Welcome to a very gay edition of PW Picks. Pride month is in full swing, and in this week's newsletter, we're waving our rainbow flag. First up is a list of new titles about the rewarding, sometimes-trying work of uniting groups under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. We also hear from two different authors about queer pop stars—including the late, great George Michael, plus gay-adjacent legends like Bette Midler and Diana Ross—and take a look at the sapphic stage adaptation of Girl, Interrupted currently running at the Public Theater.
On the recommendation front, we've got an enticing short story collection from Joyce Carol Oates, a guide to finding happiness amid social collapse, and a work of graphic nonfiction about animal sex. A little something for everyone. Happy reading!
—Conner Reed
Starred Reviews Releasing Next WeekCheck out all the books to receive starred PW reviews that are hitting shelves next week. more
Building Queer CommunityNew books share stories of LGBTQ+ solidarity, its challenges, and its essential rewards. more
The Singularity Is Just WeirdForthcoming science fiction books explore high-tech breakthroughs and their impact on humanity. more
I’m Coming Out: PW Talks with Barry WaltersThe journalist's Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969–2000 traces how queer recording artists have shaped modern music and culture. more
Pop Permanence: PW Talks with Sathnam SangheraIn Tonight the Music Seems So Loud: The Meaning of George Michael, the journalist explores the life and legacy of the British pop star 10 years after his death. more
Playwright Martyna Majok on Bringing Girl, Interrupted to the TheaterThe Pulitzer winner has been adapting Susanna Kaysen’s memoir alongside singer-songwriter Aimee Mann since 2017. It’s finally hitting the stage. more
The FrenzyBy Joyce Carol Oates (Hogarth)
Already one of our most accomplished and, yes, prolific living writers, Oates is on a thrilling winning streak with her third stellar work of literary fiction in two years. Call it the JCOaissance. Or maybe don’t. But definitely pick up this collection, which leads off with a title story pulsing with tension. The plot is punctuated by a joke—it’s about an illicit May-December romance that takes place on Cape May, N.J., in December—and it’s at once alluring and complex, as the two main characters engage in an increasingly dangerous power struggle with surprising results. —David Varno, literary fiction reviews editor
I Eat the Stars: How to Live Fully and Beautifully in a Collapsing WorldBy Sarah Wilson (Penguin Life)
Sarah Wilson’s frank reckoning with what she characterizes as society’s imminent collapse is as brutally honest as it sounds, but there are also so many lovely, resonant moments here, too, about what it means to embrace the humanity in a world that can feel like it’s unraveling. —Miriam Grossman, religion and self-help reviews editor
Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal SexBy Perrin Roosevelt Ireland (Norton)
I have recently discovered that cartoonist and scientist Ireland is a relative of the presidential Roosevelts. Who else is leveraging that lofty lineage to draw funny stories about animal sex and correct the record on biased accounts of queer bird relations in the wild? And how can I not put this on top of my to-read stack? —Meg Lemke, comics and graphic novels reviews editor
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Theo of Golden
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The Deal
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Oh, the Places You'll Go!
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Sing the 50 United States!
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The Mistake
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America, I'm So Glad You Were Born: Celebrating the Country We Love
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