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The literature of rejection

I tend to use this headline to write about young men who have a disproportionate rage at the world and take it out on others as mass murderers, assassins, terrorists and serial killers. I’ve also written about a number of literary works that deal with such young men – Homer’s “The Iliad,” John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” and Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights,” among them.

But I think it is also an appropriate title for a post about the Lambda Literary Awards, which I attended Monday night at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts as a nominee. My book “The Penalty for Holding,” published by Less Than Three Press, the second novel in the series “The Games Men Play” was a finalist in the Best Bisexual Fiction category. (When I got the news, I had two thoughts: This must be an email for somebody else. And, were any of the characters in my book bisexual? It goes to show that the readers sometimes know more than the authors do.)

As I sat there, I had a feeling of disassociation. I didn’t know anyone …

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Why are women so hard on one another?

In my guise as editor in chief of WAG magazine, I had a pleasure of sharing a moment with Ashley Judd on the red carpet of the Greenwich International Film Festival (GIFF) in Connecticut Friday night. She is an exquisite-looking woman who is, more important, exquisite in her manners and manner. I began by thanking her for her work as one of the leaders of #MeToo and asked her if she thought that this time, the response to the sexual harassment women have suffered would really be different.

It already is, she said, and the result will be an improvement not only in the lives of women but of men as well. …

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Royal fever

I have a confession to make: I am in love with a much younger man – Prince Louis.

OK, so he’s only 3 weeks old but he has stolen my heart. Prince Louis is already a star — thanks to his shutterbug of a mother, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge — but even he will have to take a backseat this week as we get set for the Olympics of romance. I am talking, of course, about the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry May 19 at 7 a.m. (EDT).

As with any such event, this is not a sprint for the press but a marathon. In my guise as editor of WAG magazine, I have been among those whetting the appetite with wedding previews …

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Modern Medusas: From Barbara Bush to Barbra Streisand

Barbara Bush – who died Tuesday at age 92 and was scheduled to be buried today in the presence of four former presidents – has been the subject of many remembrances and reactions this week, most of them admiring of a woman who turned a sharp gaze and an even sharper wit on herself as much as others. So, she no doubt would’ve been amused by The New York Times’ official reflection, whose undercurrent was a motif she often addressed – her appearance. …

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‘Giselle’ in the #MeToo age

The ballet “Giselle” – the quintessence of 19th century Romanticism – tells the story of a simple, open-hearted peasant girl driven mad for love of Albrecht, a man who’s hidden his aristocratic identity and engagement to another. Dying, Giselle becomes a Wili, one of the female spirits compelled to avenge themselves on the men who wronged them in life by dancing them to death.

In the excellent, though far from perfect, Bolshoi Ballet production given an encore simulcast last Sunday in theaters around the world, there was a great moment in Act 2 when the Wilis dispensed with Hans, Giselle’s unrequited suitor, whose jealousy of the beloved Albrecht sets the tragedy in motion. Under Yuri Grigorovich’s choreography, two of the lead Wilis basically tossed Hans away. They were like elegant bouncers. The ladies sitting behind us ...

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An inspiring event with Billie Jean King

Here I am with (left to right) judge and journalist Lisa Wexler, tennis legend Billie Jean King and WAG society editor Robin Costello at a benefit for Fairfield County’s Community Foundation: The Fund for Women & Girls at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich earlier today. The Foundation, which empowers underserved girls and women to do everything from leaving abusive relationships to starting businesses, raised a projected $110,000 — $10,000 from King herself. She is like that ...

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Trump’s crisis of leadership

The continuing Revolving Door Policy of the Trump Administration has thrown the systemic failure of Alexandrian leadership – leadership from the front – into sharp relief.

President Donald J. Trumpet has surrounded himself with Trumpettes – yes-men and, to a lesser extent, yes-women – and distanced himself from the No, No, Nanettes. Which is odd, considering his professed love of chaos. Wouldn’t you want some tension, some conflict? ...

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