Mirage (10th Anniversary Edition) [Paperback]

Perry Brass (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

Nominated for a 1992 Lambda Literary Award in Gay Science Fiction, Mirage is a bold new gay science fiction thriller by the acclaimed writer Perry Brass. On the tribal planet Ki, two men-in the spirit of an ancient pact-have been promised to each other for a lifetime. But a savage attack and a blood-chilling murder break this promise, and force them to seek another world where imbalance and lies form Reality. This is the planet known as Earth, a world they will ultimately use and escape. Mirage is the story of Greeland, a hunter from primitive, tribal Ki and his love for Enkidu, the friend promised to him for a lifetime. On Ki, men who on Earth would be labeled "gay" are promised to each for a lifetime of sexual exclusivity and loyalty unto death. Living in tribal enclaves led by elder tribesmen, these men possess an amazing third testicle, called the "Egg of the Eye." The Egg extends their lifespans, allows them to read each other's thoughts, and produces the sweet, sought-after "Seed of the Egg." However, one thing the Egg will never allow them to do is to lie. But a brutal attack on Enkidu and Greeland, by Ert, a handsome leader of the "Off-Sexers," the heterosexuals of planet Ki who live in a constant state of feudal warefare-and his bloodchilling murder in their defense-break this promise and force Greeland and Enkidu to escape through the properties of the "Egg of the Eye," whereby men like themselves can finally dissolve the limitations of time, space-and tiny, constricting Ki itself. Greeland are directed towards Earth, where they assume the bodies and identities of handsome, blonde Wright Smith, originally from a Michigan farm, and his lover, darker Alan Kostenbaum, from New York, both undeniably different from these visitors. On Earth Greeland and Enkidu encounter racism, violent homophobia-with one of the best accounts of a senseless homophobic attack in recent fiction-AIDS, and the decline of urban life. They also experience the strange agonies and thrills of two separate identities fighting and eventually merging within one body.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An original "coming out" saga, set in a distant place where gay sexuality and romance is a norm" -- Bay Area Reporter, Dec. 1992

"Intelligent and intriguing." -- Bob Satuloff in New York Native.

From the Publisher

Mirage was a completely original concept in gay science fiction. It merged nonstop plot action with romantic male eroticism; realitically drawn characters with an almost operatic emotional intensity. Although there had been some attempts at gay science fiction previous to the book, nothing like this had been done before. Most of the books in this category either skirted the whole issue of gay sexuality and left it in the shadows-somewhere in the "unspeakable" background of the book-or made gay sexuality merely another example of bizarre foreign, futurist "decadence." Mirage did neither of these. Instead, the characters in the book are unapologetic about their gayness, and often it is their sexuality that advances the story, making it an important part of each turn in the plot. An example of this is the introduction of Robert Hetzak, a young man with AIDS who has been left to die by a group of violent gay bashers. Wright and Alan find him and nurse him precariously back to health. Alan soon finds that he is very much in love with Robert. But Alan knows that if Wright learns of this, Wright (or actually Greeland, the jealous hunter from Ki who on Earth only resembles Wright) will kill Robert. So Alan is completely torn between his passion-and compassion for Robert-and his duty to Greeland, the partner chosen for him for life on Ki. As part of their mission on planet Earth, the two men from Ki must take an Earth man back to their own planet. But to do so will be to condemn him to death on Ki. Alan does not want to do this to Robert, even though he is so emotionally tied to this handsome, vulnerable young man that he cannot bear the idea of leaving him on Earth when Greeland and Enkidu must leave their earthly bodies and identities behind and return once more to their "primitive" home planet. The book, like the characters in the story, operates on many different levels. It is both a political story, critical of American policies in the conservative Age of AIDS, and a romantic "coming out" story of Enkidu, a young man experiencing his first gay crushes and rushes. It deals with "urban sleaze," casual sex, the leather scene, etc., as well as innocent love, loyalty, and real compassion. Mirage is now close to ten years old and a true gay classic. Its many admirers and fans have followed the lives of Enkidu and his attractive, volatile lover Greeland all the way through the full trilogy of Mirage books that came to later include Circles and Albert or The Book of Man. However, each book can be read separately with tremendous satisfaction and delight. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Belhue Press (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892149028
• ISBN-13: 978-1892149022
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,944,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Originally from Savannah, Georgia, Perry Brass grew up, in the nineteen fifties and sixties, in equal parts Southern, Jewish, economically impoverished, and very much gay. To escape the South's violent homophobia, he hitchhiked at age 17 from Savannah to San Francisco--an adventure, he recalls, that was "like Mark Twain with drag queens." As a young man he worked as a male artist's model, on the floor of an aircraft factory, and, in the "Mad Men" period of anything-goes-advertising, in Madison Avenue art departments.
He's published 15 books and been a finalist six times in 3 categories (poetry; gay science fiction and fantasy; spirituality and religion) for Lambda Literary Awards, as well as winning numerous awards for his poetry, plays, fiction, and other writings. His work is unique in that it combines frank depictions of human sexuality, deep spiritual values, political acumen and insight, and often outrageous humor. This has given him a small but devoted readership that doesn't pigeonhole itself or his writing.
He has been involved in the gay rights movement since November of 1969, soon after the Stonewall Rebellion, when he co-edited "Come Out!," the world's first gay liberation newspaper.
Later, in 1972, with two friends he started the Gay Men's Health Project Clinic, the first clinic for gay men on the East Coast, still surviving as New York's Callen-Lourde Clinic. In 1984, his play "Night Chills," one of the first plays to deal with the AIDS crisis, won a Jane Chambers International Gay Playwriting Award.
As a poet, Brass's collaborations with composers include the words for the much-performed "All the Way Through Evening," a haunting cycle of five songs evoking the tragedies of the AIDS epidemic, set by the late young Chris DeBlasio; "The Angel Voices of Men" set by Ricky Ian Gordon, commissioned by the Dick Cable Fund for the New York City Gay Men's Chorus which premiered it at Carnegie Hall and featured it on its "Gay Century Songbook" CD; "Three Brass Songs," with famed composer-pianist Fred Hersch; and "The Restless Yearning Towards My Self," with New York City Opera composer Paula Kimper.
He is currently treasurer of the Greater New York Independent Publishers Association, and Co-Director of New York's Rainbow Book Fair, the only book fair and cultural conference in the U.S. solely devoted to the books of LGBT authors and publishers. He directs the publication of books through Belhue Press, an independent gay press.

Perry Brass is an accomplished reader and an internationally recognized voice on gender subjects, gay relationships, and the history and literature of the movement towards glbt equality. He lives in the Riverdale section of "da Bronx" with his partner of 28 years, but can cross bridges to other parts of America without a passport.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Just plain creepy, July 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mirage (Paperback)

This never gets off of the ground and I really was turned offby it. Remember those seedy books without illustrated covers that hadpretensions of being more than adult sex novels because they threw in a little plot? Well, this is the same thing for the late '90's. The characters were so wooden and sterotypes - if mannequins could be gay, that is.

9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Cardboard characters, canned exposition, July 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mirage (Paperback)

I really couldn't get into this one, although I tried several times -- so I haven't actually finished it, and it's possible the second half is better than what I read. But I felt that the characters were overblown caricatures, the world-building was something like those cheesy styrofoam sets from the original Star Trek, and the plot just wasn't holding together. The part I really couldn't stand was the fact that in the main couple, one character was younger, smaller, weaker, more naive, *and* always on the bottom (also gentler, weepier, smarter, etc). I like more equality in gay relationships, and I just wasn't seeing it here. I was also bothered that both of these characters (but especially the younger one) had little or no knowledge of the world or culture they grew up in. There were a few weak explanations for this fact, but I just didn't buy it -- it seemed to me like a poor excuse for a heavy-handed exposition.