Books published by Requeered Tales

Bright, ambitious, and handsome, Ross Ohrenstedt is a high flier in the fashionable field of queer studies. He has just taken a prestigious university position in Los Angeles and has been appointed to oversee the collection of papers and works of a leading light of the gay literary salon known as the Purple Circle. Ross stumbles across a lost work by an unknown author and his quest to identify the mystery writer and achieve the glory of scholastic tenure unveils increasingly bizarre and unbalanced facts about a group of writers who in the 1970s and 1980s broke new ground in the creation of a gay literary sensibility. But the dark truth contained within The Book of Lies is even more startling.With biting wit and a lush sense of place and character, Felice Picano's daring novel is at once a stylish mystery, a comical roman-à-clef, and a wicked send-up of the new Ivory Tower.First published to acclaim in 1998, this new edition for 2020 features a foreword by David Bergman (The Violet Hour)."The Book of Lies is funny, dark, sexy, shocking, and yes, smart. Set in the near future ('decades after Stonewall'), the novel tells of a young scholar trying to make his academic bones on the literary bodies of the 'Purple Circle'. Picano skewers the pedagogically pretentious with ease and wit. A wonderful novel, with some of Picano's best writing." - Bay Area Reporter"Picano treats his nonpulpy subject matter - grieving, the book business, the teaching business - in a pulpy way, and the results are surprisingly entertaining." - The New York Times Book Review"Based on Picano's involvement with the Violet Quill Club (which included Edmund White and Andrew Holleran), this is an absorbing Henry James-style comedy of manners about how even when some writers find their way out of the closet, others still get left behind." - The Mail on Sunday"Felice Picano's new novel, his 19th book, is a story rich with history - a history that Picano himself was part of and helped shape ..." - The Washington Blade"Leave it to Felice Picano to add a walloping dose of melodrama and intrigue to a tale already redrawing genre boundaries ... What Picano does is take an academic mystery (subject matter that might have proved tedious or solipsistic in lesser hands) and morphs it into something new - a page-turning, often campy, occasionally serious critique of academia and historical truth, literary celebrity, and the imminent future of America." - Philadelphia Tribune

A Benjamin Justice Thriller, Book 1 - It''s 1994, an election year when violent crime is rampant, voters want action, and politicians smell blood. When a Latino teenager confesses to the murder of a pretty-boy cokehead outside a gay bar in L.A., the cops consider the case closed. But Benjamin Justice, a disgraced former reporter for the Los Angeles Times, sees something in the jailed boy others don''t. His former editor, Harry Brofsky, now toiling at the rival Los Angeles Sun, pries Justice from his alcoholic seclusion to help neophyte reporter Alexandra Templeton dig deeper into the story. But why would a seemingly decent kid confess to a brutal gang initiation killing if he wasn''t guilty? And how can Benjamin Justice possibly be trusted, given his central role in the Pulitzer scandal that destroyed his career? Snaking his way through shadowy neighborhoods and dubious suspects, he''s increasingly haunted by memories of his lover Jacques, whose death from AIDS six years earlier precipitated his fall from grace. As he unravels emotionally, Templeton attempts to solve the riddle of his dark past and ward off another meltdown as they race against a critical deadline to uncover and publish the truth.Awarded an Edgar by Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel on initial release, this 25th Anniversary edition has been revised by the author. A foreword for the 2020 edition by Christopher Rice (Bone Music) is included.

A Virginia Kelly Mystery, Book 2 - By night - the bars, the music, the sexual energy. By day - the beaches, the bay ... basking in the sun and the scent of suntan lotion. And everywhere the women of Provincetown.Among these women in the sun is Virginia Kelly, a woman of color, on vacation from the mostly white world of finance. Ginny has come to P-town with friend Naomi, and without lover Emily. They stay at Lavender House, a hotel for lesbians run by Sam, a woman with whom Naomi has had some dramatic history. Other inhabitants include Anya, who works for the inn; Joan, a writer and sometime guest; loud Barb and her quiet partner. And in P-town, Ginny is drawn to another woman. Then ... murder shatters the vacation bliss. For among the people brushing up against Ginny and Naomi for these few sensual days is a ruthless killer. And a victim whose death will change the lives of Ginny and Naomi.Nikki Baker, author of In the Game, is the first Black voice in lesbian mystery fiction.First published to acclaim in 1992, and nominated for Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, this new edition features a foreword by Ann Aptaker (Cantor Gold series).

A Virginia Kelly Mystery, Book 1 - When businesswoman Virginia Kelly meets her old college chum Bev Johnson for drinks late one night, Bev confides that her lover, Kelsey, is seeing another woman. Ginny had picked up that gossip months ago, but she is shocked when the next morning''s papers report that Kelsey was found murdered behind the very bar where Ginny and Bev had met. Worried that her friend could be implicated, Ginny decides to track down Kelsey''s killer and contacts a lawyer, Susan Coogan. Susan takes an immediate, intense liking to Ginny, complicating Ginny''s relationship with her live-in lover. Meanwhile Ginny''s inquiries heat up when she learns the Feds suspected Kelsey of embezzling from her employer. Nikki Baker is the first African-American author in the lesbian mystery genre and her protagonist, Virginia Kelly is the first African-American lesbian detective in the genre. Interwoven into the narrative are observations on the intersectionality of being a woman, an African-American, and a lesbian in a "man''s" world of finance and life in general. First published to acclaim in 1991, this new edition features a foreword by the author.

"Incandescent angels of love ... an eclectic voyage."Two heroes, reflective Peter and Byronic Chase, indulge their youthful appetites in Florence. Over the next 20 years their paths diverge and reconverge. Chase marries into the Italian aristocracy and Peter pursues his passion for Lorenzo, a beautiful young Florentine. The past impinges on the present as the story of Chase's ancestor, Orvil Starkweather, is revealed - the secrets of his life sounding a counterpoint to Chase's. New York City's Central Park and the imposing figure of designer Frederick Law Olmsted provide a mysterious connection to Chase's life. The story of the two men unfolds in Florence and New York exposing the unimagined and startling connection with the past, and taking them finally on a fateful cruise up the Nile aboard the luxury yacht the Blue Star.Originally published in 1985, this new edition contains a 2020 foreword by Andrew Holleran (Dancer from the Dance).

A Nick Hoffman / Academic Mystery, Book 2 - Nick Hoffman, desperate to get tenure, has been saddled with a thankless task: coordinating a conference on Edith Wharton that will demonstrate how his department and his university supports women''s issues. There''s been widespread criticism that SUM is really the State University of Men. Problem is, he''s forced to invite two warring Wharton societies, and the conflict between rival scholars escalates from mudslinging to murder. Nick''s job and whole career are on the line unless he can help solve the case and salvage the conference.Originally published in 1998, this new edition contains a 2020 foreword by Gregory Ashe as well as a new introduction by the author.

A series of discrete episodes among friends provide snapshots of one gay man's life. There are parties, concerts, dinners with everyday life – and death – interwoven in the rich story-telling. An actress, a painter, a set designer, a writer – all sweating and surviving in Manhattan, all scoring their first successes. Part autobiography and part documentary, artfully written, it details the lives of these creative people. Young and professional, they know there is more to life than money. There is trust and the sort of love that trades in deeds of kindness.Leventhal's debut novel was welcomed warmly garnering a Lambda Literary Awards Finalist in 1988, this new edition features a 2020 foreword by Christopher Bram.

The present supplement includes titles overlooked in the Bibliography Second Edition, plus works written before the 1981 cut-off date but published later, including works published for the first time in book form such as the original text of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, posthumous works (the diaries of Christopher Isherwood and Joe Orton), unexpurgated editions (James Jones’ From Here to Eternity), and newly translated classics (e.g. Marcilio Ficino's Alcibiades the Schoolboy; the letters of Marcus Aurelius; John Henry Mackay's novel Fenny Skaller). The current study should be regarded not as a separate work but rather as a second, supplementary volume containing additional material. The two volumes together constitute a preliminary guide to classic (i.e. pre-1980's, pre-AIDS) gay and bisexual male literature.     Ian Young is a Canadian collector, publisher and chronicler of gay literature. He is the author of annotated bibliographies The AIDS Dissidents and The AIDS Dissidents 1993-2000. His other books include Encounters with Authors, Sex Magick, Out in Paperback, The Stonewall Experiment and London Skin & Bones.     A ReQueered Tales Original Publication.

Ian Young’s bibliography has served as a basic guide to English-language works of fiction, drama, poetry and autobiography concerned with male homosexuality or having male homosexual characters. Entries include titles published through 1980. Works of primary importance (those in which homosexuality is a major aspect or which are otherwise of particular relevance) are marked with an asterisk for the convenience of researchers and collectors. Works are identified by author, title, place of publication, publisher, and date. For easy reference, entries are numbered and a title index is provided at the end of the main text. Five highly-acclaimed essays on gay literature by lan Young, Graham Jackson and Dr. Rictor Norton, including essay on gay publishing, round out the listings. A title index of gay anthologies completes the work.     Uniquely acclaimed upon initial publication in 1982: “An essential reference for any student of gay literature” – Gay News (London); “An indispensable adjunct to any collection of literature or subjects which draw upon literature” – Readers Quarterly     This edition is reset, but identical to, the classic and definitive 2nd edition, available in print for the first time in decades.

Librarian and scholar Matt Lubbers-Moore collects and examines every mystery novel to include a gay or queer male in the English language starting with the 1909 Arthur Conan Doyle short story “The Man with the Watches”. Authors, titles, dates published, publishers, book series, short blurbs, and a description of how involved the gay or queer male character is with the mystery are all included for a full bibliographic background.     Murder and Mayhem will prove invaluable for mystery collectors, researchers, libraries, general readers, aficionados, bookstores, and devotees of LGBTQ studies. The bibliography is laid out in alphabetical order by author including the blurb and author notes, whether a hard boiled private eye, an amateur cozy, a suspenseful romance, or a police procedural. All subgenres within the mystery field are included: fantasy, science fiction, espionage, political intrigue, crime dramas, courtroom thrillers, and more with a definition guide of the subgenres for a better understanding of the genre as a whole.     A ReQueered Tales Original Publication.

It was a family dealing with old values, acceptance and death. Max Desir loved his Italian roots and hearing his mother, Marie, recount tales of the old country. And he loved his American family, his father John a successful self-made businessman in New Jersey. As he came of age, Max discovered something else he loved - men - and met the love of his life in Italy. Now, at age 40, the family is split: Marie and his siblings accept Max and Nick as a stable, long-term couple but his father John does not. When a needlepoint family tree is to be hung at Christmas, it''s too much for John. Then the spectre of death enters as Marie rapidly declines with brain cancer. Loyalties divided, acceptance of family is re-examined. In this beautiful, haunting tale, told in Robert Ferro''s clear, impassioned narrative, he created a classic. "An honest, eloquent and entirely original novel ... at once realistic and mythological, intensely personal and public ... a triumph," opined Edmund White.Originally published in 1984, this edition includes a 2019 foreword by fellow author and friend Felice Picano.

A Nick Hoffman / Academic Mystery, Book 1 - Nick Hoffman has everything he''s ever wanted: a good teaching job, a beautiful house, and a solid relationship with his lover, Stefan Borowski, a brilliant novelist and writer-in-residence at the State University of Michigan. But when Perry Cross shows up, Nick''s peace of mind is shattered. Not only does he have to share his office with the nefarious Perry, who managed to weasel his way into a tenured position without the right qualifications, he also discovers that Perry played a destructive role in Stefan''s past. When Perry turns up dead, Nick wonders if Stefan might be involved, while the campus police force is wondering the same about Nick.Originally published in 1996, this first book in the Nick Hoffman Academic Mystery series is now back in print, with a 2019 foreword by the author.EDITORIAL REVIEWS:"Deliciously wicked... The perfect book to take away for a weekend in the country... a genuinely funny modern comedy of manners." - Washington Post Book World"The Borgias would not be bored at the State University of Michigan, that snake pit of academic politics." - New York Times Book Review"Clever and sharp social satire." - Los Angeles Times "Lev Raphael skewers academic pretensions with wicked glee [and] Dickensian flair." - Chicago Sun-TimesLev Raphael offers "a delightful take on death in academe." - San Francisco ChronicleA "witty and devastating backstage view of college life." - San Diego UnionΓÇæTribune "Some of the most pointed and funny put-downs of academics in my memory." - Detroit Free PressRaphael "elegantly skewers ivory-tower pretensions, petty politics, incompetencies and hypocrisies." - BooklistLev Raphael combines "stylish literary mystery with an intimate look at the jungle of academia... witty, impeccably written." - The Mystery Review"Marvelous humor and satisfying mystery... wickedly fun." - Drood Review of Mystery"Bright, breezy, and laughΓÇæaloud funny." - Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine