A review by tropicalpanda
Men on Men: Best New Gay Fiction by John Fox, Ethan Mordden, Sam D'Allesandro, Andrew Holleran, Patrick Hoctel, Kevin Killian, C.F. Borgman, Edmund White, Wallace Parr, Richard Umans, Robert Glück, Felice Picano, Richard Walter Hall, George Stambolian, Bruce Boone, Michael Grumley, Brad Gooch, Dennis Cooper, Robert Ferro

challenging informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

this is hard to rate because of the fact that it’s an anthology, clearly written for a very specific gay male identity of a very specific time, and not meant for out-group consumption. It was an interesting read, and a lens into a world I’m not a part of, even as a person very very steeped in their own queer identity. It is very much a capsule of its specific time, and every story is so different since they’re all different authors processing and writing differently. There was more taboo topics than I had braced myself for, and I at times found it hard to stomach, but again, I am in no place to make a judgement call on gay culture of the mid 80’s. It’s interesting to read this collection, which clearly was meant just for the gay male contemporaries to read and is incredibly hard to find these days. It’s also devastating to read the “about the authors” section and read about what plans all the authors had for their future writings and to see how many didn’t survive long enough to complete those works.
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