The Penguin Book of Gay Short StoriesDavid Leavitt, Mark Lindsey Mitchell This is an anthology of stories that, in the words of its co-editor David Leavitt, "illuminate the experience of love between men, explore the nature of homosexual identity, or investigate the kinds of relationships gay men have with each other, with their friends, and with their families". It is not a collection of stories written exclusively by gay authors; indeed, readers may be surprised to discover that some of their favorite women writers and straight male writers have also explored the territory. What the stories do share is a refusal to ghettoize gay men as denizens of the gay nocturnal subculture. The men in these stories live very much in the world; their sexuality, though an important aspect of their lives, doesn't singularly define them. The thirty-nine stories brought together here suggest the ways in which gay experience has - and hasn't - changed over the course of this century, starting with the tender, unarticulated longings of two boys swimming in D. H. Lawrence's "A Poem of Friendship" and ending with the explicit sexual interaction of two boys in a bathtub in A. M. Homes's "The Whiz Kids". In between there is every imaginable kind of gay story, as offered by well-known authors and by those less familiar to the devotees of the genre. There is wry humor in Barbara Pym's clever manipulation of romantic convention; painful accounts of discovery in Larry Kramer's "Mrs. Tefillin"; the consolation of age in Edmund White's "Reprise"; and in Randall Kenan's "Run, Mourner, Run", the breaking of both racial and sexual taboos. The anthology also encompasses a richly diverse subcategory of stories inspired by AIDS, from such writers as Allen Barnett, Michael Cunningham, StephenGreco, Dennis McFarland, and Peter Wells: stories that explore not only the tragedy of the epidemic but also the triumphs, even the erotic possibilities, that have been generated in its wake. These stories illuminate the common ground of gay male experience - as well as its astonishing diversity. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 5
Page 558
... Nathan . At first I thought he must have been calling me from some European capital , but he said no , he was back in New York . " Celia , ” he said , " I have to see you . Some- thing awful has happened . " Hearing those words , I ...
... Nathan . At first I thought he must have been calling me from some European capital , but he said no , he was back in New York . " Celia , ” he said , " I have to see you . Some- thing awful has happened . " Hearing those words , I ...
Page 559
... Nathan , or rather , before Nathan understood about himself . So I persisted , and Nathan , in spite of his embarrassment at my occasional outbursts , continued to depend on me . I think he hoped that my feeling for him would one day ...
... Nathan , or rather , before Nathan understood about himself . So I persisted , and Nathan , in spite of his embarrassment at my occasional outbursts , continued to depend on me . I think he hoped that my feeling for him would one day ...
Page 563
... Nathan was back , and I didn't dare think about myself . I went to the grocery store , I bought every cleaner I coud find . And when I got back to the apartment he was still standing where he'd been standing , in the corner . " Nate ...
... Nathan was back , and I didn't dare think about myself . I went to the grocery store , I bought every cleaner I coud find . And when I got back to the apartment he was still standing where he'd been standing , in the corner . " Nate ...
Contents
CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD | 24 |
NOËL COWARD | 72 |
J R ACKERLEY | 109 |
Copyright | |
28 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
A. M. Homes Angela Antibes arms Arrowsmith asked Barbara Pym Barbie beautiful Bradley called course Daniel dark David Leavitt Dean door dressed drink E. M. Forster Enzo Eric everything eyes face Farragut father feel felt fucking George Willard Gertrude girl glass golliwog hair hand head heard homosexual Horst Jason Jimmy Jody kids kissed knew laughed lived looked Louise Lymie Mace-Hamilton Mack Milo mind morning mother mouth Nathan never nice night Noah Noël Coward Öçi opma Perry Peter Prairie Oyster pulled remember Rivka saké Sally seemed Sergio sitting smile someone stay stood stopped story sure talk tefillin tell there's thing thought told Tony took Torridge turned voice waiting walked watched Wiltshire window Winesburg woman wondered young