LGBTQ+ in Literature

Novelist Rita Mae Brown's newest novel "Sudden Death" is set in the world of women's professional tennis. Brown herself was a tennis player before becoming a writer. The novel also deals with the issue of lesbian athletes in the sport. Brown joins the show to discuss the novel and the sport.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone reviews Second Son, a new novel by Robert Ferro about AIDS.

Hansen's books feature a gay man in the hyper-masculine role of private detective. Hansen himself is gay, and hopes that his novels will help his readers become more accepting of homosexuality.

British crime writer Ruth Rendell. She's written over 30 mysteries which fall into several categories--detective novels with main character Chief Inspector Reg Wexford, psychological thrillers exploring the darker side of the human mind, and a new series of "more feminine, less bossy" mysteries under the pseudonym of Barbara Vine. Her latest novel, "The Bridesmaid," continues in the tradition of the psychological thriller. It's about a young woman who informs her lover that he must prove his love to her by committing murder.

Author David Feinberg. His new novel, "Spontaneous Combustion," is the further adventures of an HIV-positive man in New York City. (It's published by Viking).

Novelist David Leavitt discusses his new book "While England Sleeps." Themes are the betrayals, loyalties, and dilemmas of gay men in the 1930s.

Actor and playwright David Drake. In 1985, Drake saw the play "The Normal Heart" by playwright Larry Kramer. It was a turning point for Drake. Kramer went on to become a founder of ACT UP--the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. Drake a gay man, started on a path of self discovery and activism that has led to his writing a series of vignettes called "The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me" (Anchor Books). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews The Intersection of Law and Desire, (Norton) which debuts the feminist lesbian private investigator, Micky Knight by J.M. Redmann. And a collection of lesbian pulp romances, The Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Quality Paperback Book Club) by Ann Bannon which has just been republished.

Novelist Edmund White has just completed his semi-autobiographical trilogy. The new novel The Farewell Symphony (Knopf) focuses on gay life from the 1960’s to the present. His other books include A Boy’s Own Story,The Beautiful Room is Empty,Genet: A Biography, Forgetting Elena, Nocturnes for the King of Naples, States of Desire: Travels in Gay America, The Joy of Gay Sex, and Caracole.

Maureen Corrigan interviews writer Richard Stevenson. That's a pseudonym for Richard Lipez ("LIP-ehz"). He works in the genre of gay detective mysteries. Since 1981, he's written a series of six books about detective Donald Strachey ("STRAY-chee"). He is also a Washington Post columnist under his real name. Stevenson's latest book is called "Strachey's Folly: A Donald Strachey Mystery." (St. Martin's Press)