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. |
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Page 255
... hair . Instead , it had dra- matically changed colour : what Old Frosty had once called " Arrows " blond thatch " was grey now . Beneath it his face was pinker than it had been , and he had taken to wearing spectacles , heavy and black ...
... hair . Instead , it had dra- matically changed colour : what Old Frosty had once called " Arrows " blond thatch " was grey now . Beneath it his face was pinker than it had been , and he had taken to wearing spectacles , heavy and black ...
Page 554
... hair , slicking each wet strand with gel and rolling it , inventing gossip that seemed to draw us together , a beautician and his customer . " You have such pretty hair , " I'd say . " At my age , don't you think I should cut it ? " She ...
... hair , slicking each wet strand with gel and rolling it , inventing gossip that seemed to draw us together , a beautician and his customer . " You have such pretty hair , " I'd say . " At my age , don't you think I should cut it ? " She ...
Page 623
... hair fluffed out like an owl and her arms folded in front of her chest ( her face was pasty and puckered , tired , the red lipstick on her mouth a little uncertain ) , as if challenging anyone to challenge her . Nicholas was standing ...
... hair fluffed out like an owl and her arms folded in front of her chest ( her face was pasty and puckered , tired , the red lipstick on her mouth a little uncertain ) , as if challenging anyone to challenge her . Nicholas was standing ...
Contents
CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD | 24 |
NOËL COWARD | 72 |
J R ACKERLEY | 109 |
Copyright | |
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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