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The Book of Rude and Other Outrages A Queer Self-Portrait |
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ABOUT THE BOOK
The life of Stephan Sure, born John Gregory Suhor, began serenely and ended violently in New Orleans. He was both participant and voyeur in the city's middle class, upper class, and gay cultures, yet never found a true home in any of them, nor during his years in Florida, the Midwest, or his sporadic hitchhikes to nowhere. Throughout, Sure kept with him three notebooks comprising The Book of Rude: short lines ranging from insults and puns to social commentaries and cries for help. Born from these rude witticisms is this collection of poetry and short stories that in total represent the far-ranging experiences of this insightful and complicated man. His father, Charles Suhor, gathered his writings after Sure's death for this unique volume.
PRAISE
“French Quarter life erupts from the page: like
the beer cans piled in the gutters after Mardi Gras, this is not pretty,
but it’s real.” — from the foreword by Lee Meitzen Grue, New
Orleans poet and editor, New Laurel Review
“An honest portrayal of a brilliant young writer
who longs for love, but finds the world a strange and alien place for a gay
man.” — Rev. Marilyn Sewell, First Unitarian Church, Portland, Oregon
“Readable, intelligent . . . a smart, original,
sardonic voice, often angry, always compelling.” — Joel L. Fletcher,
author, Ken and Thelma: The Story of A Confederacy of Dunces
“Stephan’s writing is powerful stuff. His
descriptions, his portraits, his impressions recorded here are continuously
rich and textured . . . a memorable experience in memorable
language.” — Michael Spooner, author, Lost Child and Daniel’s
Walk
“Painfully personal, humorous, tragic . . . a
theme of youthful hope dashed by the realities of an unforgiving and cruel
society.” — Lynn Shaw, Past President, PFLAG Montgomery
“Like Ginsberg’s Howl, Stephen Sure’s
writings vent the passion, lust, violence, wit, and cynicism of a life
lived intensely on the far side.” — Tom Sancton, author, Song for My
Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White
“What a work of love this is! Charles Suhor has
struggled to give form to his love for Stephan in this remarkable book . .
. completely absorbing.” — John C. Maxwell, former Executive
Director, National Council of Teachers of English
“Sure had a terrific ear for dialogue, as well as a command of narrative
mechanics and dramatic technique. Equally impressive is the variety of
style and subject matter, which ranges from portraits of drunks and
eccentrics to tales of sexual violence, to evocations of childhood, to
imaginative fables. É And, refreshingly, Sure appears to have acquired many
of his narrative sensibilities from the postwar fiction of many decades
pastŃthink Shirley Jackson and John Kennedy Toole. His work is free of the
forced hipness which defines many of his contemporaries.” — American Book Review
ABOUT THE EDITOR
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