"I'm Open To Anything" by William E. Jones (We Heard You Like Books)

 

January 16, 2021

I spent the morning reading the last pages of a novel by William E. Jones called "I'm Open To Anything" in the bathtub. I do a lot of reading in the tub because it's a private zone where no one can reach you. Bathrooms are a unique location for such excellent isolation. I have made some of the most serious decisions while sitting on the toilet or in the bathtub. Many work decisions came from the tub and reading the finest literature, such as Bill's book. 

Without a doubt, this novel has the most provocative cover for a book. The cover photograph is by the author and undoubtedly a conversation starter but in some company, not an entrance to communication. "I'm Open To Anything" reads like a memoir of a man's journey into the sexual world of Los Angeles. For reasons I don't fully understand, as a straight man (whatever that means these days), I love the Gay/Lesbian underground subject matter. I admire society's society and how it stays away from the mainstream world in such a fashion that it's invisible unless you know the secret password to that sensual and emotional landscape. 

Jones's novel is one of the great Los Angeles books, and he's an author who knows the city well and understands its sexual energy. All his encounters in these pages are fascinating and mostly with Latin men of all sorts. Jones has a deep appreciation for other characters to tell their tale. Here we get a Revolutionary, a book store owner, and various others who roam the same landscape as the author's character. For those interested in the craft and technique of fisting, William tells it in beautiful prose. It's great to read an author who can articulate his sexuality and practice. It's lovely to spend time in the tub with this book. 

"I'm Open To Anything" by William E. Jones

ISBN: 978-0996421898 We Heard You Like Books

Thom Andersen in conversation with William E. Jones for "Slow Writing" (Visible Press) at ARTBOOK @ Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles

I have been proudly hustling for this upcoming event at ARTBOOK @ Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles. It's coming up this Sunday at 4p.m. It's will be a chat between the great filmmaker and teacher Thom Andersen and artist/author/historian William E. Jones. The purpose is to promote Thom's excellent (and I mean really excellent) book of essays "Slow Writing" regarding film and the by-products of that culture. Bill is equally a fine thinker/conversationist and the two of them is like that daydream of people choosing dinner guests - either live or dead and it will be the greatest dinner conversation ever. Will, the daydream has come alive! These two would be my choice for the perfect dinner conversation. The event is free, and you get to visit the wonderful galleries that are Hauser & Wirth, as well as the fine restaurant/bar on the premise. A total win-win for a late Sunday afternoon get together. I can't recommend this highly enough. -Tosh Berman

"True Homosexual Experiences: Boyd McDonald and Straight to Hell" by William E. Jones

ISBN: 978-0996421812 We Heard You Like Books

"True Homosexual Experiences: Boyd McDonald and Straight to Hell" by William E. Jones (We Heard You Like Books)

A few months ago, I read this incredible book of film critiques by Boyd McDonald, called "Cruising the Movies."  McDonald wrote on films that were played, usually very late at night, on the local TV station in New York City.  This was before VHS even, so there wasn't a video tape he could watch, but he actually had to view these films in his one room hotel-like apartment in upper Manhattan sometime in the 1980s.  Never mentioning the director, instead he focused on the stars that are in the movie.   And usually beyond their acting skills, but mostly focusing on their ass, crotch, torso, and legs.   For me, I thought that this was a very interesting way of looking at films.   One can presume that Boyd McDonald, an incredible prose writer and thinker, was a homosexual.  

The word "gay" has connotations that really don't fit in Boyd McDonald's world.  For one, he had a zine in the 1980s (and still being produced by Billy Miller) that totally focused on anonymous readers who sent McDonald letters describing their homosexual sexual experiences and encounters.   McDonald took his work very seriously.  He was sort of a budget level version of Alfred Kinsey.   Instead of obtaining information for an academic press, McDonald collected his 'narratives' and put it all in his zine "Straight to Hell."  

Artist, filmmaker, and writer, William E. Jones, has written a magnificent biography and critical study on McDonald's life and work.   A hardcore homosexual subject matter, I, as straight as I can, or may be, finds McDonald and this book totally fascinating.  His "Cruising the Movies" is such a hardcore film geek book, but of a different kind.  On one level, this is critique for the Homosexual's eyes and senses, yet, for me, it's an inside look into a hyper-world of sensuality that just exposes its sexual mores via the big screen, or for McDonald in the little more likely black and white set he had in his apartment.   A recluse, ex-serious drinker, yet by all accounts a loving man to his nieces, is an incredible subject matter for a book.  Jones captures that world, with his intelligence and his grasp on gay cultural history -it is really an one-of-a-kind biography.   

The book is not a super in-depth bio, due that there is very little record of McDonald in existence, except for his work - which I suspect would please McDonald to a great degree. I'm just happy to be introduced to McDonald's writings, and clearly he is one of the great publishers, who worked in the shadowy zine world.  Essential gay culture book, but also a fantastic look into the mind and talent of Boyd McDonald. 

- Tosh Berman

"Cruising the Movies: A Sexual Guide to Oldies on TV" BY Boyd McDonald (Introduction by William E. Jones)

ISBN: 978-1584351719  Semiotext(e) Active Agents

Without a doubt, Boyd McDonald was the best film reviewer ever. The thing is he wrote for a gay mag, and mostly on films he watched on TV late at night. He also had a zine in the 1980s that focused on homosexual sex "Straight to Hell." The brilliance of McDonald is that on a physical level he's very much part of an underground "gay" world, when there used to be one. Now, everyone is getting married and becoming taxpayers - but alas, there was a life that was lived in the shadows, and McDonald, a superb writer, captures that series of shadows that were shown on TV - mostly films from the 1930s to the 50s. The beauty of his work is that he mostly focuses on the actor's cock size or butt. But that is just the platform or foundation of his serious observations - here he marks the queer world where females act out certain passions, while men react to them. Or is it the other way around? "Cruising the Movies" touches on a lot of fascinating subjects - the nature of old films being shown on TV, before the world of VHS recording - in a way it is almost a coded, often secret, transmission from Hollywood to a gay man's sensibility. William E. Jones wrote a beautiful and insightful introduction.

- Tosh Berman

June 4, 2014

June 4, 2014

I woke up in near panic thinking today is on this day that where people will figure I’m just a fraud.   I have always thought that, but I pretty much hid that view point from my fellow (and non-fellow) citizens.  Writing is very much of a performance. Some use the stage or to be discovered in front of a camera and a set.  I, on the other hand, need a pen and paper to explore worlds that I really know nothing about.  The readers out there who read my daily posts may feel that I’m smart, a good writer even, but the truth is I’m a total failure.  I’m not being down on myself, but being honest as much as possible in front of friends, neighbors, and the general public that is currently known as Facebook.  What the hell was I thinking of when I told Jarett Kobek and William E. Jones that I would participate in their event at the Echo Park Film Center?

I have a tendency to say “yes” to invitations, including dinner, due that I’m fearful of being forgotten or not remembered in my lifetime.  Also the thought of missing a free dinner sometimes keeps me awake at night, but alas, as far as I know, there is no dinner invites after the event tonight.  More likely I should get something to eat before going to the film center.  Nevertheless I must have been insane to say yes, due to the fact that Jarrett and William are two brilliant writers and thinkers, and without a doubt it will take only moments when they realize that I’m a total fraud.  I will be talking to the two artistic figures in front of an audience, mostly there because they’re fans of William and Jarett’s books. Which, I say, I’m a fan as well.  Shouldn’t I be sitting in the audience?  Now, it is too late because I said yes and I just have to roll with the punches tonight, which if I’m lucky enough, would not mean being kicked out of the building, and the neighborhood of Echo Park.

Speaking of the Echo Park Film Center, it is run by a gentleman named Paolo Davanzo, who by coincidence was in Anna Biller’s masterpiece film “Viva.” Paolo was exceptional in the role of “Elmer” a hippie free love naked man who almost rapes “Viva” played with incredible insight by Anna Biller herself.  Surely he will know that I’m a fraud within seconds of yours truly entering his building.  At the moment, I’m dreading the entire day in front of me.  For most, the June Fourth Incident is the Tiananmen Square Massacre, but to me it will surely be my event tonight.  My stomach is already in knots, and I'm thinking of an exit plan, but nothing is clear in my head.

I feel I need to re-read the three books by Jarrett, especially “BTW” and “Atta” because they’re brilliant works, and I need to drop a quote of some sort during our discussion on stage tonight regarding the reading, but I don’t know if I can, due to my nervousness in front of an audience.  When others are chatting, I know I am going to be thinking what others are thinking of me at that moment.  I’m not even sure if they care, I mean, I even had a haircut yesterday, just for this event.  My wife will be there, and surely after 25 years of marriage she must know that there is something wrong with me.  They say “love is blind,” and I’m so grateful for that fact.  On the other hand the audience tonight may not know me, which is good in my favor, but if they do know… well, surely they don’t love me.

William, due to the fact that he’s a curator, visual artist, filmmaker & video maker, will surely know something is wrong tonight, and it is the guy with the initials TB.  In this case, the disease fits the man to a “T.” Both Bill and Jarett did a whole book on having a conversation with a prominent writer or thinker.  For instance, Bill has a new book out that is a book length chat with the filmmaker Thom Andersen.  The title says it all: “Thom Andersen/WIlliam E. Jones.” It doesn’t even need a proper title - because the book says it all.  Jarett also did a book length talk with the great thinker and writer Iain Sinclair called “Walking is a Radical Act.” Now here lies the problem, Thom Andersen, William E. Jones, Jarett Kobek, Iain Siinclair, and Tosh Berman.   The wrong music note is my very name!

Writing is a very solitude affair, and yet, one hopes that it will reach a public of some sort.  The thing is I am very untalented and not that smart as a thinker.  I do have a certain amount of charm, and there is a tad of a Tom Ripley in my soul, but beyond that I’m just a mirror that people glaze at and hopefully the reflection that comes back at them is OK.   Time will tell.