Product Description

"Novel excerpts bump up against short stories; science fiction jostles beside literary fiction, punk sensibility elbows its way next to high camp and classically constructed stories. The end of the 20th century has been about the breaking down of fixed categories--of art forms, of culture, of gender, of sexual orientation--the blurring of borders to allow an infinite variety of options for identity and expression. We sought to feature works by those writers whom we believe will be influential in the coming millennium. There are authors included here who have been prominent in the closing decades of this current millennium: M. Shayne Bell, Bernard Cooper, Scott Heim, David Leavitt, Michael Lowenthall, William J. Mann, Christian McLaughlin, Frank Ronan, and Colm [Tibn.] There are authors whose influence is just beginning to be felt: Mitch Cullin, Jameson Currier, David Ebershoff, Thomas Glave, Russel Leong, Jaime Manrique, David Newman and David Vernon. And we've included a few writers who are at the beginning of their publishing careers: Eitan Alexander, Andy Quan, and Keith Ridgway--whose voices promise that we will be hearing a lot more from them in the decades to come. It is an idiosyncratic roster of writers. What this anthology aims to do is introduce you to--or remind you about--a selection of writers whose intelligence, style, and heart may ease our passage into the next millennium." --From the foreword by Terry Wolverton. This is the companion volume to Circa 2000: Lesbian Fiction at the Millennium.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3647593 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Though the millennium frenzy may be pass?, this collection of outstanding gay fiction is anything but. The editors have amassed a bevy of literary talent (some well known, some new), and the 21 stories showcase a panoply of styles, narrative depth and personal histories. Early in the volume, M. Shayne Bell shares an unsettling vision with the futuristic, Hugo-finalist tale "Mrs. Lincoln's China," which is set in a dystopic, violent society and features a woman who has looted the White House and stolen priceless historic presidential dinnerware on which she serves her son dinner. Stories focusing on HIV and AIDS, like Bernard Cooper's surrealistic suburban nightmare "Hunters and Gatherers," show strong-willed characters who may be "whittled by the blade of AIDS," but whose narratives never become mired in the merely hopeless. The two lovers in Jamison Currier's moving "Pasta Night" reinvigorate their traumatic relationship by caring for HIV-positive babies in a hospice. Popular author Scott Heim's entry "Deep Green, Pale Purple" is a poignant tale of two loving young brothers and their abusive, menacing father at work in the family apple orchard. Brimming with novelistic potential, Heim's prose is evocative: he shows the boys camping under skies as "flimsy and thrilling as a promise." Trevor Renado displays a prickly sense of humor in the wickedly farcical "Get a Lifestyle," which hilariously nails the West Hollywood gay scene to the wall. David Vernon's spooky "Couple Kills" will satisfy the suspense/horror factions; one man's secretive nocturnal activities pique the curiosity and dread of his boyfriend, who is obsessed with the mythical Chupacabra, a Mexican bloodsucking creature. With every entry having merit, this outstanding volume serves as an important bellwether for those with any doubts about the state of gay writing at the dawn of the 21st century. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
From the editors of His2: Brilliant New Fiction by Gay Writers, this companion volume to Circa 2000: Lesbian Fiction at the Millennium lives up to its promise. It paints the array of gay experience as it canvasses both new and familiar voices in gay literature that will be heard during the first years of the next millennium. Gay bashing, internalized and politicized homophobia, ethnic gay lifeDthese and other themes are juxtaposed in what may well be an inadvertent attempt to show, once and for all, that gay people are indeed everywhere. Stylistically, the book has considerable range. It goes from Eitan Alexander's "Beneath the Planet of the Compulsives" (which has the wild-eyed point of view of Eudora Welty's "Why I Live at the PO") to David Leavitt's clever demolition of fictive form in diarylike fiction (or is it a fictionalized diary?) in "The Term Paper Artist." The stories do not hedge, nor do they sentimentalize. They have an edge to them, a sharpness that is unapologetic and authoritative. Though the 21 tales are mostly urban and ghetto in setting, a couple reach deep into rural America. Well recommended for inclusion in general and gay literature collections.DRoger Durbin, Univ. of Akron, OH
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Terry Wolverton is the author of the novel Bailey's Beads and two collections of poetry, Black Slip and Mystery Bruise. She is the founder of Writers At Work, where she teaches workshops in creative writing. Robert Drake has worked as a literary agent since 1986. His pop-culture novel The Man rapidly developed a cult following after its release in 1995. The two editors have also worked together on the acclaimed His and Hers anthologies, and have garnered seven Lambda Literary Award nominations between them.

Customer Reviews

Where Gay Literature is Headed
The first anthology of gay short fiction that I read was probably Men on Men 1. Since then, Men on Men is up to number 8, Canada's Arsenal Pulp Press has produced numerous anthologies such as Queeries, Contra/Diction and Queer View Mirror, Best American Gay Fiction has appeared, and collections worldwide have been published showcasing short fiction from particular countries, ethnic or cultural identities, and more. What is it with gay men and short fiction? Is it our short attention spans? I know that's my problem. But I'm being facetious. My favourite short stories manage to be compact and powerful, sharp and precise, tell a whole novel in much less pages, and leave me wanting more.

A number of the stories in the Robert Drake and Terry Wolverton's "Circa 2000: gay fiction at the millennium" do that. Co-editors Drake and Wolverton have chosen an eclectic mix of short fiction with the purpose "to feature works by those writers we believe will be influential in the new millennium." My favourites happened to be by the more established writers in the collection. Frank Ronan's stunning "The Last Innocence of Simeon" has a fluid, confident voice that engages with the emotional intimacy with which we get to know the characters. David Leavitt's "The Term Paper Artist" plays with auto-biography and revelation in a perfectly crafted tale. Scott Heim's "Deep Green, Pale Purple" creates a beautiful lush, textured and vulnerable landscape. Other gems include "The Rose City" by David Ebershoff, the powerful and daring "Whose Song?" by Thomas Glave, the fine comic writing in Christian McLaughlin's "Get a Lifestyle" and Colm Toíbin's "The Heather Blazing."

As a reflection of gay culture or gay writing, a number of themes run through the twenty-one stories: the closet and unexplored sexuality of older gay men (Cooper, Cullin), memories of childhood and early adolescence (Heim, Lowenthal, Mann), a backdrop of HIV and AIDS (Currier, Mann, Newman). Another interesting thread were narrators who weren't gay men, or who weren't describing gay culture persay, but were reflecting an outsider's sensibility: stories by Bell, Newman, and Tóibin. An odd set of bookends, the first and last stories in the collection by Eitan Alexander and David Vernon start in familiar gay urban territory and then veer off wildly into another place. Read them to find out what happens.

All in all, Circa 2000 is a solid collection of quality prose. I found that the strongest work tended to show up the weaker stories, but it's all a matter of taste, and there is something tasty for everyone here. With new and more established writers represented, and some quirky and original choices, it's an interesting prediction of where gay literature is headed.

"Genre-Blending," But Some Good Tale-Telling
This book made me ponder three issues about what is good fiction, what's a good (vs. bad) anthology of writing. I know, sounds dry-but it may help you decide whether you want to read this book. I'm "half-glad" I did, and here's why.

GENRE-BLENDING. (No, not "gender-blending"!) The editor feels that "personal essay" and "short story, fiction" are becoming fused, interblended, and so, indistinguishable. But this is simply incorrect-and saying so, harms both genres. An essay is (and remains) a personal-voiced informally-structured exploration-and-sharing. A story (traditionally) glimpses a dynamic created world, with plot (including events: action, suspense), complications-and-resolutions). And with characters (with conflicts-and-resolutions). And with setting (to be experienced). And all not told-to-us, but shown to us to see for ourselves. Oh, admittedly the "New Journalism" added fiction to news stories (as has the more recent "creative non-fiction"), for enrichment. Still, I miss the traditional dynamic story in many of this anthology's selections. However, YOU may enjoy the lyrical essay-plus-story-plus poem feel of many of them. So.

Traditionally-taught, tight stories I enjoyed were the semi-understated "The Cosmology of Bing," an appropriately-dismal tale of an alcoholic astronomer's denial of his sexuality. "Hunters and Gatherers" makes the ironic maximum out of a straight (but ?) husband-and-father inviting some gay and lesbian friends over for dinner. And especially "The Rose City" nails and impales Roland Dott, as sad a case of "attachment-disorder narcissism" you'd hope to find, cheating on lover after lover, forever looking for his "Hubby-Hub." (One of my three favorite gay short stories of all time, the others being Stanley Kaufmann's "Fulvous Yellow," and Patrick Hochtel's "Baseball in July.")

SUBJECT-MATTER. Should a story in a "gay" anthology include gay characters, plot, setting? I would think so. So, why the stories about stealing Mrs. Abraham Lincoln's teacups? About a Chinese mental-health patient at the center? About an Irish judge deciding against a pregnant schoolgirl's right to remain in the school? Any "gay" content here flew subliminally below my radar screen anyhow. And one about a young single mother's slowly going blind-but with only a token gay character?

EXCERPTS. Should an anthology contain only self-complete stories, or can it include excerpts from novels? Usually I feel "no excerpts please." But the two excerpts here, "Bing" plus the one about the two Jewish brothers, do seem to ride complete.

SO-if you like good short-story fiction, plus lyrical poetic-prose pieces, even meandering essay-voices, occasionally more magical-fantastic than realistic-enjoy this collection now!