Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A welcome addition to gay literary fiction anthologies, July 29, 2003
By A Customer
I had given up on ever reading another collection of gay literary fiction like the excellent Men on Men or His or Best Gay Fiction series from the `80s and `90s. They are all gone now. But I learned from a friend that one of the editors from the Men on Men series was back in business with a new anthology collection called M2M. I have thanked my friend several times now for turning me on to this new series.It is every bit as good as those that have gone before. And once again, I am getting to enjoy the work of old masters like Andrew Holleran, who in his "The Incontinents" has expertly distilled the themes and heartache of his novel The Beauty of Men into one powerful short story. There are also standout pieces by familiar and not so familiar authors like Mitch Cullin, Robin Lippincott, Tom House, and Joe G. Hayes. And I'm discovering new talents that I want to read more from-in novels I hope: Robert Williams and Michael Carroll both leap to the front of this list. There are some weaknesses with this collection-as there were with the former fiction series. Particular to M2M, I found myself annoyed at being scolded by Woelz in his "Afterword" to get out and buy more quality gay fiction when I had done just that. That's not to say it wasn't a humorous and well-written analysis of the dismal state of corporate publishing and gay commerce-but there must be a better way/place for him to preach to somebody other than the choir. And then there's my long-standing complaint with all collections of gay literary fiction past and present: I would have enjoyed an even stronger diversity of writing styles (a piece from New Narrative master Kevin Killian or upstart experimentalist authors Matt Bernstein Sycamore and Lawrence Ytzhak Braithwaite would have been welcome changes of pace) and story lines and settings (one story set in the ever-popular gay fiction setting of Provincetown is not only de rigeur for these collections but more than enough-no matter how good they are, and both are). In the end, though, these are minor complaints. M2M deserves its five stars. But not for being the only gay literary fiction anthology in town these days or for bringing together the surviving (and legendary) members of the Violet Quill: Edmund White, Andrew Holleran, and Felice Picano. (Though I thank Woelz and AttaGirl Press for both these gifts). It earns it "straightforwardly" for the quality of the writing and the storytelling.
|
|
|
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some Prosaic Pieces, Some Poetic Projectiles, November 4, 2003
In general, short stories vary in intensity, I feel. Some seem more prosaic, mainly just reporting the characters' experience and its significance--though enjoyably. Others are more "poetic," actually re-creating the emotions experienced so that the readers feel it too. Specifically in this anthology of 19 pieces, I found both types. Some were walks through nice but level, flat terrain-exposition. A few were hikes to mountain gardens or whatever-intense (but also controlled) experience.I prefer the latter, dynamic type. But many readers will like the lower-key stories. In them, homosexual men make do, make something new, change in lesser or greater ways, in awareness, in ability. For instances:Japanese exchange students bewitch a host-family teenager (Williams). homosexual men support their friend who has an impossible crush (Herren). A man picks up another and slowly learns that love is more than for a body part (Donahue). AIDS raises its head. A seropositive nomad rants and tilts, driven to firehose sensation by despair (Healey). The disease torpedoes a Provincetown community and leads to realignments (Lisicky). Oh, and people age. Ed White and Andrew Holleran did, and their characters do, and barely make do. And more...But a few other stories here didn't remain earthbound and just report. They got airborne and re-created the complexities of the experience for us-with us readers. Loose with emotion but tight with artistry. I found a quintet of favorites thus:Read how a pre-teen, a sissy who likes Ken dolls and soccer players' legs but loses the match for the team, runs away, but then wins his own self, bursting the tape by scoring in another and off-limits arena, in an illicit but valid coming-of-age (Satyal). Read how a highschool football superstar, himself perhaps not even homosexual finds he must take an original, disapproved stand about the whole advantageous, contaminated world of sport stardom, with its alluring prestige and money, but its atrocious sham (Cullin). Read how despair at one's inhibitions can cause pressure-cooker anger splaying out terribly, but understandably (House). Read about-well, really feel-the world of the compulsive pederast, teaching in an elite boys' school yet. Feel how he moves stunned and mesmerized, a captive fascinated by sweaty and seductive teen boyness in a crisp rendering (Robinson). Finally, last but best in my book, read the astonishing account of a straight Southern woman married for 50 years to what we now call a transsexual more than a transvestite-but it's all the great stream-of-consciousness jumble of her ambivalences which the author's superb skill make fall into place for us, the kaleidoscope clearing upon general human truths (Jaffe).The editor's afterword is a letdown. It's too long, a redundant repetitive wordy unedited too-lengthy over-extensive exposition about "homosexual publishing today." I wish he had cut it in half and then told us why he chose the stories he did, since he did have interesting criteria. I can only say which I liked and why here.But the bottom line: if you're interested in homosexual short stories, this is not only one of the few volumes currently available. It's itself well worthwhile also. Available and worthwhile-sounds like a catch, so go cruise it and pick it up, it's willing.....
|
|
|
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Diverse styles, important themes - a great anthology., March 6, 2005
Having only just started reading gay fiction, and being possessed of an incredibly short attention span, I found this anthology a good read. The writing styles throughout are diverse, as are the themes of the stories. You're sure to find a favorite in the group.
Again, I have just started reading gay fiction, so I found the Afterword particularly helpful, as the editor offers a reading list of 10 important works of gay fiction. He also discusses the corporate "dumbing down" of contemporary gay culture, and explains clearly the importance of supporting gay authors and bookstores. I can't wait to head to my local gay bookstore (not online) to buy some of the suggested titles.
|
|
|
|
