by mark hernandez book rage
Tom of Finland XXL
Printed by luxury art book publisher Taschen of Beverly Hills, in conjunction with the Tom of
Finland Foundation, there’s finally a definitive publication of Tom of Finland’s art which hits all
the right notes at once. First, it’s exhaustively complete coming in at 668 pages. It’s also a giant
large-format book beautifully bound and printed which really puts you in touch with his unique
art up close and personal! And most importantly, it’s available now! But you might balk at it’s high
price. Books on his art are notorious for going out of print and then costing you even more if you
hadn’t been at the right place at the right time and bought it new. Well, here’s your chance one
more time, and because of the special printing of this special edition, it may well be quite a while
before something like this is ever available again. Taschen only does one printing of an art book,
and there are certainly people who are currently buying up copies and saving them to sell later for
What We Remember
a small ransom when the book does go out of print. To be sure, this is one impressive and surprising
Michael Thomas Ford
book to have sitting on your coffee table for those unexpected drop-in guests.
Michael Thomas Ford’s new novel
What We Remember is a little differ-
Blue Boy
ent from his others and somewhat
rakesh satyal
of a murder mystery. Eight years
Kiran Sharma is a 12 year-old Indian-American boy growing up in the suburbs of Cincinnati. The
after Daniel McCloud disappeared,
son of traditional Indian immigrant parents, Kiran is doing his best to find his way in the American
having only left behind a suicide
culture and pleasing his parents by being an “A” student and keeping up with Indian traditions. To
note, his body is found. His appar-
him, it’s also normal to play with dolls, dance ballet and try mom’s lipstick. One day he stumbles
ent suicide wasn’t too surprising
upon some naked teenagers going at it in the park. In spite of what he’s been expected to feel, he
since he was dying of cancer. But
finds himself more attracted to the boy than the girl. Not sure what this means, Kiran does his best
now it’s clear it wasn’t a suicide
to sort it all out and comes to the conclusion that he must feel this way because he’s just like the
after all. A whole can of worms
flamboyant and blue Krishna. What ensues is a great story that’s quite humorous but sometimes
is opened up as the two sides of
bittersweet as we watch Kiran navigate the world around him as he tries to find his place in it,
the family start piecing together
and along the way, teaches us all a thing or two. That’s all I’ll say about the story, but it’s not like
what they know only from what
anything you’ve read before. It’s beautifully written and I’m sure you’ll really like it and find yourself
they remember in their attempt to
telling your friends about this unusual and cool book you just read.
unravel the mystery of his murder.
But their own lives start unravelling
Justice For All
in the process. As you read it, you
radclyffe
can’t help but see yourself and
Radclyffe’s new novel is out, the sixth in the “Justice” series, and again her fans will also buy her
your own life’s experiences being
books sight-unseen. Like the seven books in her “honor” series, Justice For All involves her familiar
reflected in what’s going on with
characters—lesbian police detectives battling organized crime—but each time offering new
the characters and it explores how
plot twists so as never to become predictable. Yet her fans will continue to enjoy the things they
we choose to remember the past,
expect—action, drama, believable characters, mystery and intrigue wrapped in a fast-paced
what we choose not to remember
story with a surprising and explosive climax. Of course, there’s a good helping of the requisite hot
and how memories might get
steamy romance, too. The apt description of this episode includes phrases like “human trafficking,
rewritten. It’s very original, but still
going undercover posing as her lover, secret agendas, multiple double-crossings, and blurring
very Michael Thomas Ford!
the line between good and evil.” Wow.
Writer Spotlight
Michael ThoMas Ford
Michael Thomas Ford is one of our community’s most accomplished award-winning writers. He’s just pub-
lished his sixth novel, one of which was a book for teens. That’s in addition to five books of his own essays, a book
on gay wicca spirituality and an illustrated “introduction to gay sex” book (yes, there’s actually a need for that)!
On top of that, he’s contributed to seven anthologies and has written even more stuff under pseudonyms. He
also helped with the publication of The Romantic Male Nude photo book. Whew! And he’s got a blog, too, of
course. He rates so highly he gets published by the big houses including Random House, Penguin and Alyson
and has a huge following of people who’ll buy his next book automatically and you might be one of them.
His contemporary writing style has all the elements of great writing in an always-entertaining mix of intrigue,
mystery, emotion and lots of humor. Writing and books are his life and he’s one of the very few who’s done so
many different things. This 40 year-old San Franciscan likes cooking, watching old movies and long romantic
walks on the beach. Oh, wait... wrong profile. He likes scuba diving, sleeping, playing with his five dogs and his
partner, photography, tattoos and of all things, avoiding writing.
June 2009 | RAGE monthly 21
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