GUIDElines Entertainment

Two New For Spring

By Dorri olDs
indy Greenstein, PhD (mindygreenstein.com) grew up in Brooklyn with Yiddishspeaking, Orthodox, holocaust survivor parents. Greenstein is a survivor too, but of another kindchemo and cancer. This 48-year-old Jewish mother who lives with her husband and two young boys on the UWS is the author of a newly released book of personal essays, The House on Crash Corner And Other Unavoidable Calamities (Greenpoint Press). The authors motto is, You cant spell joy without the oy. A psychologist slash psycho-oncologist, Greenstein will make readers laugh while theyre crying. Mindy Greensteins voice is frank, funny, sharp and delightful, said Susan Shapiro, author of Lighting Up and Speed Shrinking. Greenstein said, When I first began writing, it was about personal existential reactions to my patients. She labeled psychology writing really boring and began writing short memoir pieces. I realized there are two parts of methe writer and the psychologist. Greenstein specializes in treating cancer patients and is affiliated with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Irony struck. After years of counseling others, she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her transformation from psychologist treating cancer patients to being a patient herself is brave, nakedly honest and poignant, said Shapiro. Its as though the shrink in her forces the writer to keep digging deeper, offering wisdom and solace to the reader. On her new blog (psychologytoday.com/blog/ the-flip-side) Greenstein wrote, Thinking of the famous Seinfeld episode that had introduced the concept of sponge-worthy dates, I started a list of television shows that were so good I could have enjoyed them even during chemo. Self magazine published Greensteins essay called, When the Doctor Becomes the Patient. When asked if humor is a psychological defense mechanism, she laughed and said, Yes, and a very good one. Greenstein will be reading from The House on Crash Corner at KGB Bar, Saturday, May 14th at 6:45 pm, 85 East 4th Street.

The house on Crash Corner

hat do the mothers of two brides wear to a lesbian wedding? Is it ever okay for straight people to use the word faggot, dyke or queer? And did you know that Hallmark has cards to celebrate same-sex weddings and congratulate someone for coming out? Guess what else is coming outan encyclopedic reference book titled, Steven Petrows Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners (Workman Publishing). This is the first comprehensive etiquette guide for the more than 15 million lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the United States and Canada, and for the people who love them, work with them, and want to gain politically-correct awareness and the appropriate responses for every possible social scenario. Petrow is the same-sex wedding expert for The New York Times and writes for many other publications including The Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal. Steven Petrow is Mr. Manners, said The Advocate. Dont miss Petrows free email newsletter, Queeries. You can sign up for it on gaymanners.com. It covers queries about numerous topics, such as coming out, confronting homophobia and rules of courtship. On The Well-Mannered Blog get advice on how to help gay teens that are being bullied, what to do if you accidentally outed a friend on Facebook and how to handle a dinner party with a homophobe and a gay couple. His tweets range from serious topics like the recently recalled iPhone app that claimed to offer a Gay Cure (as if it were a disease like chicken pox)to humorous, the problem with gays is Weve lost our style gene. Steven Petrows Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners comes out in June but if you preorder through Amazon youre entitled to a 25 percent discount. Meet Steven Petrow during his book tour at Barnes & Noble (82nd and Broadway), June 8th at 7pm. Dorri Olds (DorriOlds.com) is a freelance writer and web designer.

Gay Manners For every oCCasion

Resident May 2011 191