For those queens who can't tell the one from the other--you know, the ones who live their lives like some high-volume hybrid of Valley of the Dolls, Absolutely Fabulous and Titanic (the sinking ship part, not the love story)--dramatologist Patrick Price (Husband Hunting Made Easy) has written a rehab guide to every aspect of a gay man's life susceptible to a high DQ (that's drama quotient). That is, friendships and family, dating and relationships, money and career, self-image and attitude, and aging (which the drama queen obsesses over so much (s)he doesn't know it's possible to do it gracefully). The book's not quite as funny as you'd like--it's full of anemic "gay twist" jokes ("there are times you'd swear your life is a rerun of Dynasty and everyone thinks they're Alexis or Sammy Jo"--yawn) that make you hunger for a little more bitchy pointedness. The advice is so general and thin it could apply to anyone, straight or gay. And its overall PG-13 content--disappointingly free of even veiled references to wild sex, rampant drug use or anything else that makes gay life truly, interestingly tragic--leaves even the tamest of Will and Grace episodes looking racy by comparison. But it's that essential wholesomeness and common sense--not to mention a plethora of irresistible Cosmopolitan-like "Test Your Own Drama Quotient" quizzes--that makes Price's book one that even mothers could safely give their drama queen sons...or, perhaps more fittingly, the other way around. --Timothy MurphyAs all gay men know, there's drama and then there's drama. Being genuinely torn between two lovers, for example, versus having slept your way through your entire zip code. Minor spats with your best friends versus a web of allegiances, grudges, and hearsay approaching Versailles in the era of Marie Antoinette. Or being a few days late with the rent versus your landlord asking Gucci and Prada to shut down your credit.
For those queens who can't tell the one from the other--you know, the ones who live their lives like some high-volume hybrid of Valley of the Dolls, Absolutely Fabulous and Titanic (the sinking ship part, not the love story)--dramatologist Patrick Price (Husband Hunting Made Easy) has written a rehab guide to every aspect of a gay man's life susceptible to a high DQ (that's drama quotient). That is, friendships and family, dating and relationships, money and career, self-image and attitude, and aging (which the drama queen obsesses over so much (s)he doesn't know it's possible to do it gracefully). The book's not quite as funny as you'd like--it's full of anemic "gay twist" jokes ("there are times you'd swear your life is a rerun of Dynasty and everyone thinks they're Alexis or Sammy Jo"--yawn) that make you hunger for a little more bitchy pointedness. The advice is so general and thin it could apply to anyone, straight or gay. And its overall PG-13 content--disappointingly free of even veiled references to wild sex, rampant drug use or anything else that makes gay life truly, interestingly tragic--leaves even the tamest of Will and Grace episodes looking racy by comparison. But it's that essential wholesomeness and common sense--not to mention a plethora of irresistible Cosmopolitan-like "Test Your Own Drama Quotient" quizzes--that makes Price's book one that even mothers could safely give their drama queen sons...or, perhaps more fittingly, the other way around. --Timothy Murphy