The author of Alec Baldwin Doesn’t Love Me and That’s Mr. Faggot to You returns with more skewed observations on the strange state of the queer union. As fans of his previous collections have happily discovered, little escapes his attention, and no topic is too controversial or sacred to be tackled. The Condensed History of Gay Pride is enough to send any politically correct gay leader shrieking into the streets. But Ford’s favorite target remains himself. The fact that Cher’s butt is more famous than he is really irks him, and he is willing to pretend to be straight in order to get help while shopping for clothes. He murdered his rival’s egg baby in high school to secure a good grade, and he sacrificed his own to a chocolate cake. Whether he is equating becoming a man with buying a barbecue in the very moving Rite of Passage or considering the state of parenthood in the unforgettable Cheaper by the Dozen, Ford continues to observe life in ways that help us more closely observe ourselves-while never, never forgetting to make us laugh.