Product Description

Andrew Holleran's first novel, Dancer from the Dance, is recognized as a classic portrait of gay life in New York in the 1970s. His subsequent works, from Nights in Aruba and The Beauty of Men to the essays in Ground Zero, established Holleran as the preeminent voice in the contemporary gay literary canon. His fiction has earned comparisons to that of Guy de Maupassant, Somerset Maugham, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and now Holleran returns with a collection of sixteen powerful short stories. Exploring the lives and times of those who have lived past the exuberance of youth, these tales make for a moving journey across landscapes of regret and loss, shame and pride, loneliness and love. With a surprising yet sensitive comic touch, Andrew Holleran has written his most mature work to date--a poignant, polished collection.

"Like John Cheever's work, these stories are suffused with a sense of magic and the possibility of grace." --San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #303781 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.com Review
"Who cares what straight people think about us?" complains one of the characters in Andrew Holleran's first collection of short stories. "I don't care if they understand what I do in bed. I don't even understand what I do in bed, I could care less what they think about it." And just as many of the gay men in these 16 stories (only three of which have been previously published) refuse--or simply feel no need--to explain themselves, so too does Holleran explore his characters' lives with no effort to justify them. His witty, urbane characters who vacation in Key West or Fire Island are not the only types of gay men, of course, just those Holleran has chosen to write about. He writes on his own terms, and his characters--even when they are struggling to navigate through desire or loss--live on their own terms, not as stereotypes but as people with complex emotional lives.

Holleran's stories are crafted with such polished prose--slyly humorous and achingly poignant in turn--that one is immediately struck by their beauty. Every story seems to have its share of brilliant dialogue or descriptive passages, like the storyteller in "The Hamburger Man" who "didn't have the very best gossip--but ... belonged to that class of people who know one or two people who do." And in the final story, which gives the book its title, Holleran shows that he's equally adept at capturing the fleeting beauty of nature, in a setting "annealed by a delicate silver light, the most beautiful light of the whole year, a light that was both warm (if one lay in the sun, as he did now) and cool (if one stood in the shade)."

From Library Journal
Holleran is a highly acclaimed novelist whose best-selling Dancer from the Dance (LJ 8/78) was a landmark in gay literature. Succeeding novelsANights in Aruba (LJ 7/83) and The Beauty of Men (LJ 6/15/96)Aand essays in Ground Zero (LJ 9/15/88) established him firmly in the gay literary canon. Here, Holleran pulls together 16 beautifully crafted short stories written over a 20-year period, each of which deals with perceptions of gay people, gay events, and gay places through the often ironic haze of half-remembered, garbled time. The continuous use of omniscient narrators provides the necessary distance for viewing layers of conflict in these characters' lives. The results are poignancy, ribald humor, pensiveness, keen discernment, and unsettling apprehension. For character studies like these, Holleran can be compared to de Maupassant. For larger issues, we might look to another Southern writer, Shirley Ann Grau. Holleran's evocative title captures the heart of his matter, much as Grau's phrase "a sea change" does in her short fiction. What ultimately shines after the tempering and burnishing of our lives is a seasoned, indomitable spirit. Recommended for public and academic libraries, and for special collections of gay literature.ARoger W. Durbin, Univ. of Akron Lib.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Holleran remains one of the better gay fiction writers around. Pathos and nostalgia abound in this collection of mostly unpublished short stories, which take place over a period spanning the 1970s to today. Reminiscent of the title of the collection, many of the main characters seem to be in the September of their lives. Middle-aged gay men deal with getting older, with loneliness and feelings of abandonment (often provoked by the AIDS crisis), and they often yearn for youth and younger men. Many of these stories are about travel to foreign places; Holleran shows that the locus need not change for a place to be foreign. Many themes of gay culture are given an honest and brutally critical look. The writing is lovely, spotted throughout with clever phrases. However, the pieces themselves are hit-or-miss, ranging in quality from the banal to the brilliantly constructed. Holleran is a talented, well-known writer, and this new collection will be in high demand from his fans, legion in number. Michael Spinella

Customer Reviews

A leisurely literary cruise
I often return to books for repeated readings when my first impressions are lasting. Short story collections by such authors as Andrew Holleran renew the vigor of initial impact, the joys of lingering. IN SEPTEMBER THE LIGHT CHANGES is a treasure of smaller stories that prove once again that Holleran is one of our best writers today. Without depending on one locale, familiar and constant faces, recurring themes to keep us aligned, Holleran strings together tales like the best of Song Cycles by Schubert and Schumann (and Ned Rorem, more poignantly!) and allows us to absorb his luxuriant prose through very complete novellas about love, age, lust, and friends. His hour is magical...and never more evident than in his final In Septmeber the Light Changes. Smart, elegant, and yet very much from the heart.

Times We'll Never Forget!!
I have been a great admirer of Andrew Holleran for many years, and have always enjoyed his stories he wrote for Christopher Street magazine. Every month I waited with anticipation for the next issue for his latest writing. He always writes from the heart and these 16 stories prove it. Andrew's writing is so polished and easy to read, you feel you are listening to him tell these stories in person. Some of these stories are pleasant to read, and others are very sad because they deal with loss(AIDS), loneliness, getting older, and still having desires, especially to be young again, and the yearning for youth.

I found myself finishing one story and then continuing right on into the next chapter without stopping, they are so interesting. Maybe its because these stories relate to my generation and the times I lived through in the 70's and early 80's. I feel this book will interest anybody, there is so much beauty and history in his writing. Andrew Holleran, I believe, has not been given enough recognition or credit for his brilliant writing. I truly enjoyed this book.

Disappointing Compared to other opus
Having been an ardent fan of Holleran's work for over a decade, I pre-ordered this collection of short stories prior to publication. The title of the collection alone- "The Light Changes in September"- seemed to promise lyrical, intelligent, introspective prose, such as I had relished in The Beauty of Men and Ground Zero, and some stories from Men on Men. Very disappointed with the reality! Most of the stories were trivial, dull, and homocentric. Several of the stories deal with isolation and obsession with anonymous sex. A sad comment on the nature of homosexual expression at the end of a century of awareness and growth!