In September, the Light Changes: The Stories of Andrew Holleran [Hardcover]

Andrew Holleran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 1999

Andrew Holleran's first novel, Dancer from the Dance, is recognized as a classic portrait of gay life in New York in the 1970s. His subsequent works, from Nights in Aruba and The Beauty of Men to the essays in Ground Zero, established Holleran as the preeminent voice in the contemporary gay literary canon. His fiction has earned comparisons to that of Guy de Maupassant, Somerset Maugham, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and now Holleran returns with a collection of sixteen powerful short stories. Exploring the lives and times of those who have lived past the exuberance of youth, these tales make for a moving journey across landscapes of regret and loss, shame and pride, loneliness and love. With a surprising yet sensitive comic touch, Andrew Holleran has written his most mature work to date--a poignant, polished collection.

"Like John Cheever's work, these stories are suffused with a sense of magic and the possibility of grace." --San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Who cares what straight people think about us?" complains one of the characters in Andrew Holleran's first collection of short stories. "I don't care if they understand what I do in bed. I don't even understand what I do in bed, I could care less what they think about it." And just as many of the gay men in these 16 stories (only three of which have been previously published) refuse--or simply feel no need--to explain themselves, so too does Holleran explore his characters' lives with no effort to justify them. His witty, urbane characters who vacation in Key West or Fire Island are not the only types of gay men, of course, just those Holleran has chosen to write about. He writes on his own terms, and his characters--even when they are struggling to navigate through desire or loss--live on their own terms, not as stereotypes but as people with complex emotional lives.

Holleran's stories are crafted with such polished prose--slyly humorous and achingly poignant in turn--that one is immediately struck by their beauty. Every story seems to have its share of brilliant dialogue or descriptive passages, like the storyteller in "The Hamburger Man" who "didn't have the very best gossip--but ... belonged to that class of people who know one or two people who do." And in the final story, which gives the book its title, Holleran shows that he's equally adept at capturing the fleeting beauty of nature, in a setting "annealed by a delicate silver light, the most beautiful light of the whole year, a light that was both warm (if one lay in the sun, as he did now) and cool (if one stood in the shade)."

From Library Journal

Holleran is a highly acclaimed novelist whose best-selling Dancer from the Dance (LJ 8/78) was a landmark in gay literature. Succeeding novelsANights in Aruba (LJ 7/83) and The Beauty of Men (LJ 6/15/96)Aand essays in Ground Zero (LJ 9/15/88) established him firmly in the gay literary canon. Here, Holleran pulls together 16 beautifully crafted short stories written over a 20-year period, each of which deals with perceptions of gay people, gay events, and gay places through the often ironic haze of half-remembered, garbled time. The continuous use of omniscient narrators provides the necessary distance for viewing layers of conflict in these characters' lives. The results are poignancy, ribald humor, pensiveness, keen discernment, and unsettling apprehension. For character studies like these, Holleran can be compared to de Maupassant. For larger issues, we might look to another Southern writer, Shirley Ann Grau. Holleran's evocative title captures the heart of his matter, much as Grau's phrase "a sea change" does in her short fiction. What ultimately shines after the tempering and burnishing of our lives is a seasoned, indomitable spirit. Recommended for public and academic libraries, and for special collections of gay literature.ARoger W. Durbin, Univ. of Akron Lib.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (June 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786864613
• ISBN-13: 978-0786864614
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,045,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A leisurely literary cruise, April 12, 2001

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Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In September, the Light Changes: The Stories of Andrew Holleran (Hardcover)

I often return to books for repeated readings when my first impressions are lasting. Short story collections by such authors as Andrew Holleran renew the vigor of initial impact, the joys of lingering. IN SEPTEMBER THE LIGHT CHANGES is a treasure of smaller stories that prove once again that Holleran is one of our best writers today. Without depending on one locale, familiar and constant faces, recurring themes to keep us aligned, Holleran strings together tales like the best of Song Cycles by Schubert and Schumann (and Ned Rorem, more poignantly!) and allows us to absorb his luxuriant prose through very complete novellas about love, age, lust, and friends. His hour is magical...and never more evident than in his final In Septmeber the Light Changes. Smart, elegant, and yet very much from the heart.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Times We'll Never Forget!!, August 8, 2000

By 

Joseph J. Hanssen "Joe" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In September, the Light Changes: The Stories of Andrew Holleran (Hardcover)

I have been a great admirer of Andrew Holleran for many years, and have always enjoyed his stories he wrote for Christopher Street magazine. Every month I waited with anticipation for the next issue for his latest writing. He always writes from the heart and these 16 stories prove it. Andrew's writing is so polished and easy to read, you feel you are listening to him tell these stories in person. Some of these stories are pleasant to read, and others are very sad because they deal with loss(AIDS), loneliness, getting older, and still having desires, especially to be young again, and the yearning for youth.

I found myself finishing one story and then continuing right on into the next chapter without stopping, they are so interesting. Maybe its because these stories relate to my generation and the times I lived through in the 70's and early 80's. I feel this book will interest anybody, there is so much beauty and history in his writing. Andrew Holleran, I believe, has not been given enough recognition or credit for his brilliant writing. I truly enjoyed this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is Why I Read Books, May 26, 1999

By 

Jon Miller-Carrasco - See all my reviews

This review is from: In September, the Light Changes: The Stories of Andrew Holleran (Hardcover)

Andrew Holleran is an example of why I read books. _The Beauty of Men_ will always be with me, I suspect, somewhere in the back of my mind, as the measure of what writers are "supposed" to do with their art. This collection of short stories I loved almost as much. Mr. H can, technically, set up sentences that are complicated and still lucid. Artistically, he can designate a character with an amazing minimum of details; it's like he knows just the right characteristics to show you to make his characters stand out. None of his characters are perfect, and most are struggling with growing older and being lonely, but I cared about all of them. Joshua, in "Blorts," for example, was hilarious. Morgan, in "Petunias," was self-absorbed and afraid, but struggling to rise above it all and even though the story is tragic, it still ends on a mystifyingly hopeful sentence. Mr. Holleran might not churn out novels every year, but when he does put one out, I'm always deeply affected by it. I wonder, though, why no author's picture on book jackets?