Peter Kurth - Salon.com

Middle age threw me a wicked curve

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

HIV-positive since the '80s, I never expected to grow old -- and I really didn't expect to end up with a crooked penis.

At her majesty's pleasure

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

After a nightmare flight from New York to London, I was thrown into a Victorian hellhole of a prison alongside drug smugglers and rapists. This is my story.

Who wants to get married?

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

I'd hoped that the gay-marriage fight might lead to a reassessment of an institution that's plainly failing masses of people. But that doesn't seem to be on anyone's agenda.

The dreamer of Brooklyn

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

Jonathan Lethem's astonishing "The Fortress of Solitude" places him in the first rank of American novelists.

"Out of the Flames" by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

The scholar who enraged Calvin and inspired the Unitarians was gruesomely executed for writing a book.

"You Shall Know Our Velocity" by Dave Eggers

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

Stop squawking about the money, the youth and the fame -- there's a real writer among us, and Dave Eggers' new novel proves it.

Quack record

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

Bestselling health and fitness guru Gary Null weighs in on AIDS. Almost all of what he says is useless, dangerous and just plain wrong.

"More, Now, Again" by Elizabeth Wurtzel

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

The author of "Prozac Nation" describes being neurotic, smart, sexy, rich, self-obsessed and addicted to Ritalin in her latest dysfunctional memoir.

Peter Kurth

By Amy Standen — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

The author of the new biography of Isadora Duncan discusses the legendary dancer whose short life was a whirlwind of art, stormy love affairs and tragedy.

"Isadora: A Sensational Life"

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

An excerpt from the new biography of dancer Isadora Duncan.

Dancing in the dark

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

I was racing against death when I signed up to write Isadora Duncan's biography -- and winning wouldn't even be my strangest adventure along the way.

"In the City of Shy Hunters" by Tom Spanbauer

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

The early days of the AIDS epidemic, seen through the eyes of a beautiful, enigmatic hero who's not gay, not straight, not bisexual.

"The Last Days of Haute Cuisine" by Patric Kuh

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

A witty, gossipy history of high cuisine shows how America's best restaurants turned into boomer feeding factories.

Duchess dearest

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

A dodgy new book claims that Wallis Simpson was genetically a man and romanced a much younger gay playboy.

"Afterburn" by Colin Harrison

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

It's mean. It's tough. It's ugly. It's male. But is it art?

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

Andrew Sullivan defends his politics
Plus: You don't have a right to privacy on your boss's time; did HIV+ mom make the right choice?

"The Trouble With Normal" by Michael Warner

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

A sex activist defends the right of gay men -- and everybody else -- to screw around.

"The Season" by Ronald Kessler

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

An exposé by an author who spends his time playing lapdog to the rich promises juicy tidbits and delivers kibble.

"Pre-Code Hollywood" by Thomas Doherty and "Sin in Soft Focus" by Mark A. Vieira

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

A fascinating and important study details the "moral anarchy" of the early, pre-censorship talkies; a volume of classic photographs covers the same era.

"Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash"

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

A close look at garbage comes up with gold.

Disco Bloodbath

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

Violent death doesn't get more FABULOUS than the murder of drug dealer Angel Melendez by party promoter Michael Alig.

"Tipping the Velvet"

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

An exuberant, lusty novel about a lesbian adventuress follows its heroine through the underworld of Victorian London.

"Merde"

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

An investigation of shit yields gold.

The Diary Of Vaslav Nijinsky

By Peter Kurth — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

Peter Kurth reviews 'The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky,' edited by Joan Acocella

Turkey Shoot 1998

By Salon contributors — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:09:00 PDT

The worst books of 1998