RELEASE NOTES:

The box-o'-books arrived safely in today's mail; many thanks! [It was a Brita Water Filter box deftly recycled for shipping; when the mail carrier handed it to me I did a double-take before figuring out what it was {grin}.]

Looks like this one followed you home from the book sale - are you sure you don't want it back? [Imagining the book wagging its tale and making puppy eyes!] Was tickled to see this; in addition to a handsome cover illustration (I always appreciate those!) it's a short story collection featuring gay-themed works by a variety of Australian authors, most of whom are new to me. Looking forward to reading this one!

I read this book some time in early 2006, I think, but I''m afraid it''s been languishing among my boxes of waiting-to-be-journaled books since then. I''ve really got to try and catch up on those reviews!

Anyway: this was an interesting and eclectic collection of stories, ranging from simple coming-out/coming-of-age tales to fairly explicit erotica to character studies. Some of the material surprised me quite a lot, such as the "convict''s letter", circa 1846, which is a roughly-worded but tender love letter to another man... Some of the stories are, frustratingly, excerpts from novels, which left me wondering whether they''d make more sense in context, but as a few of those inspired me to put the novels on my wishlist I suppose they succeeded in their goal {wry grin}. Some of the stories and/or excerpts I liked best were those by Dennis Altman, Benedict Ciantar, and one very dark one by Simon Payne, about a gay-basher who encounters some very rough justice...

Controlled release: I'm adding this book to Scoobs-buddy's GLBT bookbox, which will be on its way to BCer gaysocialworker in Texas tomorrow!

Thanks!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Adding to the Scoobs-buddy GLBT July '09 Bookbox-- to be sent out sometime this month

I forgot to journal this when I read it- I do remember that I enjoyed several of the stories.

I love learning about/seeing/reading about gay culture around the world, so this definitely caught my eye at once. As I flipped through the book, I saw the words "Papua New Guinea" on one page and I stopped. That's place belong me! That's followed by the sentence "Port Morseby was his village." That's where I was born! So, naturally, I must take this book and read it!