Beach Reading

Delightful characters well defined. A gay San Francisco waiter with "second sight", his employers (and landlords), his co-workers and fellow apartment dwellers, and an Aunt Ruth in Minnesota with whom he corresponds frequently. He is coming off an intense relationship and looking for another--and fairly active for an HIV-positive male. No in-your-face sex but a number of adventures about town including the arrival of a homophobic preacher just as the "gay party of the year" is about to take place at the civic center. A tad contrived, perhaps, but fun. Recommended, especially for those who know San Francisco (or would like to).

Abramson, Mark."Beach Reading", Lethe Press, 2008. A Romantic Comic Mystery Amos Lassen I just finished reading Mark Abramson's "Beach Reading" and the only word I can think of to describe it is "WOW!". It's a short book--only 193 pages--and each of those pages is a pleasure. The story takes place in San Francisco and it manages to cover many of the issues of gay life including homophobia, relationships, and S & M (stand and pose) as well as others. "Beach Reading is a "love song to San Francisco" and I felt like singing along as I read it. It seems that city on the bay has been the center of gay life forever and after reading this you will understand why. Gay male tourists find their way to San Francisco by planeloads for what is to be "the party of the decade", a tribute to Sylvester at the Moscone Center. As it happens at major gay events, it is not only gay men who arrive and the Christian right led by Arlo Montgomery also finds his way there. He and his cohorts have come to protest the event and they have set up camp a few blocks away from the festivities at the Civic Auditorium. Tim Snow, a gay activist, plans to protest the protest and the fun and games begin. I understand that this is the first in a series of books that Mark Abramson is writing on gay life. I plan to be a major fan and I will be bringing news of them when they are published. I also must commend Steve Berman of Lethe Press for picking up the slack that the folding of Harrington Park Press created.