Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

It's been a while since I read some good non-fiction (confession: I only read 10 pages of Senator Clinton's memoirs; they seemed interesting, but were so very dry. I'll read Living History eventually), but finally, my local library got the new book by Dan Savage, Skipping Towards Gomorrah (Dutton, 2002). It's subtitled "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America." It's also marvelous. Riotously funny while still doing an uncanny job of making his points, Savage writes like you'd hope he would (i.e. like he does in his syndicated sex-advice column, "Savage Love," and its all gay, all the time counterpart, "Savage Love 2.0"), and is as common-sense as we all should be (kinda like if Camille Paglia was a liberal, really). He goes to a swingers' convention to take on lust, hits the casinos (both Vegas and riverboat varieties) for greed, and goes to the L.A. Pride Parade to examine, duh, pride - and that's just three of the big seven. To cap it all off, he visits the U.S.'s #1 Gomorrah, New York City, less than a month after 9/11, and hires a pair of hookers - to help boost NYC's economy and do his patriotic duty. God bless America! Savage works the long form just as masterfully as he does the short (i.e. his advice columns) (if you haven't read his previous book, The Kid, about gay adoption, do so, even if like myself you're a child-hating ogre-under-the-bridge), maybe better. Splendid stuff.