April Books: Augusten Burroughs is Back!

In the Babylonian Talmud, the phrase “light fell” (nafal nehora in Aramaic) was used to describe a sudden overwhelming desire, an intense fiery lust. Israeli author Evan Fallenberg used that phrase as the title and theme of his first novel, Light Fell (Soho Press; 240 pages; $22.00).

The American born, formerly married father of two sons took his own life experiences as well as those of others to produce a book that has been rightly called “the Brokeback Mountain of Orthodox Judaism.” Going back and forth from the “present day” (actually, 1996) and the mid-1970's, Light Fell tells the story of Joseph Licht, a once happily-married father of five for whom “light fell” when he fell in love with the charismatic Rabbi Yoel Rosenzweig in spite of their Orthodox Judaism’s disapproval of sex between men.

Though their relationship is tragically brief, it provides Licht with an impetus to come out, abandon his wife, father, five sons and traditional rural community for an openly gay life in Tel Aviv. Twenty years later Licht, now about to turn fifty, tries to reconcile with his estranged sons by inviting them to a birthday dinner, conveniently held at a time when Licht’s current partner is away.

Light Fell would make a great long short story or novella, though Fallenberg does his best to stretch the story out to novel-length proportions. As a gay author, Fallenberg obviously sympathizes with Licht, like himself a gay man who leaves his traditional Jewish marriage when he accepts his homosexuality. In Licht’s attraction for the charismatic Rabbi Rosenzweig – an experience repeated later by one of his sons with a charismatic commune leader – Fallenberg explores the role that sexuality (repressed or expressed) plays in Orthodox religious cults.

The five Licht sons, a microcosm of modern Israeli society from the Army to the Kibbutz, are very interesting individuals, each worth his own novel or short story. On the other hand, Licht’s former wife, the pitiful Rebecca, is poorly defined, and her story is never resolved. It should be noted that, though Light Fell is a novel by and about a gay Israeli, Fallenberg thought it best to publish his book in the United States, and in English.

Readers of AfterElton.com know that we have a thing for celebrity memoirs, even when they are poorly written and self-serving. As a literary genre, celebrity memoirs invite parody, and many writers simply can not resist. At their best, celebrity memoir parodies are delightful camp, as was the case with Little Me (1961), written by none other than literature’s clown price of camp Patrick Dennis (Auntie Mame).

In 1998, gay English author Rupert Smith took his turn at the bat when he wrote I Must Confess: Celebrity Tells All. Though that first British edition is sadly out of print, I Must Confess has now been reissued by America’s own Cleis Press (256 pages; $14.95).

Like Dennis’s Belle Poitrine, Smith’s Marc LeJeune (born Mark Young) is a one-man microcosm of pop culture, having experienced the full gamut of English celebrity life from “swinging London” in the sixties to New York “erotic cinema” in the seventies and British TV stardom in the 1980's and 1990's. Though Smith gave his fictional Marc LeJeune a more graphic sex life (gay or otherwise) than Dennis dared to give Little Me’s Belle Poitrine, I Must Confess lacks the charming series of staged photos that Dennis used to illustrate Belle’s life story.

On the other hand, I Must Confess benefits from Smith’s intimate knowledge of English pop culture and the role that gay people (in or out of the closet) play in it. All in all, I Must Confess: Celebrity Tells All is a wonderful read, one that is funny, sexy and - yes - campy.

Openly gay Doctor Frank Spinelli has made a name for himself in the gay community thanks to his medical practice and his appearances on Logo TV and Radio with a Twist. (The fact that Dr. Spinelli is drop-dead gorgeous also helped.)

Spinelli now puts his vast medical knowledge to good use in The Advocate Guide to Gay Men's Health and Wellness (Alyson Books; 304 pages; $21.95). The first Advocate Guide to Gay Health, by R. D. Fenwick, was published in 1978, pre-AIDS.

Since then, AIDS has emerged as the overwhelming gay health issue, so naturally most gay health books have centered on the epidemic. Though Dr. Spinelli does not underestimate the epidemic’s impact on our lives and communities, he knows that it is only one of many health and wellness issues that impact gay men. The Advocate Guide to Gay Men’s Health and Wellness covers topics as diverse as anal cancer, andropause, depression, drug abuse, domestic violence and the all-important need for annual checkups, in language that gay lay readers can understand and appreciate.

Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and gay book lover who lives and writes in South Florida. Send him a note at jessemontagudo@aol.com.