2011 Stories 51 - 57
The following six stories are all taken from COOL THING: The Best New Gay Fiction From Young American Writers, edited by Blair Mastbaum and Will Fabro.
A note first about the anthology overall:
There are some anthologies I buy because of the inclusion of one or two authors, and I know I'm probably going to only read those one or two stories and then set the anthology aside for a while, or forever. That's never a disappointment to me, although I do sometimes feel bad that I'm not giving the rest of the authors a fair shake. Then there are the anthologies I buy intending to read the whole thing, no matter how long it takes. (Typically, anthologies edited by ellen_datlow or John Joseph Adams fall into this realm.) I really intended to read all of COOL THING. From the Editor's Statements at the beginning, I expected that there might be a few stories I didn't connect with, but I expected there to be a few I did. 6 stories in, and I can't say I've enjoyed any of them. Maybe this shows that I'm an old fart at the age of 44, that I don't appreciate the Young Gay Experience. But I refuse to believe that the entire gay teen and 20-something culture is composed of drugged-out, violence-addicted, porn-performing young men. There are young gay men out there who don't do drugs, don't have the urge to kill people, and don't do porn for a living. I don't think it would have hurt the editors to include at least one story in the first 6 that featured a main character struggling with something other than some combination of drugs, violence and porn. Now, to be fair -- three of the six pieces are read are excerpts from novels, and perhaps those books take the characters and story far beyond this triangle of concerns. I hope they do.
For right now though, despite my original intentions, this anthology has to go on the "Could Not Finish" pile. I can't force myself to read a book I'm so thoroughly not enjoying.
The stories, and brief thoughts:
51. Mr. Migs Makes Me Crazy by Miek Coccia. The narrator seems to be in his late 20s or 30s (if the story gives an age, I can't remember it) and is obsessed with a 19 year old he's hooked up thanks to Craigslist but now hasn't seen or heard from in a few days. It's a somewhat interesting look at Internet Addiction and Stalking, told in a hyped-up ADHD narrator's voice that implies the character may have more going on than just ADHD. This is the least drug-and-violence connected of the stories, and while I didn't particularly like the main character, I at least could relate to some of where he is coming from.
52. Kyler and Wolf-Boy, from The End of New York City, by Benji Morris The first story in the book that really didn't work for me. The title implies it's a novel excerpt; the author bio at the end of the book says Morris "hopes to turn [this story] into a novel by the end of 2008. As a short story, it doesn't really work for me. I'm not sure, but the tone of this fragment implies a possible SF type of setting, so perhaps the novel would interest me. The story didn't click, though. I didn't feel any interest in drugged-out Kyler wandering the empty streets, nor in seeming-voyuer Wolf-Boy.
53. The Sex Lives of Shadows by Eddie Beverage Deeply violent, exploring the connection between sex and violence and what might make a boy with a nice clean upbringing only be able to experience sexual high when violence is involved. Again, I just couldn't connect -- while I logically understand that there are people for whom sex and violence and the possibility of getting caught doing both is attractive, reading about it just didn't work for me. I didn't feel like there was any redeeming quality in the main character that would make me care about the problem he has, or the danger he's in. And the action / violence, including a back-alley chase that leads to rape, did not make my heart race the way good action sequences should --although the rape, even in its lack of detail, did make me a little nauseous.
54. Happiness by L.A. Fields Again the intersection between violence and love, although at least here the violence is at first imaginary and then implied. This ground has been trod before: picked-upon gay high schoolers contemplate the revenge they will get on their peers and teachers, going out in a "blaze of glory Columbine-style." What makes the story stand out is that one of the two characters wants Love to win over Hate, and struggles with his relationship and where his partner is violently headed. As somewhat the exception in these stories, I actually did connect to Ryan's character and understood the pain of watching a loved one go down a path you can't bring yourself to follow.
55. New Year's Eve 2000 from Scrappy Soldiers by Blair Mastbaum. I've heard great things about Mastbaum's novels Us Ones In Between and Clay's Way, and have been intending to read them. I wish I could say this novel fragment, from apparently a work-in-progress, blew me away, but it didn't. Again, my problem is not with the writing itself -- Mastbaum has a great facility for description, even if what he's describing is a bit nauseating -- but with the main character. I just couldn't connect with him. He claims to have so much emotion, but doesn't actually act on what he says he's feeling -- I'm not sure if that's intended as ambivalence or inability, but it didn't work for me.
56. Muy Simpatico from Retard Radio by Paul Kwiatkowski and John Reposa. Kwiatkowski's name feels familiar to me although I can't tell you why. Another novel excerpt from a work-in-progress (at least as of 2008 when the anthology was published). Another main character whose life is at an incredible low because he's no longer the slim rough runaway teen who was an internet porn sensation, washed up at the age of 22 or so. I at least could connect to the fact that this character wants to make amends for the mistakes he's made, in particular his involvement in the beating of an autistic boy. I suspect that, were I to read the novel I might end up liking the main character more and respect his journey. This fragment is just too short to decide where the the character is going.
57. Black 'N' Red: The Paper Doll and the Carpenter by Nick Hudson. I can tell you that the story is 19 pages long, and that it is pretty much stream-of-consciousness, with the main character placing his adult thoughts into his own head and the heads of his friends and teachers while reminiscing about his childhood and teen years. That's pretty much all I can tell you. Stream of consciousness is not a style of story-telling I've ever been able to stomach.
A note first about the anthology overall:
There are some anthologies I buy because of the inclusion of one or two authors, and I know I'm probably going to only read those one or two stories and then set the anthology aside for a while, or forever. That's never a disappointment to me, although I do sometimes feel bad that I'm not giving the rest of the authors a fair shake. Then there are the anthologies I buy intending to read the whole thing, no matter how long it takes. (Typically, anthologies edited by ellen_datlow or John Joseph Adams fall into this realm.) I really intended to read all of COOL THING. From the Editor's Statements at the beginning, I expected that there might be a few stories I didn't connect with, but I expected there to be a few I did. 6 stories in, and I can't say I've enjoyed any of them. Maybe this shows that I'm an old fart at the age of 44, that I don't appreciate the Young Gay Experience. But I refuse to believe that the entire gay teen and 20-something culture is composed of drugged-out, violence-addicted, porn-performing young men. There are young gay men out there who don't do drugs, don't have the urge to kill people, and don't do porn for a living. I don't think it would have hurt the editors to include at least one story in the first 6 that featured a main character struggling with something other than some combination of drugs, violence and porn. Now, to be fair -- three of the six pieces are read are excerpts from novels, and perhaps those books take the characters and story far beyond this triangle of concerns. I hope they do.
For right now though, despite my original intentions, this anthology has to go on the "Could Not Finish" pile. I can't force myself to read a book I'm so thoroughly not enjoying.
The stories, and brief thoughts:
51. Mr. Migs Makes Me Crazy by Miek Coccia. The narrator seems to be in his late 20s or 30s (if the story gives an age, I can't remember it) and is obsessed with a 19 year old he's hooked up thanks to Craigslist but now hasn't seen or heard from in a few days. It's a somewhat interesting look at Internet Addiction and Stalking, told in a hyped-up ADHD narrator's voice that implies the character may have more going on than just ADHD. This is the least drug-and-violence connected of the stories, and while I didn't particularly like the main character, I at least could relate to some of where he is coming from.
52. Kyler and Wolf-Boy, from The End of New York City, by Benji Morris The first story in the book that really didn't work for me. The title implies it's a novel excerpt; the author bio at the end of the book says Morris "hopes to turn [this story] into a novel by the end of 2008. As a short story, it doesn't really work for me. I'm not sure, but the tone of this fragment implies a possible SF type of setting, so perhaps the novel would interest me. The story didn't click, though. I didn't feel any interest in drugged-out Kyler wandering the empty streets, nor in seeming-voyuer Wolf-Boy.
53. The Sex Lives of Shadows by Eddie Beverage Deeply violent, exploring the connection between sex and violence and what might make a boy with a nice clean upbringing only be able to experience sexual high when violence is involved. Again, I just couldn't connect -- while I logically understand that there are people for whom sex and violence and the possibility of getting caught doing both is attractive, reading about it just didn't work for me. I didn't feel like there was any redeeming quality in the main character that would make me care about the problem he has, or the danger he's in. And the action / violence, including a back-alley chase that leads to rape, did not make my heart race the way good action sequences should --although the rape, even in its lack of detail, did make me a little nauseous.
54. Happiness by L.A. Fields Again the intersection between violence and love, although at least here the violence is at first imaginary and then implied. This ground has been trod before: picked-upon gay high schoolers contemplate the revenge they will get on their peers and teachers, going out in a "blaze of glory Columbine-style." What makes the story stand out is that one of the two characters wants Love to win over Hate, and struggles with his relationship and where his partner is violently headed. As somewhat the exception in these stories, I actually did connect to Ryan's character and understood the pain of watching a loved one go down a path you can't bring yourself to follow.
55. New Year's Eve 2000 from Scrappy Soldiers by Blair Mastbaum. I've heard great things about Mastbaum's novels Us Ones In Between and Clay's Way, and have been intending to read them. I wish I could say this novel fragment, from apparently a work-in-progress, blew me away, but it didn't. Again, my problem is not with the writing itself -- Mastbaum has a great facility for description, even if what he's describing is a bit nauseating -- but with the main character. I just couldn't connect with him. He claims to have so much emotion, but doesn't actually act on what he says he's feeling -- I'm not sure if that's intended as ambivalence or inability, but it didn't work for me.
56. Muy Simpatico from Retard Radio by Paul Kwiatkowski and John Reposa. Kwiatkowski's name feels familiar to me although I can't tell you why. Another novel excerpt from a work-in-progress (at least as of 2008 when the anthology was published). Another main character whose life is at an incredible low because he's no longer the slim rough runaway teen who was an internet porn sensation, washed up at the age of 22 or so. I at least could connect to the fact that this character wants to make amends for the mistakes he's made, in particular his involvement in the beating of an autistic boy. I suspect that, were I to read the novel I might end up liking the main character more and respect his journey. This fragment is just too short to decide where the the character is going.
57. Black 'N' Red: The Paper Doll and the Carpenter by Nick Hudson. I can tell you that the story is 19 pages long, and that it is pretty much stream-of-consciousness, with the main character placing his adult thoughts into his own head and the heads of his friends and teachers while reminiscing about his childhood and teen years. That's pretty much all I can tell you. Stream of consciousness is not a style of story-telling I've ever been able to stomach.