Red Night

Book club was good. David picked me up and we had a decent discussion of Cities of the Red Night in the car--which was more interesting than the discussion at the book club. That turned into more of a social gathering after the book conversation deteriorated. The general consensus was that no one understood the point and the rampant homosexual sex was distracting. About 1/3 of our number didn't finish the book, citing the graphic sex as the major deterrent. Sex is everywhere, the logic revolves around it ("How do we solve this problem?" "Sodomy?" *insert sodomy act here* "Wow, I have a great idea that totally solves everything!") and except for one or two occasions, there's few instances of heterosexual sex. The novel is tied primarily to masculine experience, and I think it says a lot that the majority of the club's female readers didn't finish it.

I was pleased when I got to defend Equus when Jen expressed some outrage about Daniel Radcliffe's role as Alan Strang in the recent London production. I secretly coveted that role when I first read Equus. It's a perfect role for a young male actor. Equus also happens to be my favorite play, but despite that I've never seen a production. The London production also has Richard Giffiths in the Martin Dysart role. The Alan Strang role for the middle-aged man.

After book club it was back to David's apartment for some Seinfeld and to peruse his Flight graphic novels.

Also: an idea for after JET begins to percolate.

Not a bad night, all-in-all.