Alfred Andersch: Winterspelt

CH 2006, 615 S., pb, € 13.26
Kostenloser Versand ab 20 Euro Bestellwert.
Diogenes
Im Eifeldorf Winterspelt am Vorabend der Ardennenoffensive des Jahres 1944 treffen sechs Personen aufeinander - eine dieser Figuren ist der schwule Soldat Reidel. Um weiteres sinnloses Blutvergießen zu verhindern, soll der Ort kampflos an die Amerikaner übergeben werden. Jahrelang hat Reidel mit allen Mitteln versucht, sein Schwulsein geheim zu halten, obwohl es ihm bereits in seiner Zeit als Hotelpage bewusst gewesen ist und er erste sexuelle Erfahrungen mit Hotelgästen gesammelt hat. Im Krieg wird er eingezogen und konzentriert sich ganz aufs Schießen, verdrängt sein Verlangen. Doch das wird übermächtig: eines nachts leistet sich Reidel einen sexuellen Übergriff auf einen Kameraden. Nun schwebt die stets präsente Gefahr, ins KZ zu kommen, über ihm.

Brian Sloan: Tale of Two Summers

USA/UK/CAN/AUS 2006, 245 pp., hardbound, € 15.69
Kostenloser Versand ab 20 Euro Bestellwert.
A 10-year best friendship is put to the test when Chuck and Hal spend their first summer apart falling for two questionable mates: Chuck, a 15-year-old supremely comfortable in his hetero (though adolescently horny) skin, is a major fan of Broadway musicals who is rooming at summer theater school, with admirable tolerance, with a campy queer boy. His best friend since kindergarten, Hal, almost 16, is a snarky, asocial fag without a scintilla of fashion sense, bored back home in suburbia while learning to drive. The buds stay in touch through entries in a near-daily blog, reporting to each other about their suddenly separate lives and often ridiculous romantic entanglements. By summer's end, Chuck has found a girl he can more than cuddle with, Hal has been a lot more sexual (with a juicily uninhibited, smokin' hot French punk boy).

Vernon B. Clay: Friends, Lovers, and Roses

USA 2006, 367 pp., brochure, € 19.39
Kostenloser Versand ab 20 Euro Bestellwert.
This fast-moving romantic drama follows three gay African-American couples (and their Puerto Rican confidant) through the twists and turns of building (and sometimes, destroying) relationships. Their stories - funny one moment, frightening the next - reveal the hard truths about the journey from lust to love and about the choices they make along the way. The book introduces you to three couples, all in different stages of their relationships. You'll meet David, a sweet, passive man who can't break the hold of his abusive live-in lover Allen. And, Stephen, who leaves his girlfriend and young son to pursue the sexuality he's been hiding with Jamal, a mysterious man with a shocking secret. And, Sarafina, who's desperately seeking to escape a powerful lover from her past as she builds a future with Dominique. And, finally, Damien, who's seen more than his share of heartache and heartbreak.

Hans Warren: Secretly Inside

USA/UK 2006, 99 pp., hardbound, € 19.39
Kostenloser Versand ab 20 Euro Bestellwert.
In the Dutch countryside WW II seems far away. For most people, at least. But not for Ed, a Jew in Nazi-occupied Holland trying to find some safe sanctuary. Compelled to go into hiding in the rural province of Zeeland, he is taken in by a seemingly benevolent family of farmers. But, as Ed comes to realize, the Van 't Westeindes are not what they seem. Camiel, the son of the house, is still in mourning for his best friend, a German soldier who committed suicide the year before. And Camiel's fiery, unstable sister Mariete begins to nurse a growing unrequited passion for their young guest, just as Ed realizes his own attraction to Camiel. As time goes by, Ed is drawn into the domestic intrigues around him, and the farmhouse that had begun as his refuge slowly becomes his prison.

Brian Sloan: A Really Nice Prom Mess

USA 2006, 266 pp., hardbound, € 14.79
Kostenloser Versand ab 20 Euro Bestellwert.
Gay high school senior Cameron Hayes from Washington, D.C., gets coerced into going to the prom with a girl, even though he'd rather be with his boyfriend, Shane. Cam makes the mistake of trying to play »straight« on the prom. Plans for the evening are simple in principle: Cameron and Shane will take two »fake« dates to the dance and meet up afterwards. However, little goes as planned. The evening goes from bad to worse when Cam's date turns out to be a hot-tempered lush, who isn't pleased to discover her escort's sexual preference, and Cameron makes a pass at Shane's date, which brings the males to blows. Both guys get in trouble with the vice principal and Cameron narrowly escapes punishment by making a daring getaway with a drug dealer he meets in the restroom. Any prom disaster - readers may have experienced - will pale in comparison to the fiascoes recorded here.

Andy Zeffer: Going Down in La-La Land

USA 2006, 253 pp., brochure, € 15.95
Kostenloser Versand ab 20 Euro Bestellwert.
An actor can - and will - do a lot of things to survive in Hollywood. Young, ambitious, and gay, Adam Zeller arrives from New York with the looks and talent to become a star, but he soon finds himself lost in a seamy (and steamy) underworld of gay porn and male prostitution, dealing with down-and-out directors, washed-up starlets, crystal meth addicts, and the pretty boy Hollywood »A« list. Struggling to find his way back to the yellow brick road of stardom, he gets a firsthand education on the X-rated film industry, finds out what really goes on in the town's top talent agencies, and peeks inside the closet of one of America's most beloved TV stars. Inspired by the real-life experiences of author/actor Andy Zeffer (»The Fluffer«), this book is a sexy and scandalous look at the other side of Hollywood, where dreams are dashed and hopes replaced with heartbreak.

Tom Spanbauer: Now is the Hour

USA 2006, 459 pp., hardcover, € 24.89
Kostenloser Versand innerhalb Europas.
»The universe has always conspired to fuck me up,« maintains 17-year-old teenage Rigby John Klusener, who, in the 1960s, lives with his parents and sister on an Idaho farm. In the summer of 1967, Rigby is hitchhiking from his hometown of Pocatello, Idaho, to San Francisco to escape a life of religious, racial and sexual bigotry. Rigby is bound and determined to break away from the bonds of his repressive home environment, first in the form and arms of a girlfriend, and then, far more profoundly, of the outrageous but bighearted George, who, although much older than Rigby, unlocks for him the splendor of true love. He leaves behind a hopelessly mystified mother, an embittered father and a sister trapped in a brutal marriage. As he waits for a ride out on the deserted highway, he winds the story back to his childhood, then virtually walks the reader through a life marked by hard farm work, Catholic guilt and the liberating passion of deep friendships formed with the most scandalously disreputable people of the community.

Jaffe Cohen: Tush

USA 2006, 361 pp., brochure, € 14.79
Kostenloser Versand ab 20 Euro Bestellwert.
After his zodiac chart is read by a great psychic, Joel Eisenberg studies astrology and becomes the most famous media queen in the field. The author of a best-selling book and a nationally syndicated radio show regular, Joel manages to parlay his intuitive skills, gift for gab, and unbridled shamelessness by getting all the cute guys home for a reading and convincing them to expose their rear ends for a dose of »chakra balancing«. But his life's about to change dramatically. There are no more phone calls and Joel is publicly humiliated on his radio show. Believing that he should travel north to meet the soul mate who's been predicted for him, Joel goes to Cape Cod looking for a man who »paints houses«. Joel moves into the home of Dennis Fairchild, a successful artist with a stupendous rear end. But is he really his soulmate?