Fave Gay Lit?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 10:56am

What books have meant the most to you gay wise? As a teen I read Myra Breckinridge and shared it with my group of friends but, weirdly, didn't think of it as all that gay. But when I came out a year later, to my mom I left her a copy of Paul Russell's The Coming Storm with a stickie note saying if she read it she would understand me better. A few years later both her and dad sent me Jamie O'Neil's At Swim, Two Boys (which I think is probably my favorite gay themed novel). And I got obsessed with Alan Hollinghurst's books.

What are other people's favorites? What would you recommend? I've read two of Edmund White's books (A Boy's Own Story and The Farewell Symphony) and I go back and forth about how much I like his writing, though it always reads amazingly. I really like Gore Vidal's The City and the Pillar (and I feel like I'm the only one who read The Judgement of Paris just to find out what happened to Jim)m though I'm surprised that when it seems to be discussed, it's about the late 60s re-write with the hugely different ending than the '48 edition.)http://www.salon.com/2012/02/12/is_gay_literature_over/

I also admit I've really liked Marc Acito's How I Paid for College books as overly serious as I like to pretend I am.

Salon asks if gay literature is dead, which is one of those dumb questions every site has. But, for me, books have been a better way to read gay stories than film or tv. When I heard that Paul Newman had apparently once optioned the novel The Front Runner, I went to pick it up (and really enjoyed it despite shaking my head at times, and not being sure about picking up the sequels). Anyway, would love a thread of gay-themed novels and which ones people have liked, or hated, the most.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 11:17am

There are so many wonderful GLBT-themed novels out there, both classic and contemporary. I definitely think saying gay literature is dead is a reductive statement. Here are some of my favorites (and books I've taught in GLBTQ-themed classes):

Maurice by EM Forster
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
The Line of Beauty & The Swimming Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon by Tom Spanbauer
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeannette Winterson
Heaven's Coast by Mark Doty
Flesh and Blood by Michael Cunningham
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

[Taryn]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 11:30am

I read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon at the end of last year, and found myself absolutely heartbroken and haunted by one of the main character's journeys through his sexuality through the 30s and 40s. (Even just as a straight woman.)

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 11:43am

I think it is such a reductive take--yet it's there.

I am so glad, AC you mentioned Flesh and Blood, so many images, mainly of the description of lesser rent houses in the night, really stick with me. It's my favourite Cunningham nove--when I first read it, it was apparently optioned to be a mini-series, which is the only way I think it should be.

I really didn't get Call Me By Your Name. I am glad I read it, but it was the one time I didn't find either chracter relatable or likeable....

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 12:22pm

Flesh and Blood has always been my favorite Cunningham novel, too--a big, sprawling tale that's just perfectly executed. I've read it about five times now and it still gets me. About ten years ago, New York Theatre Workshop presented a stage adaptation of it that was excellent and surprisingly faithful.

[tazber]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 12:23pm

So so many....

At Swim, Two Boys is a beautiful novel.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 12:49pm

I love the Tales of the City series. My theatre teacher handed me the first book in high school and said, "Be careful, they are like chocolate." They were. Some of the later additions aren't as good, but it's really nice to visit the old characters. There's a book about the life of Anna Madrigal coming in 2014 and I am already super excited!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 2:17pm

When I read the last Tales book (and I guess combined with my mostly love for the musical) I felt the same way--it's like tucking into a really well written soap opera where you love and feel you know the characters. I was iffy on Michael Tolliver Lives, especially the odd way it was sold as not "really" being a Tales novel, but won over in the end by Mary Ann in Autumn. Her character change in the last three novels of the 80s seemed natural to me, though I know many hated what happened, and I get that as well.

At Swim, Two Boys is such an incredible novel, I'm weirdly scared to read it again. It meant so much that my parents gave it to me--apparantly there's been a ballet based on ideas from it that has toured the UK but I haven't found clips or anything. It's a cinematic book, but so epic, I don't know how any film version could do it justice.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 3:34pm

As a "straight identifying" female kinda feel odd about my choice but it would be Ethan Mordden "I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore" and most of the Buddies cycle- it was very different- I often felt like a voyeur but it always sounded " right" to me. ( not being gay OR gay in that time period in NY I can't vouch for the veritas only my response to it)

[Addison D.]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 4:37pm

Different books have been crucial at different times--as a confused and closeted kid in the suburbs about 1,000 years ago, I used to sneak copies of Gordon Merrick's gay romance novels with titles like "The Lord Won't Mind"--"Roughly, he grabbed his heaving shoulders" etc.--and furtively read a few pages in the 'History' or 'Science Fiction' aisle.

In high school I found 'Dancer from the Dance' , 'Torch Song Trilogy' and 'The Front Runner' and read and re-read them until they fell apart. I also devoured Tennessee Williams--was he 'Gay' lit? It certainly felt like it to me.

As a 'Young adult'? 'At Swim, Two Boys', 'Lost Language of the Cranes', 'A Different Person', 'Angels in America', 'A Home at the End of the World'

Lately--'Oranges are Not the Only Fruit", 'Written on the Body', 'Gut Symmetries'--really, anything Jeanette Winterson writes. Michael Klein's memoir "The End of Being Known" is fascinating and beautiful.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 4:52pm

I completely forgot about Dancer From the Dance. Wonderful book!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 5:12pm

I read Dancer from the Dance on my first flight to San Franscisco when I was 22 (to see Madonna, no less). A while back a friend asked to borrow a novel and I almost suggested it to him, but realized I would be too annoyed if I didn't get it back--it's really a beautiful book, especially how evocative the scenes are of the heat in NY during the Summer and people hanging around lazy/horny--and the Gatsby ending. I bought my copy at a used bookstore, bot it deserves to be in print (it also got me into a number of disco tracks I never would have explored otherwise).

Sabrelady--I always have come up with the Buddies cycle and for some reason have never read them. I'll have to.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 5:19pm

In addition to Paul Monette's beautifully written memoirs, he wrote some wonderfully trashy gay fiction.

Both the nonfiction and the fiction are worth reading.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 5:31pm

For those interested in poetry, too, there are many excellent GLBT poets currently writing. To name just a few: Mark Doty, Carl Phillips, Henri Cole, Kay Ryan, Peter Covino, Frank Bidart, J.D. McClatchy, Marilyn Hacker and Cheryl Clarke, just to name a few. And of course, the great gay poets: Wilde, Auden, Rich, O'Hara, Crane, Cullen

[tazber]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 5:38pm

I have to put a plug in for a fantastic YA novel called Hero.

It's by Perry Moore, an incredible person who sadly passed away recently at the too young age of 39.

Updated On: 5/20/12 at 05:38 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 6:10pm

Entries From a Hot Pink Notebook by Todd D. Brown

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 7:36pm

Perry Moore's death really surprised me. Does anybody know if the TV based on hos book is still in the works? Another really good YA novel, that I think would appeal to anyone really, is Someday This Pain Will Be Usefull To You from Peter Cameron.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 9:26pm

I haven't read anything else by Sarah Waters, but Tipping the Velvet it pretty solid.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 3:30am

Yeah, I am a big fan of tipping the velvet, myself. Heh.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 10:15am

Hey.... Is that ^ code for something dirty??

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 10:17am

Use your imagination.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 11:42am

To quote....someone who's name escapes me....I'm a gay man born by Cesarian section. My imagination is handicapped by an utter lack of familiarity with even the basic geography...

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 11:45am

Another shout out for Hollinghurst here.

Also worth checking out: Antony Sher's absolutely wonderful memoir BESIDE MYSELF. I read it twice!

For great, literate, one-handed reading, check out Pat Califa's MACHO SLUTS. The story with the police officers...oh, my!

Posted: 5/21/12 at 12:18pm

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Christopher Bram- I flat out love his books! Surprising Myself- a coming out story set against family (and other) drama. Hold Tight- a coming out story that's more about racism. Memory of Angel Clare- a AIDS survivor's take. I really liked Almost History- a diplomat's coming out in Marcos' Philippines.

Oh and Father of Frankenstein which was made into the film Gods and Monsters.

Posted: 5/21/12 at 12:38pm

Hey I need to start reading the link before I post! He wrote the book they are talking about. Right on!