Eric Walz: Schwule Schurken

D 2011 (Neuaufl.), 240 S., Broschur, € 14.39
Kostenloser Versand ab 20 Euro Bestellwert.
Männerschwarm
Schwulsein ist schick, inzwischen nützt das Outing mitunter sogar der Karriere. Zeit für ein bisschen Nestbeschmutzung! Eric Walz stellt den gern zitierten Lichtgestalten von Sokrates bis Alfred Biolek elf historische Finsterlinge gegenüber. Einfühlsam erzählt er unterhaltsame und gruselige Geschichten aus 2500 Jahren. Der gelegentlich ausrastende Makedonenkönig Alexander der Große, der hinterhältige Kaiser Heliogabal, der mordende Papst Sixtus IV., der terroristische Revolutionär Robespierre, der Spion im k.u.k. Generalstab Oberst Redl, der schwule Nazi Röhm, der im »Dritten Reich« gern die Macht mit Hitler geteilt hätte, der versteckt schwule FBI-Chef Hoover, der Schriftsteller und Putschist Mishima, der kannibalistische Massenmörder Dahmer und der Neonazi Kühnen, der gern ein zweiter Hitler geworden wäre.

Klaus Reichold, Thomas Endl: Ludwig forever

D 2011, 222 S. mit zahlreichen farb. Abb., geb., € 24.67
Kostenloser Versand innerhalb Europas.
Hoffmann und Campe
Der »Kini« Ludwig II. von Bayern ist eine der schillerndsten, mythenumrankten Figuren der deutschen Geschichte. Der weißblaue Märchenkönig war schwul, genial und exzentrisch. Die Geschichte seines Privatlebens - abgeleitet aus Augenzeugenberichten - liest sich wie ein süffisanter Klatschreport aus einer fantastischen Welt - voller Absurditäten und schrulliger Eskapaden abseits des hagiographischen Ludwigskitsches. Die Autoren haben die zeitgenössische Presse durchforstet, sich durch Klatschspalten geackert und haben im Geheimen Hausarchiv der Wittelsbacher nach bislang wenig beachteten Fakten gegraben. So machten beispielsweise schon während König Ludwigs Regierungszeit Gerüchte die Runde, dass der König homoerotische Verhältnisse hatte. Während des Kriegs 1866 vergnügte sich der König mit dem Fürsten von Thurn und Taxis anstatt an der Spitze seiner Armee zu stehen.

Christopher Isherwood: Diaries Vol. One: 1939 - 1960

Ed. by Katherine Bucknell. UK 2011, 1050 pp., brochure, € 27.99
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In 1939 Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden emigrated together to the United States. In spare, luminous prose these diaries describe Isherwood's search for a new life in California, his work as a screenwriter in Hollywood, his pacifism during World War II and his friendships with such gifted artists and intellectuals as Greta Garbo, Charlie Chaplin, Klaus Mann, Charles Laughton, Lawrence Olivier, and Aldous Huxley. Throughout this period, Isherwood continued to write novels and sustain his literary friendships - with E.M. Forster, Somerset Maugham, Tennessee Williams and others. He turned to his diaries several times a week to record jokes and gossip, observations about his adopted country, philosophy and mystical insights. His devotion to his diary was a way of accounting for himself.

Eric Poole: Where's My Wand?

One Boy's Magical Triumph over Alienation and Shag Carpeting. USA 2011, 292 pp., brochure, € 12.69
Kostenloser Versand ab 20 Euro Bestellwert.
From an early age, Eric Poole was obsessed with Eudora of TV's »Bewitched«. Just days after his family's Pontiac pulled into the driveway of the Pooles' new home in St. Louis, Missouri, 8-year-old Eric had staked out the basement as his special place: a spot where he could secretly perform magical incantations, draped in a flowing white bedspread he furtively hoped his compulsive mother wouldn't miss. At every rocky moment in his life, or when he was desperate to change future events before they could unfold, Eric would turn to his magical tools, close his eyes tight, and try to make everything all right. From his friendship with a fearless girl who has no arms, to his attempt to perform an exorcism on the cute boy in his vacation bible school, to his anxiety that his magical wish to be superior has killed a family friend Poole's stories take you into a mind of someone trying to make sense of the world.

Seymour Phillips: Edward II

USA/UK 2010, 679 pp. illustrated, hardbound, € 32.99
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Edward II, King of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine, was the object of ignominy during his lifetime and has been defamed ever since. Conventionally viewed as worthless, incapable of sustained policy and significant only for his sporadic displays of ill-directed energy or stubborn adherence to ambitious favourites, he has been presented as fit only to be deposed of the throne. He was passionately attached to Piers Gaveston until the latter's murder in 1312, and fatally manipulated by the much more sinister Hugh Despenser in the 1320s. The version of Edward's murder by having a red-hot poker inserted through his anus seems to have been circulated by those who wished to blacken Edward's reputation even more. Edward II was probably suffocated, or even died of natural causes in prison.

Betty White: If You Ask Me (and of Course You Won't)

USA 2011, 260 pp. illustrated, hardbound, € 21.29
Kostenloser Versand innerhalb Europas.
Seven-time Emmy winner Betty White's wit and wisdom take center stage as she tackles topics like friendship, romantic love, aging, TV, fans, love for animals, and the brave new world of celebrity. Drawing from a lifetime of lessons learned, these memoirs mix her observations with humorous stories from a seven-decade career in Hollywood. Longtime and new fans alike will relish Betty's candid take on everything from the unglamorous reality behind red-carpet affairs, to her beauty regimen (»I have no idea what color my hair is, and I never intend to find out«), to the Facebook campaign that helped persuade her to host »Saturday Night Live« despite having turned down the hosting job three times over the course of her career.

Aiden Shaw: Die nackte Wahrheit

Mein Weg an die Spitze der Pornoindustrie. Dt. v. Paul Schulz. D 2011, 255 S., Broschur, € 17.42
Kostenloser Versand ab 20 Euro Bestellwert.
Bruno Gmünder
In seiner Autobiografie berichtet Aiden Shaw von seinem kuriosen Aufstieg zu einem der bestbezahlten schwulen Pornostars der Welt. Im London der späten 80er war er nur einer von vielen Studenten, die ständig klamm waren, nichts als Sex im Kopf hatten und mit dem Gedanken spielten, Geld mit ihrem gut gewachsenen Körper zu verdienen. Doch irgendwann schlug Aiden Shaws Lebens eine irrwitzige Wendung ein. Am Ende wurde er eine der bedeutendsten Ikonen, die die schwule Pornowelt je hervorgebracht hat. Dabei fing er ganz bescheiden als Gelegenheitsstricher an. Schnell erlangte er als Escort eine gewisse Berühmtheit - hatte er doch mit einigen Celebrities, den Schönen und Reichen geschlafen. Dann entdeckte ihn Pornodirectrice Chi Chi LaRue bei einem schlichten Polaroid-Shooting. Doch seine nackten Tatsachen sprachen absolut für sich. Was folgte, ist heute Pornogeschichte und in mehr als 50 Pornofilmen mit Aiden Shaw dokumentiert. (Also available in the English version »Sordid Truths« for € 14.95)

Stephen Fry: The Fry Chronicles

An Autobiography. D 2011, 446 pp. illustrated, Pb, € 10.90
Kostenloser Versand ab 20 Euro Bestellwert.
Stephen Fry arrived at Cambridge on probation: a convicted fraudster and thief, an addict, liar, fantasist and failed suicide, convinced that at any moment he would be found out and flung away. Instead, university life offered him love, romance and the chance to stand on a stage and entertain. He met and befriended bright young things like Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie and (after working out how to cheat the university examination system) emerged as one of the most promising comic talents in the country. This is the story of how the Stephen the nation knows (or thinks it knows) began to make his presence felt as he took his first tentative steps in the worlds of TV, journalism, radio, theatre and film. Shameful tales of sugar, shag and champagne jostle with insights into credit cards, classic cars and conspicuous consumption, »Blackadder«, Broadway and the BBC.