GLR November-December 2022

folding, one wonders why he didn’t just start at the beginning and show us their evolution in the traditional way. Possibly owing to this storytelling strategy, Ben never quite emerges as a fully realized character, or a sympathetic one. Sure, it may be that Grimsley wanted the main focus to be Ronny and his quest for self-acceptance, but it’s still not clear why the narrative treats Ben, whom Grimsley refers to as “the big boy,” in such a de tached and distancing way. Grimsley’s dialogue, too, is slacker in this novel than one remembers from earlier novels, and so are the motives of his characters. It’s not at all clear why Ronny is attracted to some one whose treatment is so often abusive—he constantly refers to Ronny as “my faggot”—and who seems as likely to beat up his lover as to kiss him. This is not to say that there aren’t some wonderful passages in this book, as when Grimsley recounts how Ronny obsesses over the early uncertainties and delights of the unfolding relationship: “When he fell nearly to sleep a part

of him would think, but Ben was here, but Ben was on top of me, surrounding me, and he said this, and this, and this. Ronny lingered over each word, each tone of voice, each change of ex pression. There was too much intoxication in the room for rest. ... As if he had to catalogue each moment, sort it all, to make sure he remembered.” Grimsley is a wise and experienced writer, and if The Dove in the Belly is not his best novel, it nevertheless has much to offer, including some historical background on the era of gay liberation in the 1970s (the book is set in 1976-77). Those were crazy and uncertain times, which is perhaps why Grimsley is ultimately cagey about whether Ronny and Ben’s relationship is destined to last. At the very least, we can be sure that Ronny has learned something about himself. ____________________________________________________ Dale Boyer’s new poetry volume, Columbus in the NewWorld , is now available. www.DaleBoyerWorks.com

B R I E F S ity available to all.” Sam is shaken by these words, which seems to place the events at school—his crush on Eddie, the charges against Theo—in a whole new light. J OE R YAN

HAROLD NORSE Poet Maverick, Gay Laureate Edited by A. Robert Lee and Douglas Field Clemson Univ. Press. 284 pages, $130. Harold Norse occupies a distinctive cross roads among American gay poets. The sub title of this collection of fourteen essays states the situation clearly: Norse’s position in the history of poetry is a different thing than his position in the history of gay social and literary space. The collection consists of essays on par ticular aspects of Norse’s life, from his po etic relationship with William Carlos Williams and Charles Bukowski to his on again, mostly off-again visibility as an his torical figure in the gay community. Much of the interest in this collection is related to Norse’s position as part of the cluster of writers known as the Beats, which also in cluded Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Diane DiPrima, and others. The fact that the Beats were mostly not gay meant that Norse was something of an edgy figure in that culture even as he was part of the ad vent of a freewheeling gay lifestyle in the Bay Area. As a poet, Norse seems to have sought recognition for pushing a gay envelope that had already been opened. One essayist notes that he was blaring about the joy of cock in a way that echoed the Ginsberg of twenty years earlier. Norse was also a somewhat marginal figure in the poetic community. He tended to do something just after a more fa mous poet already had, which made him a bit of an also-ran. Nevertheless, we can thank the editors for assembling this collec tion of Norse’s writings as a way to assess his contribution to gay poetry. A LAN C ONTRERAS

SCHOOL DAYS: A Novel by Jonathan Galassi Other Press. 211 pages, $25.

With a long career leading Farrar, Straus and Giroux and years as a noted poet, Jonathan Galassi has turned his hand to writing novels. The latest, School Days, un ravels a sexual harassment charge from the past brought by a student against Theo, an idolized teacher at a prestigious New Eng land prep school. The lead character, Sam, a former student and now a respected teacher there, helps investigate the claim, brought by his then classmate Eddie, who was Sam’s cherished friend and crush. Through the lens of the 1960s, the book describes students at the all-male school as experiencing a myriad of friendships with roommates, best study pals, and jock bud dies, many heightened by bed-sharing fan tasies. Having maintained strong alumni ties over the years, Sam is able to track down a number of his classmates in a search of ver ifiable reports about Theo’s alleged trans gression. Still a cherished teacher, Theo retired suddenly in the late 1990s and is now deceased. Sam’s search for the truth behind Eddie’s charge takes him on visits to a number of men who were his classmates, now successful professionals. As in Sam’s own story, brief heterosexual marriages have led some to divorce when they con fronted their authentic selves. A few of them admit to male daydreams back then, while others speak of full sexual experiences. At a fiftieth class reunion Sam meets Darman, in their student days an aggressive sensualist with good looks, who speaks of numerous sexual conquests. Remarks Dar man: “The best thing our prep-school days had to offer you missed out on: the sexual

LIARMOUTH A Feel-Bad Romance: A Novel by JohnWaters

Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 256 pages. $26. Sleaze is oozing out of every page of Liar mouth , but if you’re a John Waters freak (and I count myself among them), then that’s a very good thing. There’s a talking penis, a couple who steal suitcases from air ports for a living, and an illicit trampoline enthusiast cult. Liarmouth is a hilarious ride, surprisingly the first novel from the legendary countercultural filmmaker. It’s at once entirely otherworldly and intimately familiar. The plot involves three intertwined generations of women, all gunning for each other. The characters are new but could well be the not-so-distant cousins of Dawn Dav enport, the protagonist (played by Divine) in the 1974 classic Female Trouble . The scenes are set in gloriously lurid detail. Waters is especially good at having his characters vent their irritation at how inept and out-of-it are all the other characters populating the book. It has been perplexing and frustrating to realize how long it’s been since Waters has made a film (2004’s A Dirty Shame ). Those of us yearning for those joyous big-screen moments will have some of their thirst quenched with this rambunctious book. The “Sultan of Sleaze” does not disappoint. If any of the streaming services had any guts, they’d order this up as a series immediately. M ATTHEW H AYS

The G & LR

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