Subterranean Press has released Hamlet’s Father, a retelling of Hamlet where Prince Hamlet’s father is portrayed as a child molester murdered by one of his past victims, Horatio.
First published in 2008, the book was authored by Orson Scott Card, who wrote in 2004:
“the dark secret of homosexual society – the one that dares not speak its name – is how many homosexuals first entered into that world through a disturbing seduction or rape or molestation or abuse, and how many of them yearn to get out of the homosexual community and live normally.”
Publishers Weekly criticized the retelling for “linking homosexuality with the life-destroying horrors of pedophilia, a focus most fans of possibly bisexual Shakespeare are unlikely to appreciate.”
Angry readers have taken to blogs and Twitter to express their outrage, forming the hashtag, #buyabiggaynovelforscottcardday.
Subterranean Press Publisher Bill Schafer remarked that he “did not anticipate controversy for republishing a work which had received no controversy prior to our publication, and which remains in print elsewhere”. [Guardian]
The Huffington Post Media Group is now an e-book publisher. And on September 20, it will release Aaron Belkin’s How We Won: Progressive Lessons from the Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’.
Authors will not receive advances; rather, they will share in the sales proceeds. Belkin’s book will be sold for $4.99. [PaidContent]
Batwoman is Back: The Lesbian Caped Crusader Takes Flight: Batwoman has come far from her debut in 1956 as Batman’s love interest. On Wednesday, this queer caped crusader will rock the comic book shelves when DC Comics releases Batwoman #1.
Batwoman is the first gay character to have her own monthly series from a mainstream publisher. [SheWired]
Best Of the LGBT Books: The Washington Blade lists a few of the best LGBT books to add to your fall reading list, including Black Like Us: A Century of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual African American Fiction, compiled by, Lambda Literary board member Don Weise, Speaking Out: LGBTQ Youth Stand Up by Steve Berman, and Gay in America, an illustrated book by Scott Pasfield. [WashingtonBlade]