LEATHER AND TINSEL
All dressed up in their holiday best
Confess: The Autobiography (Hachette Books. $26. www.hachettebookgroup.com). In the 1970s and ‘80s, many self-acknowledged gay men remained closeted in their worklife, thinking that coming out might destroy careers in law, medicine, government and, of course, Heavy Metal. Whether or not you’re a headbanger, this candid bio from Rob Halford, celebrated lead singer of Judas Priest, is worth cracking open. You may find you have more in common with the strutting, studded rocker than you’d expect. Halford, who grew up in blue collar British steel town, was a bookish literature major who fashioned early lyrics on William Blake, and a theater lover since boyhood. He has also chronicled gay life in Priest lyrics for many decades, but record labels, rock radio, and most fans were willfully oblivious to the likes of Halford’s 1973 description of Fire Island in “Raw Deal”: “Them steely leather guys were fooling with the denim dudes” and taken by surprise when the singer formally came out in a 1991 interview. Now, Halford cheerfully tells tales featuring everyone from Tom of Finland to Marie Osmond. His star-struck first trip to New York at 26 finds Halford covering the pop-cultural waterfront, from a screening of “Deep Throat” to a night at Studio 54. And he writes with great wry humor, exemplified by the story of his father discovering the dildo that 15-year-old Halford had stashed in his bedroom: “Without even looking up from his paper, he addressed a comment toward me: ‘You might want to get rid of that object, Rob.”
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GOOD TIDINGS TO ALL
Thoughtful takes on our shared humanity
Mixing horror with humor, this is a book in which the author’s painful memories of being raped by his father jostle up against his hoariest of dad jokes. Experimental, yes; and the test tubes get thrillingly fizzy.
BUY BOOK When you purchase a book from our curated Bookshop.org shop we earn an affiliate commission. The books are independently reviewed by our book editor and the potential commission does not influence the review in any way.
BUY BOOK When you purchase a book from our curated Bookshop.org shop we earn an affiliate commission. The books are independently reviewed by our book editor and the potential commission does not influence the review in any way.
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