Contra/Diction: New Queer Male Fiction [Perfect Paperback]

Brett Josef Grubisic (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2002

Contra/Diction is an anthology of gay men's fiction to re-establish the queer in queer.

The book is a gay men's fiction anthology that represents the plurality of gay identity; an attempt to show that not all gay men "drive to Ikea, go to the gym, and buy new ties for their management-level positions before taking in the latest stage hit," as suggested in such well-known men's anthologies as the Men on Men series. Instead, the stories found in Contra/Diction are not easily digestible; their writers ask difficult questions of themselves and the world around them in a way which makes them truly "queer." The nightmare and paradise of sexuality, love, and community are viewed from different perspectives, along with issues of race, economics, violence, politics, and homophobia.

The 32 stories, by writers living in the US and Canada, include dark fantasies about hustlers and one-night stands, and cautionary tales about murderers and dreamers. As might be expected, AIDS is a spectre that haunts many of these stories, represented in themes of anger, beauty, and bereavement. In addition, there are statements from the contributors, in which they write about their motivations and concerns as queer male writers at the cusp of the millennium.

Contra/Diction wishes to speak loudly from the margins, articulating a specific storytelling "queerness" that is politicized, sexualized, and without mercy.

Shortlisted for the American Library Assoc. Award for Gay Literature

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British Columbian editor Grubisic's anxiety over the "growing consumerist ethos"Athe idea that gay men can purchase acceptability by becoming a desirable target marketAinspired him to seek out less-chronicled swaths of gay life. The 32 stories he collected convey an edginess and sense of risk often missing in Hollywoodized, homogenized images of "palatable, asexual, market-friendly gay men." The characters in this anthology are widely varied: some are abused and obsessive, like the Spanish-speaking maric?n in Francisco Ibanez-Carrasco's "Hurt Me, Mi Amor." Others, like the shop owner in George Isley's "The Relative Bargain," are unsympathetic and exploitative, treating younger men as commodities and seeking sale prices. The best of these stories poke fun at our assumptions: in Wes Hartley's "Brucie Bashes Back," vigilantes teach a gay-basher a stern lesson, and William J. Mann's "A Letter to My Friend Maeve I'll Never Send" is an erotic note from a gay man to his lesbian friend. Although weaker stories rehash old stereotypes, others put old icons to new use: David Dakar's aging intellectual queen tells of the joys of coming out in the sexually uninhibited 1970s, and Patrick Evans's bull-dyke fights the good fight against patriarchy. Prose styles range from bad romance paperback to disjointed prose poetry to engaging, credible first-person narratives.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Editor Grubisic says he selected these stories in part to balance the media stereotype of the affluent, professional, urban gay man. Thus they reflect gay life "outside the norm." There is Patrick Evans' "Dominatrix," the wryly humorous portrait of Eric, who just can't live a politically correct erotic life, no matter how hard he tries, and winds up head over heels with supermacho Kevin, who delights in cooking steaks, doing chin-ups, and lighting his farts. R. M. Vaughan's "Bath, Towel" presents, in diary form, the realities of high-risk, anonymous bathhouse sex with multiple partners. Tom Musbach's "Astray" compellingly depicts a young novitiate priest as appalled by his hypocritical, party-line counsel to a man grappling with same-sex desires as he is by the notion of being led astray from the Lord's flock. Whitney Scott

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Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 243 pages
• Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551520567
• ISBN-13: 978-1551520568
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,700,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diverse and Enjoyable, August 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Contra/Diction: New Queer Male Fiction (Perfect Paperback)

This was a nice break from the usual gay fiction anthology, but some writers were familiar: best Stephen Beachy's "torque", David Dakar, Richard Schimpf and Jim Provenzano, whose collage style shows a haunting future. robert Patrick's "The War Over Jane Fonda" reveals family disagreements that lead to more. Some of the stories fulfill the goal of providing dissident voices (Provenzano's the strongest among that category) others are sweet in their prose stylings (Charles Derry's "Keeping Track"). the Jack-in-the-Box cover is odd, but what can you expect from those wacky Canadians!