In this authoritative collection of short stories on male homosexuality by gay and non-gay writers, Alberto Manguel, "an editor with a brilliant strong natural taste" (London Gazette) and Craig Stephenson present a rich diversity of visions and voices, creating an anthology that makes gay fiction accessible to a mainstream audience. Line drawings.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This laborious anthology posits that, before Stonewall and the emergence of a gay-specific literature, there was already a rich heritage of fiction by gay and non-gay writers "touching on a gay theme." Unfortunately, most of these stories do little more than that. The range of writers is impressive--Francoise Sagan, I. B. Singer, Daphne du Maurier, Hemingway, D. H. Lawrence, James Baldwin, Ann Beattie among them--but the focus is all too frequently on situations rather than on the characters. In Sagan's "The Unknown Visitor," a woman returns from shopping with a friend to find evidence of her husband's gay infidelity, while in William Trevor's "Torridge," an upperclassman in an English boarding school seeking to seduce a younger boy leaves a courtship note under the wrong pillow. And in Hemingway's "A Simple Enquiry," an interested army major interrogates a young adjutant as to his sexual preferences with only indirect reference to homosexuality. In evocative preludes to each story, editors Manguel ( Other Fires ) and Stephenson ( Between Worlds ) make valiant attempts to reconfirm the unity of the collection. However, the volume unintentionally chronicles more clearly how insignificant and tangential the portrayal of gay lives has been in the world literatures of the past.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Among the dozens of gay and lesbian anthologies focusing on a social topic or literary genre, this is the third recent anthology attmpting to compass the breadth of modern "gay male literature." Unfortunately, this collection falls short of Edmund White's diverse The Faber Book of Gay Short Fiction (LJ 11/1/91), instead imitating David Leavitt's dreary The Penguin Book of Gay Short Stories (LJ 11/15/93). Rather than striking out with a unique definition of the genre, or offering the reader some lost treasures, Manguel and Spehenson have rounded up the usual list of suspects-even presenting some of the very same stories as Leavitt. Were this repetition not reason enough to close the volume on the contents page, Manguel's rambling introduction should have readers shaking their heads in disbelief. To say that "with one or two little-known exceptions, gay literature has no fantastic stories, no imaginary worlds" in the face of a tradition from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray through Theodore Sturgeon (whose work is included here!) to multiple award-winning Samuel Delany requires no little imagination. All libraries should have a copy of White's work, and those looking for diversity may purchase Leavitt's; the current volume is not needed.
Eric Bryant, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Eric Bryant, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Only connect,
By california-bookworm (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In Another Part Of The Forest: An Anthology of Gay Short Fiction (Paperback)
This collection of short stories is extraordinary. Unlike other anthologies of gay male fiction, In Another Part of the Forest features work by men and women, gay and straight. English and American fiction dominate but there are also selections by Canadian and Australian writers, and a handful of translated works (from Spanish, French, Japanese, Russian, and Yiddish). The effect is a multi-dimensional book that has true moral value. Modern gay identity can only be understood as kaleidoscopic, always shifting, never reduceable to a single ghettoized form. Yet most gay male short fiction anthologies offer up stories exclusively from the perspective of the gay male author. By illuminating the gay experience not only from within but also from the perspective of the outside observer, Manguel and Stephenson seem to be suggesting that to be gay is also to be part of the wider sphere of being human. So alongside works by the closeted E. M. Forster and the very uncloseted Edmund White, we also have superb selections by Sherwood Anderson and Alice Munro and Issac Bashevis Singer. Another highlight is a lusciously sexy (of course) piece by D. H. Lawrence. The editors also include works from the sci-fi realm, as well as one great crime thriller piece (Marco Denevi's "Michel.") Perhaps the main link between these works is that they are all examples of excellent writing. Most important, however, is the profoundly ethical dimension to this book, in which all the gay men featured do not come off as heroes or victims (some are downright cads), an editorial choice that means to embrace the entire human community, including gays, as equally flawed, and equally deserving of respect and the right to happiness. For myself, "Contact," by John Lonie, an author I was not familiar with, stands out as the most exhilarating story in the book. In it the author illustrates the poignant challenge and the urgent necessity of Forster's mantra: Only connect. Connecting with people unlike oneself seems to be the most difficult thing there is, yet it is fundamental to our survival. And, as this anthology of glorious writing reminds us, once we connect we may discover that we are not so different from each other after all.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous and Forgotten, Literary and Lasting,
By Jon J. Warren "jjnca" (LA, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: In Another Part Of The Forest: An Anthology of Gay Short Fiction (Paperback)
In the mid-1990s there was a plethora of gay and lesbian literary anthologies and this one was by far one of the best gay-themed ones in terms of literary quality, gathering fiction by gay and non-gay writers that might have otherwise been forgotten or overlooked. I note, for example, the superb Isaac Bashevis Singer story, "Two," which is not included in Singer's "Collected Stories," Graham Greene's "May We Borrow Your Husband?" which deserves a wider exposure, and Daphne DuMaurier's "Ganymede," which essentially covers the same ground as Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice," -- about an elderly gentleman and a young man in Venice -- albeit here with a different outcome. While this anthology can't and doesn't reveal the breadth and diversity and originality of modern gay fiction -- what anthology can? -- it is nonetheless chock full of other classic short stories that deserve to be read and re-read, including Sherwood Anderson's "Hands," John Cheever's "Clancy in the Tower of Babel," Tennessee Williams's "The Mysteries of the Joy Rio," Truman Capote's "A Diamond Guitar," and Allan Gurganus's "Minor Heroism. Among my favorites in this anthology are Alice Munro's "The Turkey Season," about a young girl working as a turkey gutter, and William Trevor's "Torridge," about a school boy's revenge.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Trees In The Forest Than In Some Other Anthologies,
By
This review is from: In Another Part Of The Forest: An Anthology of Gay Short Fiction (Paperback)
I don't know how Manguel did it. He offers more "variety plus quality" than some or even than many other gay male fiction anthologies. (1) Big and international author-names. Francoise Sagan, Alice Munro, Yukio Mishima, Isaac Basheivis Singer, others.....(2) Nice serving of gay-gay classic writers. E. M. Forster, James Baldwin, Tennessee Williams, James Purdy, Christopher Isherwood, Edmund White, Truman Capote. (And Denton Welch's overlooked but crisp tale "When I Was Thirteen.") (3) Heterosexual American writers. Anderson, O'Hara, Hemingway, oh and John Cheever....(4) But above all, Manguel shares some gems which even I, the inveterate buff of non-porn gay male short fiction, didn't know! "Punchlines," by W. P. Kinsella, efficiently frightens in its portraying the blood-pressure-intense damage when a macho type suppresses his gay side--for a while....."The Cold Wind And The Warm," by Ray Bradbury, is a lyric watercolor of a very-gay contingent wafting into a staid Irish hotel--but everyone survives just fine....My two favorites include "May We Borrow Your Husband?" by Graham Greene. Never was "gay seduction" more crisply portrayed, though the seductee (a young British bridegroom) survives just fine also.....Finally, "Torridge," by William Trevor, re-creates in front of us the chilling, calculated revenge of a harrassed British schoolboy triumphing years later. At a dinner, the formerly-triumphant straight (or at least married) school "chums" and their families, collapse gently and stately like falling dominoes under Torridge's triumph--a scene to behold indeed. Nowadays, yearly series of gay male short stories emerge--good ones, too. But IN ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST carved out an indispensable "woodcut" in this genre; seek it out.
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