WELCOME TO FIRE ISLAND: Visions of Cherry Grove and The Pines

A rather wispy memoir/travel guide/history of what are probably the two most famous gay communities in the country, if not the world. These are, of course, the vaguely dilapidated (but expensive) Cherry Grove and the nouveau riche (and even more expensive) Pines--communities several miles of sand apart on the thin little slip of had that stands between Long Island and England, where Wall Street brokers, hairdressers, and artistes enjoy sun, sex, booze, drugs, and each other every year from June to September. The book is filled with dewy-eyed early morning solo walks, dewy-eyed Sunday afternoon tea dances, and dewy-eyed anonymous rendezvous at Judy Garland Memorial Park, all written in prose to match--as are the author's memories of his dead lover and former collaborator, ""magic being"" Lige Clark. Beer bellies, hangovers, and awkward gropings fade before love's illusions, which is why the lucky, wealthy sybarite will always find $5;000 to blow on a summer share for a bit of nirvana--where he may dress like Marlon Brando in The Wild Ones, Bette Davis in All About Eve, or, maybe, just himself.