The Men From The Boys By William .1. Mann ’g‘<’3> REVIEWED BY ROBERT SNEYD __ _ “ K, I admit, it was the cover that caught my attention first. There, in the window display of the bookstore on Commercial Street in Provincetown, was an attractive man in a sensual pose, bare-chested. Of course I picked up the book to take a look. And then I discovered that this was written by a local boy, at least a fellow New En- glander. I'm a sucker for pretty boys — even if only pictured on the cover of a novel — and local writers. So I bought it. I expected an entertaining sum- mer diversion about how the pretty people spend the season in our version of Oz way out at the end of the Cape. But I got so much more. William J. Mann's "The Men From The Boys" does not dis- appoint in telling the story of the Provincetown regulars. There's plenty about the fun to be found from Spiritus to the dunes. It goes farther, though, exploring how we as gay men create our own spaces and re- lationships and families. And threaten to destroy them. "The Men From The Boys" is the story of Jeff O'Brien, a 33- year-old writer, and the family he has created. We follow him through a year of his life, one that's more complicated than he ever imagined it would be. We go with Jeff through yet another summer in PTown with his lover of seven years, Lloyd, and former lover and constant confidant, 47-year-old Javitz, and his seasonal love interest, 22-year-old Eduardo. And we tag along back to Boston through the subsequent fall and winter and back to the brink of another summer as the life he has so meticulously built for himself and his fam- ily seems to unravel. First Lloyd tells him that there's no passion left in their relationship. Then he's forced to face the awful fact that Javitz is much sicker with AIDS than he has yet admitted. And Eduardo, who was supposed to be nothing more than a one- night trick, blossoms into a ro- mance that he can't seem to control but, of course, can't maintain, either. Mann, who splits his time between Provinctown and Northampton, Mass., has cre- ated a story and characters with whom it's impossible not to bond. Jeff's worries are of both the trivial and consequen- tial variety. In other words, the kind that we all face in our lives. 1 That magic of the book is in watching the characters de- velop. But Mann does it art- fully, subtly. It's not until you're halfway through the book that you realize there's more to Jeff than the pretty bimbo pictured on the cover, the boy on the beach dreaming about what he's going to wear to Tea Dance —— or what he's going to do afterward. He grows and matures and you end up by book's end caring deeply how his life is going to work out. And about all of these people in his life, the fam- ily that we create and recreate as we go along. You care because you can see so many parallels in your life or the lives of your friends. These are the challenges and joys and sorrows that we all confront. Mann has written a book that reflects the gay soci- ety that's developed in the 19905. It speaks to and about those of us who've passed our 30th birthdays, no longer the beautiful young Eduardos of the world and not yet the Javitzes who got us here in the first place. More broadly, though, it tells the age old story, from a gay perspective of life and love, true love, for both a lover and for the families we've de- veloped and so cherish. Mann, who also writes for such publications as The Advocate and The New York Times, will present one of the workshops at the Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights’ Our Town Meet- ing in Rutland on Nov. 8. His ap- pearance is sponsored by Glitter, the Gay and Lesbian Literature and Film Club of Burlington. Men Together Essays by Anderson Jones, Photographs by David Fields I Running Press, 1997 REVIEWED BY PAUL OLSEN essayist Anderson Jones and photographer David Fields provide the stories and pictures of twenty-nine gay couples. Subtitled ”Portraits of Love, Commitment, and Life," Jones exclaims that, in the book, the couples "share their joys and sorrows, the chal- lenges they have faced to- gether, and the lessons they have learned about making love last". "Men Together is a moving tribute to the power of commitment and a poignant celebration of lasting love." If you aren't nauseous yet, keep reading. While I am as romantic as I n the book Men Together, the next lesbian is, I haven't the slightest idea why anybody would buy this book. The sto- ries are trite and the insight provided into gay relation- ships is shallow. For example, Mr. Blackwell (of Ten Worst Dressed fame) and his partner, "Body of Work" and boom and bust economies. R.L. Spencer, provide us with advice like ”at the beginning ‘you don't have to have many things in common. What you have to have in common is a thing called two bedsheets." Three cheers for perpetuating stereotypes. Two other rocket science candidates include songwriter Desmond Child and his partner Curtis Shaw who say, "Some senator said that gay people shouldn't be allowed to get married because they don't stay together and can't have families. But we can have families. Those things make you angry at your coun- try." You go girl. Former Con- gressman Gerry Studds (D- Massachusetts) and his partner proclaim the self-evident by stating ”I've often said, espe- cially to gay audiences, that I think the most important Everett Dance . Thursday. November 20 at 7:30 pm" A major, nationally acclaimed dance company investigating the subject of labor, unions, and industry? You bet! Body of Work “muses heart and brain," says The New York Times Dance Critic Deborah Jowitt, and “lays out the rock bottom equation: Work: money: power.” This imaginative, seven-member Rhode island company brilliantly blends dance. text, music. and newsreel projections to look at downsized workers, uprooted industries, A+ Arts P/us activities in conjunction with this performance include a Dance Theater Workshop. Call 652-4500 for details. www.llynnthearre.org. gi53_Main St. Burlington. \iTig802.63.5966 OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS — NOVEMBER 1997 — 15 "An eloquent, beautifully realized piece." (The New York Times) things we do are ironically the most routine." Thanks for that news flash Gerry. Frankly, I haven't read anything this pa- tronizing since Greg Louganis (literally) came out with his sapping book, Breaking the Surface. Complete with token in- terracial couples, a couple with a disabled partner, plenty of queer clones wearing muscle shirts or flannel, and a truly mixed couple (a conservative Republican and his left-leaning moderate boyfriend) the book sheds little light on gay rela- tionships. While it does tell the story of twenty-nine couples (some of which are mildly in- teresting and easily read) and the photography is good, this MEN TOGETHER, p20 Univ of MA, Amherst. Ffvll call (413) 545-4824. SUNDAY Gay Guy Get together. Bowling at the Brattleboro Bowl Putney Road across from Ames, next to the Hon Dynasty and Sarkis Market. 4 pm For more information, call Tom (802) 257-3095 Circus Amok: A Transgendered Cir- cus. Gender bending performance ensemble featuring acrobatics and skits. UMass, Amherst. Tickets $4. $2 for youth/students/seniors. FMI call (413) 545-4824. T Dance at The Edge formerly Club Rio in Rutland. Doors open 4 p.m. $3 cover at the door. 12 Merchants Row. @ MONDAY GLITTER Book Night - Stone Butch Blues is this month's selection. Leslie Feinberg’s autobiographical tale of growing up as a butch lesbian in blue collar Buffalo, pre-Stonewall. Avail- able at Chassman & Bem - 10% off if you mention Glitter. 7:45-10:00 PM. The Rhombus Gallery , College & Church Sts., Burlington. 652- 1103.FM| Contact Steven Kopstein at 802-434-5653 or email: GLlTTERvt @aol.com. Gay Guy Get together. Potluck at Tom Ziniti’s "Marlboro North” dormitory, Rte 9, Marlboro. 7 pm. For more informa- tion, call Tom (802) 257-3095 @ WEDNESDAY Movie night with Women of the Woods. Dinner at Oscar & Zeke’s first. 5:00, Montpelier, FMI: 802-229-0109. Rainbow Business Association An- nual Meeting (see ad for more details) 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. $5.00 per person UVM’s Christ Church Presbyterian 400 Redstone Campus, Burlington For more information call 879-4527 @ THURSDAY Men of Montpelier discusion group. topic gay sex stimuli. 6:30 at Kellog- Hubbard library smiley room Mariana Romo-Carmona reads from her new book Living at Night at Everyoneis Books in Brattleboro, VT. 7 pm I Betsy Reed presents iHomoEconomics: Capitalism, Com- munity and Lesbian & Gay Life,i at UMass Amherst at 12:30 pm. FMI (413) 545 4824. I 13-15: Tribute to James Dean, stage adaptation of iEast of Edeni by Champlain College Players. 8 p.m. FMI call (802) 860-2707. ‘ ml’-'RlDAY ‘ 14-16: The Highlands Inn Work Weekend in New Hampshire annual clearing of the ski trails and wood stacking. Free food and lodging for labor. Bring your own tools. FMlcall (603) 869-3978 romo-carmona @ SATU RDAY Gender-Free Contradances, commu- nity dances for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals & allies, happen monthly in rotating locations in western Massa- chusetts. The next dance is sched- uled in Greenfield, with a potluck at 6 pm, beginners’ workshop at 8, and dance ‘til 1 1 . Admission is $5-$7, with no partners or experience necessary. A Brattleboro group of men usually carpools. For more info, call Mike Duffy (802) 257-8984. Amelia’s Book Swap & Potluck at‘ Renee’s. 6 PM. FMI: 603-542 1972. CALENDAR CONTINUES I17