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Wednesday the 18th of January, 2006

Finding the Boyfriend Within - Brad Gooch

I read this book several years ago and I picked it up again tonight. I remember reading it th first time and realizing that I truly need to make myself happy first. I need to get back to that and start learning to live again.

Brad Gooch’s take on the self-help genre is a self-described gay updating of Helen Gurley Brown’s Sex and the Single Girl, and it’s a sensible, straightforward--and welcome--addition to the field. Who is the Boyfriend Within? Simply put, he embodies “qualities we find attractive in ourselves but often imagine others to possess more fully, as well as ... dormant qualities we wish to nurture and grow.” This growth process takes place through 16 “Awareness Exercises” that range from identifying the behavior patterns that might be keeping you from having a boyfriend to planning dates with your Boyfriend Within. (And before you crack any jokes, he really does mean dates--be they quiet evenings at home, neighborhood walks, shopping trips, or other activities.) Gooch’s own inner boyfriend is a bit like a male version of Midge, the Barbara Bel Geddes character in Vertigo, a constant (but not flashy) source of “sanity, peace, happiness.” But, he emphasizes, that’s just his own--the love of your inner life may turn out to be completely different. The exercises in Finding the Boyfriend Within hold great promise for fostering self-knowledge and the cultivation of one’s goals, not just in romance but in all aspects of life. - Ron Hogan

In this guide for gay men searching for greater self-acceptance, Gooch genially advises readers to live every day as if they were expecting to entertain a dream lover for tea or dinner. The unkempt house, long a symbol of the bachelor, is a sign that the “inner boyfriend” is neglected. Gooch is not a psychologist. His credentials are based on having hashed out his own failed relationships and those of his friends over many brunches. Influenced in addition by therapy, his experiences in ashrams, the work of such authors as Rilke, Thomas Merton, Marianne Williamson and the Sufi poet Rumi, Gooch offers reflections on his own experience and linked “awareness exercises” that are meant to strengthen the reader’s relationship with himself. In recommending what amounts to an automatic writing excercise, Gooch asks the reader to invoke his inner voice to learn the answers to recurring questions that may cause him pain (e.g., “Why don’t I have a boyfriend?"). Other exercises suggest listing neurotic behaviors and “attractive qualities of the ‘package’ that is you.” While Gooch may be given to unreflective acceptance of the prevailing gay cultural standards of physical perfection and an ideal lifestyle, his good-natured advice won’t steer anyone wrong. - Agent, Joy Harris

Posted by rtkenmore at 02:03 AM on the 18th of January, 2006.
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Tuesday the 22nd of November, 2005

Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain is for me the most anticipated movie of the year (behind Rent of course but since Rent is pratically out, Brokeback Mountain moves to first now). I’ve just finished reading the (short) book. It’s all of 50 pages or so and reads very quickly. I would encourage anyone who is going to see the movie to first read the book. I don’t know how much of the book actually will make it into the movie so I think the old addage will apply, “The book is always better.” With that said, I don’t know if it will rain true this time. The movie will allow for a lot more visual imagery (which some will argue certainly doesn’t need to be in the movie) than the book does. Yes, you can read the book and picture it yourself. But I think this story will simple be better told through pictures. You’ll be able to see the developing love between Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar. My favorite line thus far from the trailer has been “I wish I knew how to quit you.” Upon reading the book, of course, you find the context behind the line and just how consumed Jack has become with the love for his friend.

I truly can not wait to see this movie and I encourage anyone who has a stereotype about homosexuality to put aware your preconceived notions for one night and see the film. I’ve heard the movie called the “gay cowboy movie”. I don’t think it will be that; I think it will truly ascend the gay stereotype and be a very touching story.

“Try this one,” said Jack, “and I’ll say it just one time. Tell you what, we could a had a good life together, a fuckin real good life. You wouldn’t do it, Ennis, so what we got now is Brokeback Mountain. Everything built on that. It’s all we got, boy, fuckin all, so I hope you know that if you don’t never know the rest. Count the damn few times we been together in twenty years. Measure the fuckin short leash you keep me on, then ask me about Mexico and then tell me you’ll kill me for needin it and not hardly never gettin it. You got no fuckin idea how bad it gets. I’m not you. I can’t make it on a couple a high-altitude fucks once or twice a year. You’re too much for me, Ennis, you son of a whoreson bitch. I wish I knew how to quit you.” - Excerpt from Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

Posted by rtkenmore at 01:54 AM on the 22nd of November, 2005.
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Saturday the 17th of July, 2004

The Da Vinci Code

Well, I’m on a roll here now. First there was The Rule of Four - which I might add was a great book - and now The Da Vinci Code. I’ve listened to both books this week and I’m completely taken by them. They both captivated my attention so well.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed The Da Vinci Code as I’ve heard so much about the book since it’s release. I understand now why the Church was so up in arms over the book and what was contained within. I’m not a religious scholar so I will withhold judgement as to whether I believe there is any truth to the assertions that Dan Brown makes. I do, however, think there could be some truth there. I highly reccomend this novel to anyone with an interest in the possible secrets of the church or anyone into a good mystery novel which will keep you on the edge of your seat. These two novels - The Da Vinci Code and The Rule of Four - could be made into great movies if done properly. I guess we’ll wait and see about that one.

With The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown masterfully concocts an intelligent and lucid thriller that marries the gusto of an international murder mystery with a collection of fascinating esoteria culled from 2,000 years of Western history.

A murder in the silent after-hour halls of the Louvre museum reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since the days of Christ. The victim is a high-ranking agent of this ancient society who, in the moments before his death, manages to leave gruesome clues at the scene that only his granddaughter, noted cryptographer Sophie Neveu, and Robert Langdon, a famed symbologist, can untangle. The duo become both suspects and detectives searching for not only Neveu’s grandfather’s murderer but also the stunning secret of the ages he was charged to protect. Mere steps ahead of the authorities and the deadly competition, the mystery leads Neveu and Langdon on a breathless flight through France, England, and history itself. Brown (Angels and Demons) has created a page-turning thriller that also provides an amazing interpretation of Western history. Brown’s hero and heroine embark on a lofty and intriguing exploration of some of Western culture’s greatest mysteries--from the nature of the Mona Lisa’s smile to the secret of the Holy Grail. Though some will quibble with the veracity of Brown’s conjectures, therein lies the fun. The Da Vinci Code is an enthralling read that provides rich food for thought. --Jeremy Pugh

Posted by rtkenmore at 12:16 AM on the 17th of July, 2004.
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Tuesday the 13th of July, 2004

Rule of Four

Ok, I have to admit that it’s hard for me to get into audio books. I’ve been listening to a few here and there with my drive to and from work. But this week I’ve started a new book, “The Rule of Four” which has captivated my attention. I find myself driving slower than normal just to afford myself more time to listen.

Caldwell and Thomason’s intriguing intellectual suspense novel stars four brainy roommates at Princeton, two of whom have links to a mysterious 15th-century manuscript, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. This rare text (a real book) contains embedded codes revealing the location of a buried Roman treasure. Comparisons to The Da Vinci Code are inevitable, but Caldwell and Thomason’s book is the more cerebral-and better written-of the two: think Dan Brown by way of Donna Tartt and Umberto Eco. The four seniors are Tom Sullivan, Paul Harris, Charlie Freeman and Gil Rankin. Tom, the narrator, is the son of a Renaissance scholar who spent his life studying the ancient book, “an encyclopedia masquerading as a novel, a dissertation on everything from architecture to zoology.” The manuscript is also an endless source of fascination for Paul, who sees it as “a siren, a fetching song on a distant shore, all claws and clutches in person. You court her at your risk.” This debut novel’s range of topics almost rivals the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili itself, including etymology, Renaissance art and architecture, Princeton eating clubs, friendship, steganography (riddles) and self-interpreting manuscripts. It’s a complicated, intricate and sometimes difficult read, but that’s the point and the pleasure. There are murders, romances, dangers and detection, and by the end the heroes are in a race not only to solve the puzzle, but also to stay alive. Readers might be tempted to buy their own copy of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and have a go at the puzzle. After all, Caldwell and Thomason have done most of the heavy deciphering-all that’s left is to solve the final riddle, head for Rome and start digging.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The text has become very intriguing to me. I haven’t enjoyed reading/listening to a book so much since I read A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice in less than a day. As the story progresses, it becomes more involving to me. I can’t stop. I’ve found myself sitting in the driveway listening to the remaining chapters on a cd.

I’ll leave another comment after I’ve finished the text. I highly recomend it at this point if you enjoy a novel with an aire of mystery.

Posted by rtkenmore at 11:46 PM on the 13th of July, 2004.
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