Gay Books

[Myr]

Please post the title and author of all the published gay books you know. If you've read the books, please leave some comments on what you thought of the books.

[solacelenity]

Here are some that I have.... again, it does not mean they are the greatest, but they are published gay fiction... hehehe:

 

In Memory of Angel Clare by Christopher Bram

 

A Fairy Tale by S. Steinberg

 

The Truth About Alex by Anne Snyder

 

The Butterscothc Prince by Richard Hall

 

Mineshaft Nights by Leo Cardini

 

Hold On Tight by Christopher Bram

 

Home Boy by Jimmy Chesire

 

Halfway Home by Paul Monette

 

The Carnivorous Lamb by Agustin Gomez-Arcos

 

Different Strokes by Phil Andros

 

Under Heat by Michael David Brown

 

Kiss of Leather by Larry Townsend (The title makes me think of DK... hehehe!)

 

The Boys on the Rocks by John Fox

 

The Arena by John Preston

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Love and Peace,

Solace

[lurker]

A few baseball-related books:

 

1) The Dreyfuss Affair by Peter Lefcourt -

 

This book tells the story of what happens when two major league baseball players fall in love and are accidentally outed to the public. A decent book. I'd recommend it, and I suspect it may be interesting and accessible even if you don't know/like baseball.

 

2) Behind the Mask by Dave Pallone -

 

The autobiography of a (formerly) closeted (former) major league umpire. An interesting read, but probably not if you don't like baseball.

 

3) Going the Other Way: Lessons from a Life in and our of Major League Baseball by Billy Bean

 

The autobiography of (formerly) closeted rank-and-file major league baseball player who is now retired. I didn't like this book all that much, because I didn't feel that it got deep enough. It does raise some issues about homophobia in sports. But Bean doesn't really seem to share enough to make his personal story all that compelling beyond the detail of being a closeted baseball player, and he seems to lack the kind of perspective on his own career and performance that can make athlete memoirs interesting.

 

4) Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg

 

The hit Broadway play about homophobia (and other cultural attitudes) in baseball is now available in book form. I haven't read it, so I can't recommend. It is always a little weird to read something that we are meant to see performed, but hey, we do it with Shakepeare all the time.

[StefanVienna]

Oh, there are so many gay-themed books I've read and own, listing them all would take hours.

 

I'll try to give you a few.

 

Detective stories / Crime

 

Michael Nava - Henry Rios series, 6 or 7 books starring Henry Rios a gay latino lawyer

 

Joseph Hansen - Dave Brandstetter series, about 10 or 12 books set and first published in the 1960's to 70's. Protagonist is insurance claims investigator Dave Brandstetter.

 

Michael Craft - Mark Manning Mysteries, 6 books so far

 

Mark Richard Zubro - Paul Turner Mysteries, Paul Turner is a gay detective

 

Mark Richard Zubro - Tom + Scott Mysteries, Tom Mason is a gay english teacher, his lover Scott Carpenter a baseball star

 

R.D. Zimmerman - Todd Mills Mysteries, Gay news reporter solving crimes.

 

Grant Michaels - Stan Kraychik Mysteries, revolving around a gay haidresser

 

 

comedy

 

Stephen Fry (UK author, playwrite, director and actor) The Liar

Stephen Fry The Hippopotamus

Stephen Fry Making History

 

Robert Rodi Closet Case

Robert Rodi Kept Boy

Robert Rodi What they did to Princess Paragon

Robert Rodi Drag Queen

 

Michael Carson Sucking Sherbet Lemons

Michael Carson Coming up Roses

Michael Carson Stripping Penguins Bare

 

These are just a few of the books I've bought over the last 2 decades. If you want more, give me a shout.

 

Stefan

[Guest leander]

I enjoyed the books by Gordon Merrick:

The Lord Won't Mind

One For The Gods

Forth Into Light

An Idol for Others

The Quirk

Now Let's Talk About Music

 

All published by Avon

 

Tony

[Myr]

As a reminder, I will be removing your posts as I add the books to the Book Archive.

 

Here are the ones we've got so far:

http://books.gayauthors.org/

 

Myr

[SonoLuminus]

A few more, starting with fantasy:

 

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner - The first 'gay' book I ever read. Picked it up back in high school, with no idea it wasn't your run-of-the-mill sword & sorcery novel, and was pleasantly surprised. The writing is a bit dense, but worth the effort. Kushner and partner Delia Sherman finally wrote a sequel, almost 15 years later, called The Fall of the Kings, which I own, but haven't gotten around to reading yet.

 

Point of Hopes and Point of Dreams by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett are set in a Renaissance style alternate universe. The gay content is pretty subtle in the first book.

 

Fiona Patton's Branion Series- The Stone Prince, The Painter Knight, The Granite Shield, and The Golden Sword - Not sure what to say about these, since I picked up the first 3 at a book sale, but haven't read them yet. From the reviews I've seen, it looks like people either love them or hate them.

 

Moving on to non-fantasy:

 

Two gay epics which I absolutely loved: How Long Has This Been Going On? by Ethan Mordden, and Like People in History by Felice Picano. Mordden has also written a series called The Buddies Cycle, and some of Picano's other titles are Onyx and The Book of Lies.

 

I also recommend all of Andrew Holleran's books: Dancer From The Dance, a classic, and somewhat eerie, as it seems to foreshadow the end of an era, but was written in 1978, pre-AIDS epidemic; Nights in Aruba, The Beauty of Men, and two short story collections, In September the Light Changes, and Ground Zero. His writing is so exquisite that it can be distracting, though.

 

I noticed some of Mary Renault's books were on the list, but The Charioteer was missing. She's known for her novels set in ancient Greece, but this is a beautiful story set in WW II England.

 

Maurice by E.M. Forster was written in 1914 but not published until 1970. The movie version is also excellent, and faithful to the book.

 

An Arrow's Flight by Mark Merlis- I'm not sure how to categorize this one, or even how to explain it. Basically, it's the story of the Trojan War set in modern times (well, sort of) and Pyrrhus, Achilles' son, is a go-go boy/hustler.

 

Harlan Greene has only written two fiction books, Why We Never Danced the Charleston and What the Dead Remember, and I adore both of them, especially the first. They're both set in Charleston, SC, and he really captures the atmosphere.

 

Christopher Bram- Father of Frankenstein, which was the basis for the movie Gods and Monsters; The Notorious Dr. August, a rather strange historical novel spanning the years from the Civil War to the 1920's, about a pianist who claims his music is influenced by the spirit world, and an ex-slave. Also, In Memory of Angel Clare, and Hold Tight.

 

Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Catch Trap - the story of two young, gay trapeze artists in the 40's and 50's. (Sounds a bit corny when phrased that way, but it's a well-written and moving story.)

 

This is a long first post, so I think I'll stop for now and add some more later.

[sumbloke]

Title, Author, Publisher, Date, Comment

Postcards from No Man's Land, Aidan Chambers, Red Fox, 2001, Astonishing. Serious, funny, moving.

The Year of Ice, Brian Malloy, St Martin's Press, 2002, Working class gay guy comes of age.

Billy's Boys, Patricia Nell Warren, Wildcat Press, 1998, The son of one of Nell Warren's previous heroes grows up - gay? Maybe.

Marrying Tom, Joseph Gerachi, Millelivres-Prowler, 2001, Funny, romantic, warm and fuzzy.

Boy Meets Boy, David Levithan, Harper-Collins, 2005, Brilliant. Funny and witty and if only it were true.

How I Learned to Snap: A Small-Town Coming-Out and Coming-Of-Age Story, Kirk Read, Penguin, 2003, Camp, literate, episodic.

"Hey, Joe", Ben Neihart, Alison and Busby, 2000, Ultra cool and smooth. Big easy writing. Fun plot.

Clay's Way, Blair Mastbaum, Alyson, 2005, Outstanding. Funny, sexy, scarey, exciting.

Half-life, Aaron Krach, Alyson, 2004, Too californian for its own good but affecting.

War Boy, Kief Hillsberry, Picador, 2000, Queer punk tweakers go mad.

Peter, Kate Walker, Houghton Miffin, 2001, Nice little story about an Aussie teen working out he's queer.

 

The most recent reads. One day I'll fill a spreadsheet full of every gay book I've read.

 

J

[SonoLuminus]

Back with some more...

 

 

Neil Bartlett - Ready to Catch Him Should He Fall and The House on Brooke Street

 

Jamie O'Neill - At Swim, Two Boys

 

Laura Argiri - The God in Flight

 

Christopher Isherwood - A Single Man

 

Armistead Maupin - Tales of the City (and many sequels)

 

Patricia Nell Warren- someone mentioned Billy's Boy already. The first two books in the trilogy are The Front Runner and Harlan's Race

 

Jim Grimsley - Boulevard , Comfort and Joy, and Dream Boy

 

Vincent Virga - Gaywyck and the sequel Vadriel Vail (historical romance)

 

Ben Tyler - Gay Blades (figure skating fic)

 

Dennis Hensley- Adventures in the 213

 

David Ebershoff - The Rose City

 

Neal Drinnan - Glove Puppet

 

Lewis Gannett- The Living

 

William Taylor - Pebble in a Pool

 

Michael Craft - Mark Manning mystery series

 

E. Lynn Harris- Just As I Am

 

Jamie James- Andrew and Joey

 

Christopher Rice- A Density of Souls, The Snow Garden, and Light Before Day

 

Edmund White - The Beautiful Room is Empty, A Boy's Own Story, and The Married Man

 

Joseph Olshan- Nightswimmer and Vanitas

 

David Leavitt - While England Sleeps

 

Alan Hollinghurst- The Swimming Pool Library, The Folding Star, The Spell, and The Line of Beauty

 

John Rechy- City of Night