Fool For Love: New Gay Fiction [Paperback]

R.D. Cochrane (Editor), Timothy J. Lambert (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 2009

In an age of hookups and cybersex, who has time for a little romance? For all those who think love’s gone the way of the 8-track tape comes a collection of new gay fiction designed to reignite their belief in love and romance. Follow the travails of a dog walker enchanted with his new client, a restaurant owner who catches the eye of his most loyal customer, a blind date fix-up, and other seekers of the lost flame as they stumble upon romance and a possible chance at love. Showcasing new work from some of today’s best-known gay writers, including Trebor Healey, Felice Picano, Joel Derfner, Andrew Holleran, and Greg Herren, the stories in Fool for Love are a funny, sweet, and sometimes wrenching reminder of the joy romance brings to the human heart.

Product Details

• Paperback: 265 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Press (February 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573443395
• ISBN-13: 978-1573443395
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #603,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good collection of short stories., February 27, 2009

By 

J. Erik Johnson (Verona, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fool For Love: New Gay Fiction (Paperback)

I thought this was a very good collection of short stories, all centered around gay love. Some were touching, some were cute, and some were a little strange. Of course some were better than others, and my favorites were "Thai Angel", "A View", "Like No One's Watching","The End of the Leash", and "Angels What You Must Hear on High." The foreward by Timothy J. Lambert was very touching. A good read if you like short stories and want to read about romance.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NEW GAY FICTION AT IT'S BEST!, June 4, 2009

By 

Robert Edler "Master Of Mystery" (Saint Louis, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fool For Love: New Gay Fiction (Paperback)

Fool For Love: New Gay Fiction
As a kid I was always a fan of short stories. They were like little treasures you could read in a single sitting. Sometimes a bit of sci-fi, or a mystery or something humorous. You could pick and choose, and the best writers like O. Henry and Bradbury always left you coming back for more.

Unfortunately for me in gay short story genre, fiction, love and romance have become synonymous with quickie M/M erotica as more and more one-handed anthologies have crowded out real gay fiction on the book store shelves. Now, I'm no prude and I readily admit that many a lurid pulp paperback served as my fantasy handbook when I was first coming out. But admit it, once you've got the basics down the stories become the same old same old. How many pages of hot, pulsing sex does a book really need?

So these days I approach all gay books labeled love or romance with extreme caution. So when started reading FOOL FOR LOVE, I was pleased to discover real two-handed fiction, love and romance ... sixteen stories to be exact written by both established gay writers and some equally exciting new talent. The anthology is edited by Timothy J. Lambert and R. D. (Becky) Cochrane who are half of the Timothy James Beck writing team responsible for several outstanding gay novels. And they have selected the stories for their anthology with care and high standards.

FOOL FOR LOVE is about love. Gay love. Love lost. Love found. Love searched for. And love dreamed about.

Where to find love is the theme of several of the stories. David Puterbaugh's Kama finds and delivers it in a Thai restaurant in THAI ANGEL. It hits Felice Picano's hero like a ton of concrete in GRATITUDE. Jeffrey Ricker's dog walker finds it AT THE END OF THE LEASH and Rob Byrnes on a blind date at HAPPY HOUR AT CAFE JONES.

How the hero finds love is considered in Shawn Anniston's MATCHMAKER where he's living with two lesbians and a baby, in Trebor Healey's TRUNK where he's searching for salvation in New Orleans, or in Joel Derfner's DE ANIMA where he's busy knitting while his lover is at a cure-a-homo conference.

Others show that love has no age limits moving from teens in Josh Helmin's LIKE NO ONE'S WATCHING and Rob Williams' PARTY PLANNING to seniors in Andrew Holleran's TWO KINDS OF RAPTURE.

The question of falling for your future boss is at hand in Brandon M. Long's A VIEW. In LOVE TAPS Mark G. Harris wonders if the romance is over when your lover puts coat hangers in your bed. While Greg Herren's EVERYONE SAYS I'LL FORGET IN TIME considers finding love after losing it. And 'Nathan Burgoine's exploration of what you'd do for love is sure leave you misty eyed in his moving HEART.

Finally Paul Lisicky offers his observations on love in TWO TALES, and John H. Roush contemplates love on heaven's doorstep in ANGELS, WHAT YOU MUST HEAR ON HIGH.

Sixteen first class examples of new gay fiction on a common theme of LOVE, sixteen little treasures that will have you craving more from their authors. That's what has earned this volume a place on my bookshelf between the O. Henrys and the Bradburys. *****

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it!, January 27, 2009

By 

Johnny G (Norwich CT USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Fool For Love: New Gay Fiction (Paperback)

I like that there are stories by some famous gay authors and then there are some stories by some new authors too. My favorite stories were: Angels, What You Must Hear on High by John H. Roush, Thai Angel by David Puterbaugh, A View by Brandon Long and At the End of the Leash by Jeffery Ricker. I also loved the intro by Timothy J. Lambert.

Here are some of the story titles and authors in the book:
Thai Angel" by David Puterbaugh
"Love Taps" by Mark G. Harris
"Matchmaker" by Shawn Anniston
"A View" by Brandon M. Long
"Gratitude" by Felice Picano
"Happy Hour at Café Jones" by Rob Byrnes
"Trunk" by Trebor Healey
"De Anima" by Joel Derfner
"Like No One's Watching" by Josh Helmin
"At the End of the Leash" by Jeffrey Ricker
"Two Tales" by Paul Lisicky
"Heart" by 'Nathan Burgoine
"Party Planning" by Rob Williams
"Two Kinds of Rapture" by Andrew Holleran
"Everyone Says I'll Forget in Time" by Greg Herren
"Angels, What You Must Hear on High" by John H. Roush