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 81
... things I didn't give a bugger about . We hadn't a thing in common actually except the one thing you can't explain . He wasn't even all that good - looking now I come to think of it . His eyes were nice but his face wasn't anything out ...
... things I didn't give a bugger about . We hadn't a thing in common actually except the one thing you can't explain . He wasn't even all that good - looking now I come to think of it . His eyes were nice but his face wasn't anything out ...
Page 281
... things like that , " said Piers . " No - I mean , the house belongs to my husband's mother , so I've never had to . " " I wish we could get a nice place , somewhere in a cleaner district , " said Keith . " I have to wash the paint every ...
... things like that , " said Piers . " No - I mean , the house belongs to my husband's mother , so I've never had to . " " I wish we could get a nice place , somewhere in a cleaner district , " said Keith . " I have to wash the paint every ...
Page 573
... things tolerable for yourself in the hope that one day things will be better for your son . It means that the whole and unimaginably long his- tory of your family comes to a full , irreversible , and immediate stop with you . It means ...
... things tolerable for yourself in the hope that one day things will be better for your son . It means that the whole and unimaginably long his- tory of your family comes to a full , irreversible , and immediate stop with you . It means ...
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