Customer Reviews

The Gay Canon: Great Books Every Gay Man Should Read

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have to give Drake credit here for a couple of good ideas: the formation of an actual canon of gay/gay-themed works and the suggested ways of building a reading group around those works. However, his approach borders on the erratic (some texts get huge write-ups, others barely get a page with little or no mention as to why they should be included in this survey) and his writing style aims for cleverness but usually only makes it to melodramatic, twee, or even flat-out vulgar. In my quest to find recommendations of "gay lit," I have been better served by collections such as _Pages Passed from Hand to Hand_ and especially _The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature_, both of which provide not only spot-on analysis but also sizeable and helpful excerpts of the works themselves. (And not to quibble--after all, it's Drake's list, not mine--but was _Dancer from the Dance_ really as awful as he would like us to believe, and where is Leavitt's _The Lost Language of Cranes_?)

OK. No book attempting to establish any kind of a canon, let alone a gay canon is going to satisfy anyone. I picked this book up a couple of years ago, and used it as the basis for an online book group that read through Drake's recommended book group selections. Since then, the book group has dissolved, but I've kept the book on hand as a handy guide when I'm looking for something to read and don't have any immediate ideas. Drake's list is by no means exhaustive or all-inclusive, but it's a good place for the curious, or anyone who just wants to broaden their literary horizons, to start.

Literary study demands a Gay Anthology, and a companion to such a compilation, but this particular attempt is sparse and leaves much to be desired. Drake offers brief commentary on a variety of works, some that overtly belong in the "gay canon," some that don't, but in too many places, the commentary is too brief. For example, the entry on Arthur Rimbaud is merely 3 paragraphs long. There is no mention of Sappho in the book. Overall, this book is a great idea, but it has been a poorly executed one in this case.

This handsome edition provides a useful guide to 'gay' literature. Some of the choices and opinions are controversial, but that adds to the fun. The idea of gay reading groups is a good one.

I found this book by accident, and it immediately appealed to me (being an former English Major). Drakes list alone could keep a discussion group going for quite a while, but the titles he includes in his canon make a great source for a reading group or for an individual reading plans. I'm using it as a basis for starting a gay reading group online, as well as for my own individual reading. Drake's book is a service to gay men and lovers of literature alike.