There’s a torpor that takes over one’s body after the holidays and before work starts. The fun of the Christmas days is over but the daily routine of work hasn’t settled in yet, so there’s this sticky limbo in which one sorta floats. The other day, I made my way to Earl’s Court, a place I haven’t gone to in forever. When living in West London, I’d visit Earl’s Court sporadically, but ever since moving into central London, I haven’t been. I had to run errands, some in Earl’s Court, so I wandered over to the Oxfam at Earl’s Court and grabbed a few books – some replacing books that went missing back when I still lived in the US and some that I picked up because they seemed interesting.
Out, Loud, & Laughing: A Collection of Gay & Lesbian Humor edited by Charles Flowers. So, this humor essay collection was published back in 1995 and raised funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. This book includes essays by some great queer humorists from the queer comic boom of the early 1990s: Kate Clinton, Jaffe Cohen, Frank DeCaro, Lea DeLaria, Marga Gomez, David Sedaris, Suzanne Westenhoefer, and Karen Williams. Two late greats are included, Steve Moore and Bob Smith (I love Bob Smith). Queer comedy has become far more mainstreamed now, so this book can feel a bit quaint, given how prominent queer comics have become – Wanda Sykes, Ellen DeGeneres, and Rosie O’Donnell are superstars at this point, as famous (if not more) than straight comics; Billy Eichner, Bowen Yang, Dan Levy, and Kate McKinnon have become crossover stars with huge straight followings, too. This book definitely captures a moment in queer comedy that has passed, but the writing in these essays are great. I bought this book originally years ago at Unabridged Bookstore in Lakeview in Chicago. I was very excited to see this in the bookshelf of a tiny charity shop in West London.
Misadventures in the (213) by Dennis Hensley. I read this so many years ago. Like Out, Loud, & Laughing, I got a copy of this book originally at Unabridged. Dennis Hensley is a great comedian and comedy writer. He wrote a fantastic film book, Screening Party which chronicled a series of movie nights he hosted with a group of his friends. This book is very funny and well written, a great snapshot of pop culture and celebrity culture of the 1990s. I also remember watching Hensley, who appeared with his best friend Tony Tripoli (another hilarious comic who is also a great steward of Joan Rivers’ legacy) on the first season of Kathy Griffin’s reality show. Hensley’s kind of a renaissance man: he writes, he acts, he created a board game, he’s very cool. I loved this book, and was surprised to, again, see this book landing in an Oxfam in Earl’s Court. As a fun side note, there’s a price tag for $27.95 from Bookshop Darlinghurst, which is in Australia (which is about £15).
The Star System: Hollywood’s Production of Popular Identities by Paul McDonald. I write film essays, often about star studies or star personae. I’m thinking of going back to school, and I’ll be interested possibly studying star studies. I’ve read a lot by Richard Dyer and picked up this book because it looks very interesting and helpful for some of the reading and research I’ve been doing for my writing. (He has contributed to an edition of Dyer’s Stars.) McDonald – a film scholar King’s – has written other work about star images and celebrity culture as it intersects with film studies, including a book on George Clooney’s star persona. He’s a great writer and I was pleased to find this book on my search.
Adventures of a Terribly Greedy Girl: A Memoir of Food, Family, Film & Fashion by Kay Plunkett-Hogge. I’ve read Kay Plunkett-Hogge on the Internet – she writes some great food essays, especially on the Guardian. She has written quite a few cookbooks, including the Leon cookbook (I loved Leon and eat their vegan burger all the time) and she also contributed to Stanley Tucci’s second cookbook. She’s also known for her books on entertaining and drinks. Another thing I like about Plunkett-Hogge is that she likes Martha Stewart like I do. This is a bright, brisk memoir with funny asides, along with some recipes. (Plunkett-Hogge lives in Thailand and there are quite a few Thai recipes in the book and she has written a book of Thai recipes.)
A Seat in the Aisle 
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