Best American Gay Fiction #2 - Softcover

Bernard Cooper

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316102997 ISBN 13: 9780316102995

Publisher: Back Bay Books, 1997

Synopsis

Following the success of last year's debut volume, this Best American Gay Fiction collection broadens the range of contributors, styles, and genres. Here is outstanding new work by such well-known writers as Andrew Holleran, Dale Peck, Michael Nava, and David Wojnarowicz alongside fresh talents who capture the full spectrum of gay life today -- African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans. The impressive writing presented here -- all drawn from works published in 1996 -- reflects this diversity as well, and ranges from coming-of-age narratives to reflections on growing older, from edgy 'zine fiction to elegant tales wrought with lapidary precision.

Unified only by their excellence, these twenty-one selections are resounding proof of yet another banner year for gay fiction.

About this title

Review:

Since the Stonewall riots and the emergence of a vibrant, public homosexual culture, gay male fiction has been gradually coming out of the shadows and Brian Bouldrey's series Best American Gay Fiction is a fine barometer of its current state. These 21 pieces--ranging from excerpts of recently published novels to original short stories to fictionalized memoir--reflect the emotional and literary diversity of gay writing today. Bouldrey has chosen work by the already famous such as Andrew Holleran and Dale Peck, cult writers such as Kevin Killian, and up-and-coming authors such as Kolin M. Ohi and Tom House.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Editor Bouldrey (The Genius of Desire, 1993) notes that his goals in this second installment of an annual collection were to ``highlight new talent. . . showcase established writers'' and to ``bring attention to published work that might have had limited distribution.'' He accomplishes all three, producing an anthology strong on less well-known writers (including Russell Leong, Mitchell Cullin, and Karl Woelz) and venues but also featuring some effective work by such well-established figures as Andrew Holleran, Stephen Beachy, Michael Nava, and Dale Peck. Several of the most moving tales (like John R. Keene's ``My Son, My Heart, My Life'' and Scott Thomas's ``The Main Frame'') deal in fresh, powerful ways with the struggles of young men to come to grips with the nature and implications of their desires. A savvy, lively overview of current gay fiction. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0316102997
• ISBN 13: 9780316102995
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336
• Editor: Brian Bouldrey