Product Description

White has created a richly diverse anthology that explores the literary expression of male homosexuality in the American and English tradition. Contributors include Henry James, Alfred Chester, Armistead Maupin, Neil Bartlett, Allan Gurganus, and others. A Lambda Literary Award finalist.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1478839 in Books
• Published on: 1992-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 586 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A distinguished anthology of work by 32 American and British writers fulfills what White ( A Boy's Own Story ) calls the "twin urges" of gay fiction--"the obligation to explain and the ambition to excite." BOMC and QPB selections.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Collections of gay male fiction are published all the time, but it has been well over a decade since an anthology has attempted to be as truly representative as this volume, edited by well-known novelist White. Starting with Henry James and including E.M. Forster, Christopher Isherwood, William Burroughs, Tennessee Williams, and James Baldwin, among others, this anthology of short stories and novel extracts is noteworthy for its dazzling variety both in style and content. Among contemporary works there are AIDS-related stories (Andrew Holleran, Armistead Maupin, White himself), a precisely drawn narrative of the complexity of affectional ties by David Leavitt, and an excerpt from Alan Hollinghurst's frankly sexual The Swimming-Pool Library . If there is a thread throughout most of these stories, it is of displacement; as White notes in the introduction, "the gay man enjoys . . . a permanent sense of alienation from the tribe." This is for all fiction collections.
- Brian Kenney, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Excellent collection
A versatile and engaging anthology of stories about gay relationships. Some author names included here will surprise you (Henry James? but his "Pupil" is one of the most amusing and engaging stories), others will delight you (W. Burroughs' "Wild Boys."). Edmund White, a prominent gay writer, thankfully included his own short story, "Skinner Alive," into this collection, and I fell in love with his lyrical style. He displays great taste in editing this collection, and provides an insightful foreword. Every story here brings an interesting nuance to the genre, and each one holds surprises for the reader. This isn't just a book for the collection of short gay and lesbian fiction... this is a book of great short fiction - no more definition needed.

ON BEING NORMAL
This review is primarily an endorsement of Anna Otto's December 5, 2000 review of this book. I don't think her review could be improved upon except perhaps for one quote from Christopher Isherwood's 'Mr. Lancaster' which holds forth the promise of universality: "What I am has refashioned itself throughout the days and years, and until now almost all that remains constant is the mere awareness of being conscious. And that consciousness belongs to everybody; it isn't a particular person." Mr. Lancaster's statement is surely a promise to gay people of all ages, and to the friends and parents of gays.

ON BEING NORMAL
...I don't think her review could be improved upon except perhaps for one quote from Christopher Isherwood's 'Mr. Lancaster' which holds forth the promise of universality: "What I am has refashioned itself throughout the days and years, and until now almost all that remains constant is the mere awareness of being conscious. And that consciousness belongs to everybody; it isn't a particular person." Mr. Lancaster's statement is surely a promise to gay people of all ages, and to the friends and parents of gays.