Alvin Orloff knows good books. And he's written one, too, with his fourth novel about a group of queer San Francisco residents who feel the pinch of the dot-com boom in the late 1990s.

October is LGBTQ History Month and coincidentally there's an abundance of music from our community to get listeners through the rest of the year and well into the next, with K Flay, Soft Punch, Sigur Rós, Mouths of Babes and Ragana.

Justin Torres deploys fluid, engaging writing throughout his new novel, "Blackouts," that's far from frivolous but not shy of hilarity when warranted. In a way all its own, it's a consistent pleasure to read.

'Dicks: the Musical' is filled with all kinds of raunchy humor, including twin brothers who fall in love, and a flying vagina. You have to see it in order to believe it.

Our autumn harvest of arts and nightlife events is ripening, rousing and ribald, so check 'em out this week and every week.

The new groundbreaking poetry collection "The Delicacy of Embracing Spirals," Mimi Tempestt's second book, is being released October 3 by City Lights Books. Since 2017, she has been an integral part of the Bay Area poetry scene.

For its 46th annual season, the Mill Valley Film Festival (October 5-15), presented by the California Film Institute, continues its tradition of programming the most anticipated high profile and prestigious awards season movies.

While his new 30-minute film "Strange Way of Life" is not his version of "Brokeback Mountain," it's clearly an inspiration in Pedro Almodóvar's desire to create a queer revisionist Western.

The air is redolent with the scent of all things pumpkin. Spicy October is all about Halloween, our national queer holiday. FX, AMC, Shudder and others have a slew of horror series and classic films lined up.

It's been a while since we've heard from these four bands (wherefore were thou, Blur?), but new and collected albums, streams and a concert DVD will help you catch up to these bands.

Candid and often dishy storytelling permeates Charles Busch's "Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy." Theater fans, celebrity followers, performance buffs, LGBTQ readers, and everyone else in between will relish it.

You can find plenty of arts and nightlife entertainment options whether you're in San Francisco, Oakland or anywhere in the Bay Area, this week and every week.

Ahoy, mateys! Lesbian comic Marga Gomez brings her 14th one-person show, "Swimming With Lesbians," to Brava Cabaret October 6-22. Yearning for her first lesbian affair, the main character Isabelle boards a notorious cruise ship "the Celesbian."

Award-winning lesbian writer and educator Julie Marie Wade lights up every room she enters. Her joyful spirit qualifies her as the Mary Tyler Moore of literature.