| Book Reviews |
| from Cheri Rosenberg... |
 Lori L. Lake has written an insightful
collection of short stories in her latest book, Stepping Out: Short
Stories. If you are not familiar with her other best-selling
books, Different Dress, Under the Gun, Gun Shy, and Ricochet In Time, Stepping Out, will have certainly
whet your appetite.Each story brings forth interesting characters and situations you long to know more about. Lori Lake can easily have fourteen more novels to write and the reader is left hoping that is her intention. It is much more difficult to write a short story than a novel because the writer has limited time and space to expand upon the characters and story line. There is little time to develop the plot - it has to be there and be there quick. Lori Lake does an excellent job with this task. Each of the short stories is timeless and authentic in its portrayal of real people and their lives. I appreciate how Lake mentions the feelings of elderly parents about having their independence interfered with, even from well meaning children, as in, “The Bright Side.” This is a point that hits home for any baby boomer currently worrying about who will take care of their aging parents. And more importantly, how will they get their parents to accept their help? In this story we also see a mother who is so critical of her daughter she compliments her on her weight loss even though it is due to chemotherapy for breast cancer! This is in addition to her disappointment that her daughter is gay and throwing it in her daughter’s face even during a family crisis. Anyone who has a critical mother and most of us do in one way or another can relate to this story. This is not to say that we don’t love our mothers, but our mothers’ unfavorable comments can hurt the worst. “Afraid of the Dark,” is about a mother and daughter who get lost while driving to an American Quilt Exhibit and end up stuck in a bad neighborhood. The author so perfectly shows the ignorance and potentially dangerous side of prejudice. It is a sad story about a mother who can’t get past her prejudices enough to love or trust people who are different from her. The daughter, Marin, allows herself to be set up for the verbal abuse her mother consistently dishes out while secretly hoping her mother will change and accept her for who she is and accept people for who they are and not based on race, religion, or sexual orientation. Unfortunately, this is not a new story with racial profiling and homophobia ridiculously ingrained in our society so that even many parents have trouble accepting their own children. Like Marin, we hope this will change in our lifetime. I also enjoyed, “Busybody” because it is so true that you cannot judge a book by its cover. What we perceive in a person may not be what is really there. In fact you may be pleasantly surprised with what you find if you open up your heart. Each story brings forth a wisdom that we all should possess as we go through life. Lake reminds us of society’s short-sightedness to allow discrimination of overweight or obese people while glorifying anorexic models and actresses and paying them millions. It is no wonder that most girls have distorted body images and that eating disorders are prevalent. “My Lifesaving Journal” is about a girl who dreams of being a hero because she has a low opinion of herself. She is fat and feels unworthy of love - even life. Isn’t it about time society learns that a person’s size is not what matters but it is what is inside that counts? Someone once told me, “You are not your body” when I was most miserable about my appearance, never feeling pretty enough or thin enough. It is about time we moved away from being so beauty and weight conscious and concentrate on being happy and healthy by exercising, eating right, and feeling good about ourselves. The father who writes to his daughter in “A Letter from Father,” pleading forgiveness for any homophobia he may have possessed in the past while hoping to regain her presence in his life, is heartwarming. These are just a few examples of what you may find in this book. Something positive can be said about each story but I prefer you read it for yourself and come to your own conclusions and choose the ones that hold the most meaning for you. Each reader will find something that they can relate to or learn from in this fine collection of short stories. I highly recommend this book and will add it to my collection by favorite authors. |
 Through The Ruins, by
Stephen M. Hart, is the story about a marriage between a closeted gay
man and his unsuspecting straight wife. Hart paints a picture of
Michael as a pained man with a truly good heart who is willing to forgo
his own happiness for a semblance of normalcy within the constraints of
society. You have to feel sorry for Michael as he is tormented,
guilt-ridden, lost, and living a lie. Will he be able to find his way
through the ruins of what was his marriage, his life, his comfort zone?
His wife Pam is oblivious to any signs that there may be any secrets in
their marriage until she finds a circled Man- seeking-Man ad left
behind by her husband. Michael’s world falls apart when he comes home
from work to discover his wife packing up the car because she is
leaving him, a decision which tragically leads to her death. This is Michael’s journey to overcome his grief now that his safety net, his wife, is gone, and he has to learn to live life as a gay man. First, he must come to terms with his homosexuality, accept it, and embrace it. Second, he has to deal with his mother-in-law who blames him for her daughter’s death, further cementing his guilt, and third, he has to get on with his life to allow for happiness and possibly, even true love. With all the media attention on gay marriage and same sex partners running off to legalize their unions, I thought it timely to review Through The Ruins. This story, while it may be fiction, happens all the time in real life, mainly because people want to avoid ridicule and discrimination, and seek a “normal” life, consisting of spouse, home and kids. Many people get married under false pretenses instead of admitting they are gay -- or they live alone, their lives void of love. Having the President of the United States of America declare that marriage should only be between a man and woman, and that gay marriage should be banned in the Constitution of the United States, is an opinion he has a responsibility to keep to himself, if in fact this country truly stands for equality and freedom for all. Gay marriage in no way affects the sanctity of straight marriage. I am a straight married woman who would not feel the least bit threatened or offended if gay marriage were legal; in fact I would welcome it with open arms. The author gives rich descriptions of Concord, Massachusetts as the setting for this novel, adds family secrets, and a love interest for Michael in the hopes that he can find happiness again. Michael was perfectly willing to stay married to Pam for life, being faithful even if that meant never experiencing intimacy with another man. Even after Pam’s death he still feels love for her. She was his best friend, his only friend. But if he was willing to remain in the closet, then why would he circle an ad in the personals, and not destroy the evidence? Secretly we all want to be loved for who we are and not some illusion. Mike could easily have spent his life never experiencing a true and complete relationship, but after Pam’s death, he finally realized their marriage was not only unfair to Pam but to himself as well. My only criticisms of this book are the typos, which are distracting, and as far as I know, there is not a sequel. Stephen Hart is currently writing his next novel and I am looking forward to reading it, even though it doesn’t appear to be a continuation to this novel. Through The Ruins deals with a timely subject and hits a nerve. Maybe someday, people will not have to hide behind opposite sex marriage, and will be able to marry who they want. It is the only way to be true to themselves, and to those they love. If you would like to let Cheri know what your thought of these reviews, please contact her here. |
 The Salvation Mongers, by
Ronald L.
Donaghe, is the next installment of The Common Threads in the Life
series, following Common Sons and The Blind Season. This book ties in
characters from its predecessors and will be included in the much
awaited forth book in the series entitled, The Gathering.Donaghe does not disappoint the reader with his creative style and wit, and while I would not consider it an “enjoyable” book, unless the reader enjoys human cruelty, it is an account worth writing and reading about. Most people would agree that it is not pleasurable to read about the Holocaust; however, we still must remember it so that hopefully, we can learn from it. Trying to make gay people straight is atrocious and inhumane. The setting is the Lion’s Mouth Christian Church Ranch in the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico, in 1998. We learn about what goes on there through the journals of Kelly O’Kelly, who loses his lover, William, to suicide after attending the retreat to cleanse his soul of homosexuality. William, having failed to become straight after all he went through, loses all hope to be “normal” and he takes his own life. Kelly goes to this ranch where crack-pot ministers teach people to repress their natural inclinations, and deny their homosexuality, in order to become “saved”. Kelly poses as a recruit in order to find out first hand (and expose) the truth about the Lion’s Mouth Christian Ranch (LMCR) which purports to “cure” homosexuality through prayer and discipline. Can a person be delivered from living life as a homosexual, to become truly heterosexual? According to this ministry, “All things are possible through Christ”. Their teachings also include condoning celibacy over same-sex love. Kelly maintains a record of the daily steps toward salvation which include, inhumane treatment, semi-starvation, isolation, lack of privacy, hard work in often intolerable conditions, constant prayer, ridicule, spirit-breaking, reinforcing self-hatred, and boot camp like tactics to brainwash their victims. As you read Kelly’s daily log you can not believe this could happen in real life; however, as Donaghe states in the beginning of his novel, the story is based on truth and actual events. Pretty scary stuff! Reading about atrocities imposed on the young men is not meant to be pleasant but is meant to educate against the evils lurking in our society disguised as religion, family values, morality, and political agendas. Is rape and death also part of the ex-gay ministry? Will Kelly make it through “eighteen steps to salvation”, unharmed emotionally and physically? And will he be able to expose the LMCR for what it is and save others from denying their true identity and suppressing their innate, God- given desires? It is interesting to read how each of the recruits handles the retreat’s regimes depending on their differing degrees of self-hatred, willingness to change, and commitment to the teachings. Read this book and find out. The author’s commentary in the after word is reason enough for reading this book. Donaghe makes many valid points and offers powerful arguments against anti-gay beliefs and legislation. His discussions include, “The Salvation Mongers 2000—The Real Thing,” “Treatment Options and Attitudes Toward Homosexuality” and “The Dark Side of the EX-Gay Ministries.” The fact that these ex-gay ministries exist today is mind boggling and that people willingly subject themselves to the poison and brainwashing in desperate hope of a “cure”, as if wanting to be straight bad enough is something they can achieve, is truly sad. Don’t miss this book if for no other reason than it is the bridge between The Blind Season and the much awaited book, The Gathering, which promises to bring Joel, Tom and the family back together again in Common, New Mexico, as the year 2000 approaches. According to Donaghe,” Kelly is going to play a major role in The Gathering as the conscience for all those gays who try to get ‘cured’ by subjecting themselves to the ex-gay programs." |