‘Little Giant,’ little gem

“The Little Giant of Aberdeen County” is the kind of book you hold in your hand like a gem, a precious thing that gives you comfort and somewhat indulgent pleasure.

The novel, from Grand Central Publishing, is Tiffany Baker’s first. Often a “first” means the reader must forgive problems with plot or characterization, language or style, but not so in the case of “The Little Giant of Aberdeen County,” a queer kind of folktale about family relations, friendships, small-town intolerance, witchcraft and themes of redemption and revenge.

I say “queer kind” of folktale not because there is a gay character, which there is, but because “Aberdeen County” is populated by some who live outside the bounds of “normal” society, because protagonist Truly Plaice breaks the rules for gender and sex, because the story is about an odd-woman-out who triumphs over brutality, harassment and intolerance.

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Men of the dance

“Men in Motion” displays the lithe, muscled bodies of about 50 male dancers, demonstrating that they are as athletic as sports figures. There is not an ounce of body fat anywhere in this oversized volume, which includes 130 muted-color photographs of the dancers performing various movements.

Both ballet and modern dance require great control over the body. Dancers must stretch to assume and sustain difficult, often unnatural, positions. Their training doesn’t develop large muscles, but rather muscles that are instantly responsive to the dancer’s demands. A few of the photos, for example, show the pliancy of dancers’ feet, which have flexibility far beyond the normal range.

Perhaps half the men depicted in the book are nude, while most of the others wear dance belts. When the Dutch National Ballet toured several years ago with some nude dances, one critic remarked that they had not solved the “flop flop” problem. Dance belts do just that, while doing nothing to disguise the presence of genitals. Paradoxically, they seem to emphasize them.

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Author C.M. Harris to appear at Chippewa Valley Community Center

Author C.M. Harris revisits her roots in the novel “The Children of Mother Glory,” which is set in the turn-of-the century Midwest. Like her heroine Glory Potter, she was raised in a rural church sect.

Unlike Harris, however, the fictional Potter remains in the religious community. Instead of serving her father’s ministry, as she is expected to do, Potter emerges as a dominant matriarchal figure who creates a new faith as well as an industry that supports her rural town.

But Potter finds herself increasingly torn between her religion and her desires, as she battles an irresistible attraction to another woman.

Potter is one of four characters whose lives intersect in the novel, described by amazon.com as a “powerful, beautifully crafted and inclusive novel” that “is a story of our times.”

Author Harris’ life went in a very different direction from her protagonist’s. After leaving home, she played guitar in rock bands, studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and The Loft Literary Center of Minneapolis.

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Winter reading list

Were you able to give or receive the books that you wanted for the holidays?

Of course, that’s what gift receipts and gift cards are for.

Looking back on 2009, it would be safe to declare it the year of the memoir. Among the numerous memoirs published are a significant number of titles by LGBT writers or of LGBT interest.

The following is a list of books that will make the winter months more bearable:

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