Men on Men 7: Best New Gay Fiction (v. 7) [Paperback]

Various (Author), David Bergman (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Men on Men | Publication Date: November 1, 1998

This extraordinary collection of gay fiction builds on the six previous volumes in the series, which is firmly established throughout the literary world as the cornerstone of America's gay literary tradition. The stories in this seventh edition are diverse, culled from the talents of established authors such as Andrew Holleran, Felice Picano, and Allen Ellenzweig, as well as from the work of new young writers.

There are new themes in this seventh edition: more stories deal with the working class milieu and address class issues and insecurities; relationships between gay men and lesbian women are portrayed, as is the impact of the media on gay life; and more of these stories are unabashedly sexually explicit than in previous collections. Bergman's collection once again reflects the continuing vitality of gay literature and attests to its ability to confront the challenges of our times.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rarely has a subtitle been so apt, or a series so consistently strong. Against the recent deluge of sloppy, would-be postmodern subcultural stories, Men on Men has regularly yielded a trove of well-wrought gay-themed short fiction. Gay critic, poet and anthologist Bergman includes among these 20 stories several by well-known authors. There's an engagingly sad piece by Andrew Holleran called "The Married Man," which traces an aging janitor's "years of celibacy" ; Felice Picano's "The Geology of Southern California at Black's Beach" is also notable. The collection's real rewards, however, are excellent stories by such new writers as Keith Banner, Shawn Behlen, C. Bard Cole, Alex Jeffers, Brian Sloan and Emanuel Xavier in which stereotypes familiar from older gay-themed fiction are overturned. There are gay men who love women, gay men who are poor and rough around the edges, even gay men who kill without being Cruising-style psychos. Some stories succeed on their own terms but gain little from a gay context. But for the most part this volume boasts maturely conceived and executed images and ideas. David Newman's "Calendar Boy" is a funny, compact take on the collegiate closet, and Greg Johnson's "The Death of Jackie Kennedy" crosscuts sensitively among the narrator's father, who's dying of cancer, the narrator's lover, who's fighting a "final bout with AIDS," and its eponymous celebrity demise. Agent, Irene Skolnick.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The "Men on Men" series (LJ 8/94) continues to defy the tendency of many series to get weaker as volumes multiply. Bergman, editor since the fifth volume, has gathered a thoughtful mix of stories penned by mostly unknown authors. Involving middle- and lower-middle-class gay men, teens to senior citizens, rural to urban settings, butch to drag sensibilities, the plots present a broad range of gay experiences, including many not frequently found in contemporary gay literature. Standouts include the contributions by Shawn Behlen, C. Bard Cole, Greg Johnson, and Ernest McLeod. Both the series and this volume in particular are highly recommended.?Theodore R. Salvadori, Margaret E. Heggan Free P.L., Hurffville, NJ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Plume (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452277345
• ISBN-13: 978-0452277342
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,242,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Sons of the Violet Quill, February 3, 2005

By 

H. F. Corbin "Foster Corbin" (ATLANTA, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Men on Men 7: Best New Gay Fiction (v. 7) (Paperback)

In the early 80's, after Stonewall and before the holocaust of the AIDS epidemic, a group of gay writers formed a literary club in New York called the Violet Quill and changed forever gay literature in the U. S. Sadly only three of them are still alive, Edmund White, Andrew Holleran and Felice Picano. In this first rate anthology edited by David Bergman, Holleran and Picano are included. Holleran's "The Married Man" may be the best story here and is as good as anything he has written. His view of the world is not rose-colored as his characters rarely find much happiness in long term relationships. What is one to expect, however, from a writer who almost 25 years after the publication of his fine first novel DANCER FROM THE DANCE-- by anyone's standards a gay classic-- and almost as many years since the first reported AIDS cases in New York still refuses to use his real name in his writings.

Mr. Bergman is to be commended for including new authors from many places outside New York who write about topics important to those of us in the red states. He has selected authors from Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, Atlanta, Portland, Oregon, Florida and Maine. They truly are sons of the original Violet Quill writers. There aren't many Polo-clad Log Cabin Republicans here. Latinos, African Americans, blue collar workers, drag queens, teenagers and one white trash eighteen year who murders his mildly retarded sister are included.

I particularly liked "Marriage" by Michael Bendzela who lives on a "farm in Maine." Here an ordinary, not terribly attractive man leaves his wife and child for another guy. His wife teaches their child to hate her father who calls him "Barry, the Fairy." The story is told from the viewpoints of Lydia, the mother of the wife, and Vic, the new male friend. The narrative rings true on every page. It's a story that the late John Preston who lived in Maine would have relished.

There's not a single dog in the manger to be found in any of these stories.

4.0 out of 5 stars A satisfying roller-coaster, March 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Men on Men 7: Best New Gay Fiction (v. 7) (Paperback)

This collection of gay-themed short stories is, as it's 6 predecessors, a very good sample of what's going on in the gay literary world. Men on Men offers a delicious buffet of varied styles, stories and characters. Some of them are excellent and leave you hungry for more, some are forgettable but not one is simply bad !