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Here are thumbnail sketches of the books that I've recently bought:
Why Men Won't Commit is my latest favorite to shed light on relationships. It is by George Weinberg, Ph.D., my old friend and the pioneering psychotherapist who coined the word "homophobia". (Atria Books, 2002) In this, his latest book, Dr. Weinberg has provided both heterosexual women and (by extension) gay men with valuable tools to avoid pitfalls in romantic relationships, pitfalls created by old-fashioned male role-conditioning. He understands and clearly enunciates fears most men share if they sense affronts to their macho images. It is very easy, Dr. Weinberg realizes, to tread on such fears unconsciously. Men themselves are often unaware that they have them, and to women these fears are a mystery. Why Men Won't Commit is a much needed antidote to another book about relationships that has had an unfortunate impact. The annoying title of this other book is Men are from Mars; Women are from Venus. Dr. Weinberg thinks, as I do, that the sexes-when they claim their own equality, have more in common than that.
Why the Religious Right in Wrong about Separation of Church and State-by Rob Boston (Prometheus Books, 2003) puts its focus on an issue nearly unmatched in importance in the struggle for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights. With church-friendly Bushians conducting an unending propaganda war against the separation of church and state and working tirelessly to convince U.S. citizens that America was founded by conservative Christians such as themselves, evidence to the contrary such as this book provides is invaluable. Boston is also the author of The Most Dangerous Man in America? about Pat Robertson and which I reviewed in GayToday in 1997: http://gaytoday.com/garchive/reviews/061697re.htm
Rich Media, Poor Democracy-by Robert W. McChesney (The New
Press-New York, 2000) does a masterful job explaining the sources of my
great annoyance over what I and many of my fellow citizens perceive as treasonous
takeovers by conservative forces of nearly all of America's major media
. Nearly two years ago I opined in GayToday that "Fat Cat
Corporate Chiselers Censor the News" http://gaytoday.badpuppy.com/garchive/viewpoint/090301vi.htm
Though in the process of becoming deeply disappointed in TV news media,
I was still able in those days to watch CNN's Paula Zahn, welcoming Her
Blondness from her previous perch at FOX News, and to think well of the then appealing
frog-faced Bill Hemmer. I didn't quite yet know what to think about such
CNN pundits as Jack Cafferty, but now I do. I detest them all. Why? Because
they've sold their stupid souls to corporate-dictators, that's why, and
looking into their cowardly faces practically gives me hives. Rich Media,
Poor Democracy explains it all.
Dreaming War: Blood for Oil and the Cheney Bush Junta-by Gore Vidal (Thunders Mouth Press, Nations Books, 2002). Vidal, who backs up almost everything else the other authors on this page are saying, adds his own special insights, those informed by his extraordinary research and a quick wit that has made him, as the Washington Post Book World calls him "The master essayist of our time." In my own next book, The Tomcat Chronicles, due out in 2004, I tell of a chance meeting with a gentleman in 1962, one who looked peculiarly like Vidal and had what I would call an uncanny familiarity with his books. Later in that same decade, when I was managing editor of SCREW, Vidal attended our outrageous newspaper's (second or third?) birthday party, announcing in a SCREW interview that he preferred SCREW to the New York Times. And so today, how could I ignore offerings from an author with such good taste. He demolishes, says the rear cover of his book, the lies by which the American Empire lives.
Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky-edited by Peter R. Mitchell and John Schoeffel.(The New Press-New York, 2002) Noam Chomsky's books, I've now decided, aren't as much fun to read as is this compendium of his oral replies to the public's questionings. Having never doubted the quality of Chomsky's scholarship, I made this purchase as I became further convinced of my country's naked imperialist ambitions. I'd known for years that Chomsky had focused on them but somehow, in earlier times, they hadn't rung alarm bells for me as they do today. This book is also a paperback, and provides an education such as only MIT's well-known professor of linguistics can deliver.
The Accidental President: How 413 Lawyers, 9 Supreme Court Justices and 5,963,110 Floridians (Give or Take a Few) Landed George W. Bush in the White House---by David A. Kaplan (William Morrow, 2001) is hailed by the New York Times as "a wonderful ride, filled with landmarks, history, and histrionics, and the voice of an intelligent, witty guide" and by USA Today which says: "Glorious. (Kaplan's) prologue alone is a must-read" and by the Chicago Tribune as "a rollicking good read" and by the San Francisco Chronicle as "a witty, refreshingly readable account" and, finally by the Dallas Morning News which credits the author with writing "colorful portraits…A keen sense of chronology and a real gift for explication." This book was a thoughtful gift from sometime GayToday contributor Ernest Barteldes.
If you buy any of these books, beware the ever-prying eye of Attorney General John Ashcroft who is attempting to keep track of our free citizenry's reading matter. Pay cash. |
GayToday's Editor Jack Nichols 
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy-by Greg Palast (A Plume Book, 2003) is a first-rate example of a top-notch investigative reporter's skills in action. The first chapter in this recently-released paperback edition has Palast following the 2000 Election reports in Florida, talking to principals there and revealing in unmistakable detail the Bush brothers' theft of the presidency as was also reported at the time in GayToday. Michael Moore says Palast does "courageous reporting," while the Chicago Tribune credits his work as "painstakingly researched…distinguished…disturbing…" and warns that it may cause "excessive teeth clenching."
Pigs at the Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption are Undermining America-by Arianna Huffington ( Crown Publishers, 2003) This book is pure brilliance. No wonder it has been given a green light by such as Bill Moyers, Senator John McCain, Senator John Kerry, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Bill Maher. I needed to know in detail what the CEO scoundrels who dominate America's corporate culture are doing. Arianna, who often appears on HBO at Bill Maher's table, is one of my all-time favorites. Her blunt speech is infused with undying good humor. Moyers says: "With a passion for the truth and an eye for detail, Arianna Huffington reports on the hijacking of democracy. Read it and weep - then head for the barricades. We have work to do."
Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush---by Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose-(Vintage Books, 2002) This sparkling paperback, originally written about Bush's career during the 2000 election, is now graced by a new introduction that covers Bush's first two years in the Oval Office. Molly Ivins is one of the few Texans I've adored, along with Ann Richards, perhaps, and certainly Barbara Jordan. She writes: "This book contains no news about the sex life of George W. Bush, nor about drugs he has ingested, nor about whatever dark psychological demons drive him…No sex, no drugs, no Siggie Freud-so why would anyone read it? For one thing, it's sort of funny. Because it's about Texas politics it's funny - there's nothing we can do about that…" Molly knows Texas, that's clear.