perhaps Mrs. Patmore to Mr. Mason—amid all the...
by itabix | Dec 30, 2015 | AIDS, Coming to terms with the past, Compulsion of time, Courage, eBooks, Fighting Back, Gay literature, Generational Divide, Race Point Light, Sexuality, Stonewall Riots, The future
This excerpt is from late in Race Point Light. The narrator is Fair Shaw. He is just arriving at the Boatslip, a hotel on the water in Provincetown that hosts a tea dance every afternoon during the summer. It is June, 2004. Shaw is with his partner, Chris, and their...
by itabix | Jun 1, 2015 | Books, books, Bookstores, Daniel D'Addario, eBooks, Freedom, Publishing, Writing
The issues introduced by the digital revolution are not going away. We were having brunch when one of the men at the table—I forget what led up to this—said that he didn’t read ebooks because he didn’t enjoy the experience of holding the tablet computer in his hands....
by itabix | Apr 22, 2014 | Man eating chicken
The Guardian had a story a month ago about a photograph of a man eating chicken out of a pot on the steps of the New York Public Library. The man eating the chicken told the photographer that he could take his picture if the photographer would “help [him] deliver a...
by itabix | Feb 22, 2013 | eBooks, Uncategorized
The papers and the web have been full of news about Barnes & Noble—they’re cutting back on the number of their bookstores—with analyses on why that has happened and what this means for the future. I went by B&N today and was told our local, intown B&N is...
by itabix | Jan 14, 2013 | eBooks
News important to gay readers came this week. Andrew Sullivan and his blog The Daily Dish have left The Beast and have struck out on their own. Henceforth, without what Sullivan calls a “sugar daddy” to pay the bills and without advertisements, Sullivan will host his...
