Customer Reviews

The New York Years: Stories by Felice Picano

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

 

 

While these stories are 20 years old, they have not lost their edge or appeal. There's almost something refreshing reading stories from a time before AIDS - a time some can barely remember, it's been with us so long. I would consider this a "prequel" to his monumental "Like People In History", as the characters in the book, and the readers of the stories at the time, move about their lives, not knowing what lies ahead for the entire gay community.

Bringing together two previous books, "An Asian Minor" (1981) and "Slashed to Ribbons in Defense of Love" (1983), "The New York Years" is a marvelous collection of stories not only showcasing Picano's deft style, but also gay lives in the late 1970s and early 1980s. "A Stroke" is about a gay man and his family as they deal with their ailing father. "Hunter" is a potent and erotic story about a young writer dealing with the ghost of a writer he admired. "And Baby Makes Three" explores the love in a gay male couple whose age difference could make or break their future. And his remarkable "An Asian Minor" is a retelling of the Ganymede myth as he meets and romances Hermes, Apollo, and finally Zeus. The dozen tales in this slim volume still resonate truth decades later.

Felice Picano has demonstrated almost yearly that he can spin tales about memorable characters and convince us that even the most bizarre of these are people he actually has encountered. This collection of early short stories, while not up to his current polish as a writer, suggest writing traits that indeed have blossomed into a now mature man of letters. There is much to be scanned in some of these tales, but there is equally much to savour. His intimate gossip (or is it reportage?) is evident here and for those who keep up with Picano's prodigious output, there are suggestions of characters we are only now encountering in fully fleshed out detail. These stories remind me of the feelings of insecurity we have when we pull off the shelf old photo albums of how we were trying to become ourselves in the trying times of youth. Well, this time the Picano in the photos is a success story....and these stories might well be food for future biographers.

An engaging collection that belong's in everyone's library.

Felice Picano has demonstrated almost yearly that he can spin tales about memorable characters and convince us that even the most bizarre of these are people he actually has encountered. This collection of early short stories, while not up to his current polish as a writer, suggest writing traits that indeed have blossomed into a now mature man of letters. There is much to be scanned in some of these tales, but there is equally much to savour. His intimate gossip (or is it reportage?) is evident here and for those who keep up with Picano's prodigious output, there are suggestions of characters we are only now encountering in fully fleshed out detail. These stories remind me of the feelings of insecurity we have when we pull off the shelf old photo albums of how we were trying to become ourselves in the trying times of youth. Well, this time the Picano in the photos is a success story....and these stories might well be food for future biographers.