“Nothing more or less than human thoughts, feelings, and needs, mostly shared and familiar to all.”
— Walt Odets, Out of the Shadows
Featured Essay
How the reclusive pornographer’s filthy film criticism shaped my understanding of gay desire. (The Gay & Lesbian Review)
Book Reviews for The Gay & Lesbian Review
This bimonthly magazine targets an educated LGBTQ+ reader on topics like history, culture, and politics. In my reviews, I cover subjects such as art, drag, design, and poetry.
Review of Portraits and Places, by Steve Turtell
Published by The G&LR (May–June 2026)
Review of E Is for Edward, by Gregory Hischak
Published by The G&LR (March–April 2026)
Review of Midnight at the Cinema Palace, by Christopher Tradowsky
Published by The G&LR (November–December 2025)
Review of Love, Joe: The Selected Letters of Joe Brainard, edited by Daniel Kane
Published by The G&LR (July–August 2025)
Review of The Theatrical Adventures of Edward Gorey, by Carol Verburg
Published by The G&LR (May–June 2025)
Review of The Spring Before Obergefell, by Ben Grossberg
Published by The G&LR (March–April 2025)
Review of The Importance of Being Furnished, by R. Tripp Evans
Published by The G&LR (January–February 2025)
Review of My Body Is Paper, by Gil Cuadros
Published by The G&LR (November–December 2024)
Review of The House of Hidden Meanings, by RuPaul
Published by The G&LR (September–October 2024)
Review of Coachella Elegy, by Christian Gullette
Published by The G&LR (July–August 2024)
Review of Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt, by Brontez Purnell
Published by The G&LR (May–June 2024)
Review of Living Histories: Queer Views and Old Masters, edited by Aimee Ng, Xavier F. Salomon, and Stephen Truax
Published by The G&LR (January–February 2024)
Review of The Splendid Disarray of Beauty: The Boys, the Tiles, the Joy of Cathedral Oaks—A Study in Arts & Crafts Community, by Richard D. Mohr
Published by The G&LR (September–October 2023)
Review of Aubrey Beardsley: 150 Years Young, by Margaret D. Stetz
Published by The G&LR (July-August 2023)
Review of Writing a Chrysanthemum: The Drawings of Rick Barton, edited by Rachel Federman
Published by The G&LR (March-April 2023)
Review of Verdant, by Jefferey Beam
Published by The G&LR (September-October 2022)
Review of David Hockney: Moving Focus, edited by Helen Little
Published by The G&LR (May-June 2022)
Review of Brocken Spectre, by Jacques J. Rancourt
Published by The G&LR (March-April 2022 edition)
Review of What Are the Men Writing in the Sugar?, by Matty Bennett
Published by The G&LR (November-December 2021 issue)
Review of Gay Bar, by Jeremy Atherton Lin
Published by The G&LR (September-October 2021 issue)
Review of The Storm, by Christopher Zyda
Published by The G&LR (July-August 2021 issue)
Review of Drag Queens and Beauty Queens, by Laurie A. Greene
Published by The G&LR (March-April 2021 issue)
Review of Lifelines, by Paul Mitchell Brown, Mark Doty, and Eric Rhein
Published by The G&LR (January-February 2021 issue)
Review of I’ve Been Wrong Before, by Evan James
Published by The G&LR (September-October 2020 issue)
Book Reviews for Gertrude Press
Gertrude Press—one of the longest-running queer journals (1998–2022)—was a game-changer for me. They gave me a shot, an amazing editor (shout out to Harker Jones!), and a great assortment of books. I joined their roster of reviewers in 2018 and, over the next five years, reviewed fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and memoir. I’ll always be grateful to Gertrude for giving me the space to develop as a critic.
“Disappeared, Disregarded, Dead”: Review of Rest of US, by Richard Hamilton (Gertrude Press, October 2021)
“Mending History”: Review of A Quilt for David, by Steven Reigns (Gertrude Press, September 2021)
“The Girl from Josephina”: Review of Big Freedia, by Big Freedia, with Nicole Balin (Gertrude Press, January 2021)
“The Spiritual Forebear of Lana Del Rey”: Review of A Voice of the Warm, by Barry Alfonso (Gertrude Press, May 2020)
“Great Plains Evenings”: Review of Prairie Architecture, by Monica Barron (Gertrude Press, March 2020)
“Gals and Gales”: Review of Zephyrian Spools, by Dalia Neis (Gertrude Press, January 2020)
“Many Voices, One Song”: Review of Transcending, edited by Kevin Manders and Elizabeth Marston (Gertrude Press, October 2019)
“Dial-Up Access—to the Past”: Review of People I’ve Met from the Internet, by Stephen Van Dyck (Gertrude Press, October 2019)
“Deathbed Revelations”: Review of All We Knew But Couldn’t Say, by Joanne Vannicola (Gertrude Press, August 2019)
“Within You, Without You”: Review of Hard Some, by Hailey Higdon (Gertrude Press, June 2019)
“All Mixed Up, for a Reason”: Review of For Every Girl, by Kate Gray (Gertrude Press, April 2019)
“The River Was Deep”: Review of Lava Falls, by Lucy Jane Bledsoe (Gertrude Press, September 2018)
“It’s Her Story Now”: Review of Self-ish, by Chloe Schwenke (Gertrude Press, April 2018)
“Michael is an accomplished and reliable wordsmith who offers keen insight, incisive observations, and deft turns of phrase. I could count on him to submit well-written, intelligent-but-relatable documents on time and within the appropriate word count. He is also personable and a joy to communicate and work with. I would hire him in a second anytime I need a writer.”