My Bestreads of 2015
2015 will be remembered as the year I continued my deep dive into the works of Samuel R. Delany. And the further I went, the more I remained convinced: he simply is the best English language writer alive today. The below blurbs were mostly copied from my contemporaneous reviews on Goodreads. So better late than never, here are the ten best books I read last year, in ranked order:
The Motion of Light on Water, Samuel R. Delany, 1988: More like an act of wizardry, magically conjuring up the past, than just a mere memoir. But not just conjuring the past, for Delany writes on a multitude of levels, traversing both time and space with ease. He may be the smartest writer I've ever read, yet even at his most complex and philosophical, he renders complicated ideas simply. The brilliance and beauty of this book--and Delany's life in a way--arise out of a kismet collision: the joy and boldness and naivety of youth; the possibility and shine and liberation of 1960s Manhattan; the codes and blurred lines and furtiveness of repressed, non-identity-based homosexuality; and the hindsight and wisdom and nostalgia of the author as autobiographer. Simply perfection.
Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders, Samuel R. Delany, 2011: A masterpiece. A beautiful love story. Sweeping and epic but also so simple and intimate. Brilliantly follows characters and a town over some 70 years, resulting in the best description and exploration of aging and gentrification/development I've ever come across. Graphic, in-your-face, unapologetic scenes of sex, sex, and more sex; the sheer volume and sustained presence of which has an effect of almost rewiring perceptions of sexual mores, of good and bad, of hot and not. An embodiment and exploration of theory, particularly philosophical theory, unlike any other fiction I've read, like only Delany does and can do: both ideas and Ideas underpin and guide this love and sex story. There are some flaws of course, but they are vastly outnumbered and almost trivial ultimately. This book only cements my previous opinion: Delany is a genius and the best living writer in the English language. (This is actually the book that everyone claimed A Little Life was.)
Just Kids, Patti Smith, 2010: I avoided this for years, unwilling to believe the hype and near universal acclaim. But on a whim, I bought it as a present to myself on my one year sobriety anniversary. Delicate, simple, poetry as prose: this was a gift of a book to read. Why did I wait so long? As perfect and joyful as everyone said. What a treat to be taken backwards through time and space along with Patti, causing me to remember my own earlier New York alongside of hers. The best love letter to first loves (in this case Robert Mapplethorpe and New York City) Iâve ever read. Simply divine. (2015âs M Train was a joy, even if it was unable to match the intensity and brilliance of Just Kids.) Patti Smith is a goddess, pure spirit and essence. Embodiment of the life force.
The Neapolitan Novels, Elena Ferrante, 2011-2015 (specifically #2, The Story of a New Name, 2012): Such an epic story told in such an intimate manner. A true page-turner rooted in honest observations, intricately drawn characters and well-structured story, not gimmicks and tricks (though there are some amazing cliffhangers!). A powerful and stunning portrait of female friendship infused with an abiding passion and love for the written word (both as a writer and as a reader) and backgrounded throughout with modern Italian history and events rumbling like Vesuvius. No matter that the final and most recent installment fell rather short: the second novel more than makes up for it with its captivating exploration of love and obsession, knowledge as seduction and power as a never-ending dance-off.
The Mad Man, Samuel R. Delany, 1994: Delany continues to soar in presenting and exploring lives and behaviors forgotten, ignored and dismissed by most other writers and artists. A sublime murder mystery, porn fantasia of sorts that doubles as a heart-felt, class-crossing love story and triples as an academic, philosophical exploration of boundaries and taboos. Delany himself forewords the book by claiming it is not a novel about homelessness, but Iâve never read anything that so drastically reset, expanded and deepened my view of people without homes and lives lived on the streets. The book similarly forced me to rethink previously dismissed sexual practices and mores. For the full magic, read this along with the earnest and romantic Bread & Wine, a graphic novel with similar themes detailing Delanyâs IRL story of meeting his then homeless life partner, Dennis Ricketts.
The Return to NevèrĂżon series, Samuel R. Delany, 1979-1987 (specifically #2, NeveryĂłna, 1983): Set in a long ago time in a forgotten kingdom, Delany explores the structures of civilization in this four novel âsword and sorceryâ series comprised of eleven interlinking stories surrounding Gorgik the Slave Liberator.  At times privileging academic exercise over pure storytelling, the series nevertheless captivates as much as it elucidates. To be immersed in Delanyâs NevèrĂżon is to watch him attempt to name the unnameable magic and spirit that makes humans human. Even when the story creaks and shakes from the weight of Delanyâs ideas, it never falls apart and, like a Rube Goldberg machine, its near destruction makes its eventual success all the more fun and awe-inducing. The second book NeveryĂłna, a stand-alone novel chronicling the adventures of a young girl named Prym, is the most cohesive and successful of them all. A true joy of a character resulting in a story that is a delight to read and so very delicious to think about.
The War Against All Puerto Ricans, Nelson A. Denis, 2015: A must-read for any American. A thoroughly engaging, eminently readable, well-researched account of the life of Albizu Campos and the Puerto Rican Nationalist party he helped lead. I'm ashamed to say I didn't know most of the history presented here. The actions of the U.S. Government on the island of Puerto Rico on behalf of U.S capitalist interests were more than shamefulâthey were downright criminal. Besides being a necessary recounting of the island's story, this exceptional history is another marker of how the post-war, "anti-Communist" behavior of the U.S. Government destroyed not only a political ideology ("the left"), but also doomed American workers and the poor to a life of inequality, as they and the political system has been dominated by and under the control of the oligarchs and industry. Denis subtly hints at a way forward, for an island and people still besieged and under yoke. One great first step is for everyone to read this phenomenal book.
About Writing, Samuel R. Delany, 2006: An essential collection of Delanyâs previously published non-fiction pieces centered around, obviously, writing. Like all his writing, so very smart and dense. A fun glimpse inside the mind and thought process that produced my favorite books of the year. Offers a road map of influences suggesting further reading such as Stein and Forster. As much a guide on how to be a reader as it is on how to be a writer. Looking forward to regularly rereading and referencing this in the years to come.
Totempole, Stanford Friedman, 1965: Defied my expectations and more than lived up to the hype. A gay novel for the ages. Friedman delivers a masterful rendering of dialogue, along with acute, sensitive psychological observations of a boy's developing sensual and sexual desires. An interesting balance of intimate character insights presented at an almost clinical, distant remove--we feel both at one with the characters and also apart from them, particularly the protagonist Stephen. This dichotomy neatly (and subtly) mirrors the âcoming outâ process so beautifully and delicately explored in the story. The book's only flaw is the heavy-handedness of the politics (global and sexual) in the last section, which--while understandable in the context of being published in 1965--unfortunately cements this as a âbook of its timeâ and not a timeless masterpiece. But itâs so, so, so close to being one that, even at 400 pages, it felt unfairly and tragically short; I wanted so much more of Stephen and the Wolfes. A shout-out of thanks to New York Review of Books for bringing this classic gay novel back into print.
My Brother and His Brother, Hakan Lindquist, 1993: A simple and beautiful Swedish story, originally written in 1993 and only recently translated. A love letter to brothers of all kindsâbiological, romantic, missing, imagined, desired. A ghost story that is equally mysterious and heartbreaking, without being trite. A study in the desire to connect. A quick read if you open up to it. I sobbed for like the last 40 pages.











