The Inside Reader: Greg Herren
Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends - Silas Weir Mitchell
Greg Herren's Bourbon Street Blues, first in his mystery series that is still alive and kicking, was one of the first mystery to enter my Top 100 Gay Novels list. I think it was recommended to me by another mystery writer, as an example of how you can write a mystery appealing to a wider audience. Being the success and award collector that it was, I think that author was right. And so I'm more than glad to host Greg Herren and his Inside Reader list today.
Greg Herren's Inside Reader List
It’s really difficult to narrow my favorites down to a mere ten. However, I do as I’m told, and I do appreciate this opportunity to bring attention to some books people may have missed in their reading. To that end, I am not going to name any of the obvious titles (Dancer from the Dance by Andrew Holleran, The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren, etc) and since the request was for gay books, I am going to be literal and not name any books by lesbians (Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, People in Trouble by Sarah Schulman, anything by Jess Wells, etc.). So, without further adieu, here is Greg’s Top Ten Gay Books (in no particular order):
1) Second Line by Poppy Z. Brite. Poppy Z. Brite has long written some of the most realistic and honest gay male characters, going back to books like Lost Souls and Exquisite Corpse. But when he decided to stop writing horror and write about the New Orleans restaurant scene, he published some of the best New Orleans fiction out there (Liquor, Prime, Soul Kitchen), and created, in Ricky and G-man, two of the most honest gay male characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing about. Second Line is actually a combination of two short novels (novellas) featuring Ricky and G-man that had already been published: The Value of X and D*U*C*K*. In the first, we meet the guys when they are teenagers and starting to realize that not only are they more than just best friends, but also want to go into the restaurant business. D*U*C*K* is a quite entertaining romp about a catering gig the two take on in northwest Louisiana for a duck hunter’s organization. Second Line is a delightful introduction to the characters, and Poppy’s amazing skill as an author.
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Small Beer Press; First Paperback Edition edition (October 1, 2009)
Publisher Link: http://smallbeerpress.com/books/2009/10/27/second-line/
ISBN-10: 1931520607
ISBN-13: 978-1931520607
Amazon: Second Line
These two short novels bookend Poppy Z. Brite’s cheerfully chaotic series starring two chefs in New Orleans. The Value of X introduces G-man and Rickey, who grew up in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward and who are slowly realizing there are only two important things in life: cooking and each other. Rickey’s parents aren’t quite so taken with the boy’s plans and get him an impossible-to-resist place at the Culinary Institute of America. In D*U*C*K, Rickey and G-man’s restaurant, Liquor, is doing well but there are the usual complications of running a kitchen: egos get bruised, people get fired . . . and then Rickey is jumped in an alley by one of their ex-waiters. On the mend, Rickey takes a side job to cater the annual Ducks Unlimited banquet, where every course must, of course, include the ducks the hunters have bagged. Rickey’s crew are ready to meet the challenge, but Rickey’s not sure he can do it all and deal with the guest of honor-his childhood hero, former New Orleans Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert.
2) Gaywyck by Vincent Virga. I loved Gothic romantic suspense novels when I was a teenager (Mary Stewart, Victoria Holt, Phyllis A. Whitney), so I was absolutely delighted when a copy of this passed my desk when I was editor of Lambda Book Report. Alyson republished this classic from the late 70’s in 2000; and I was thrilled to read a gay Gothic romantic suspense. Virga channeled the Bronte Sisters when he was writing this classic, in which a handsome young gay orphan goes to work as a tutor at a gorgeous brooding (and possibly haunted) mansion on Long Island (Gaywyck), complete with a sexy but mysterious master of the estate, and secrets galore. Set just before the turn of the twentieth century, Virga’s attention to historical detail gives the book an authenticity so many other, similar books sadly lack.
Paperback: 392 pages
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (May 18, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1439235554
ISBN-13: 978-1439235553
Amazon: Gaywyck
Gaywyck is the first gay Gothic novel. Long out of print, this classic proved that genre knows no gender. Young, innocent Robert Whyte enters a Jane-Eyre world of secrets and deceptions when he is hired to catalog the vast library at Gaywyck, a mysterious ancestral mansion on Long Island, where he falls in love with its handsome and melancholy owner, Donough Gaylord. Robert's unconditional love is challenged by hidden evil lurking in the shadowy past crammed with dark sexual secrets sowing murder, blackmail, and mayhem in the great romantic tradition. As Armisted Maupin urged, “Read the son of a bitch! You'll love it!” And as The Advocate praised, “An extraordinary tour de force that merits special praise.” Angus Wilson agreed, “I enjoyed Gaywyck very much. To me a fascinating mixture of Wilde, the Gothic and, above all, the souls laid to rest in New York.”
3) The Burning Plain by Michael Nava. Michael Nava is one of the three writers I consider the Grand Masters of Gay Mystery (the other two are Joseph Hansen and John Morgan Wilson). It was Nava’s stunning Henry Rios series that inspired me to write gay mysteries. Each one of these books is masterfully plotted, beautifully written, and every character, no matter how important or not to the story, is realistic and three-dimensional. This one, however, is my favorite of the series; it concerns a pedophilia ring with ties to a major Hollywood studio, and is absolutely riveting.
Paperback: 305 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books (April 1, 2004)
Publisher Link: http://www.alyson.com/9781555838133.html
ISBN-10: 1555838138
ISBN-13: 978-1555838133
Amazon: The Burning Plain
Still devastated by the death of Josh, Henry nonetheless falls for a young actor he successfully defended against burglary charges. When the young man is murdered after leaving Henry’s house, Henry finds himself the target of a murder investigation. But the murders don’t stop, and with his life in desperate danger, Henry follows the trail of evidence, ever upward to the top levels of Los Angeles politics and Hollywood power. Michael Nava is the author of seven Henry Rios novels, five of which (Goldenboy, Howtown, The Hidden Law, The Death of Friends, and Rag and Bone) have been Lambda Literary Award winners. He is an attorney in private practice in San Francisco.
4) Like People in History by Felice Picano. The cover blurb from Edmund White calling it a “gay Gone with the Wind” is a bit hyperbolic, but this is one of my all-time favorite gay novels. Sweeping from the late 50’s through the early 90’s, it is the story of two gay cousins and their dysfunctional but loving friendship. With scenes at Woodstock to Fire Island in its 70’s heyday to ACT UP demonstrations, this book and its characters follow the development of gay culture from the closet of the 50’s/60’s through the hedonistic early days of freedom and pride through the horror of the AIDS plague. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and when you finish it, it will continue to resonate in your mind long after. A masterpiece from one of the community’s greatest writers.
Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Abacus (June 6, 1996)
Publisher Link: http://www.littlebrown.co.uk/Title/9780349108384
ISBN-10: 0349108382
ISBN-13: 978-0349108384
Amazon: Like People in History
Cousins Roger and Alistair become lifelong friends when they meet as boys in 1954. They discover their homosexuality and their lives intersect against the backdrop of 20th-century gay culture, from the beachboy surfer days of the 1960s, to Greenwich Village AIDS activism in the 1990s.
5) Steam by Jay B. Laws. Jay B. Laws only managed to publish two novels before he became an AIDS casualty in the early 90’s; it is heartbreaking to even think about the incredible work he could have produced had he not been taken so young. Steam, his first novel, is set in San Francisco while AIDS ravages the community there, and is centered around a haunted bathhouse. Everything in this book resonates, even twenty years later; the characters are realistic and heartbreaking, the story itself is a nail-biter, and Laws’ use of language extraordinary. He managed one more novel before he became too sick (the equally sublime The Unfinished), and was well on his way to becoming the gay Stephen King. Rest in peace, Jay, and thank you for sharing your extraordinary gifts with us.
Paperback: 350 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books; 1st edition (March 1991)
ISBN-10: 1555831842
ISBN-13: 978-1555831844
Amazon: Steam
6) Three Fortunes in One Cookie by Cochrane Lambert. This little-known and underappreciated gem of a novel came and went very quickly. Cursed with one of the worst covers ever given a gay novel, it was also set on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and was released the week Hurricane Katrina destroyed the region. It deserved much, much better. A complex and multi-themed novel with strong characters, a wonderful story, and a great romance to boot, it was about redemption, rebirth, and the complicated relationships within a family. Cochrane Lambert, two of the four writers who make up Timothy James Beck, gifted the world with an extraordinary work that also preserved and documented what life was like on the Gulf Coast before a natural disaster swept it all away. Well worth the read.
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books (September 1, 2005)
ISBN-10: 155583910X
ISBN-13: 978-1555839109
Amazon: Three Fortunes in One Cookie
Leaving behind a dead-end job, failed artistic aspirations, and the prospect of another cold New York winter, Phillip Powell returns to the town he spent years trying to escape to look after his mother, who has gone a little crazy. Two aunts-one of whom is a religious fanatic, the other a lesbian-a roommate who is both a hooker and a voyeur, an old classmate with a big secret, and Phillip's demented mother all play a part in Phillip's discovery that the complicated ties of home and family are often the very things that set us free.
7) All-American Boy by William J. Mann. One of Mann’s most powerful novels, with his trademark wit and style, this book is about coming to terms with terrible events in the past in order to free one’s self and move forward. Hauntingly written and heartbreaking in its realism, this book might not have been as popular as his others (The Men from the Boys, The Biograph Girl, Where the Boys Are, The Men from the Boys) but it is an excellent place to start reading the Mann canon.
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Kensington (May 1, 2006)
Publisher Link: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/finditem.cfm?itemid=9602
ISBN-10: 0758203292
ISBN-13: 978-0758203298
Amazon: All-American Boy
With these desperate words from the mysterious, distant mother he hasn’t seen in ten years, Wally Day finds his carefully constructed world falling in on itself. For years, the handsome actor has made denial his own particular art form - from his stalled career to his emotionless embrace of the hard-edged boys who regularly traipse through his bedroom. But now, faced with this sudden intrusion from his past, Wally must confront the reasons he left his hometown of Brown’s Mill in a cloud of anger, shame, and guilt. He must look face-to-face upon the ghosts of his past: his mother, whom he once loved more than anyone else in the world; his abusive father, who never looked at Wally without contempt and suspicion; the life-affirming Miss Aletha, whose love had given Wally refuge; and most of all, Zandy - the man whose memory still haunts him, whose love for Wally had been called a crime. As Wally unravels the dark side of his All-American family, he has a chance to make peace with the boy he was in order to become the man he needs to be. He is once more the 14-year-old living at Miss Aletha’s house on the wrong side of town, the music of Saturday Night Fever providing the charged, erotic soundtrack to his life. The world was on the exuberant edge of change in those days, and Wally relives the thrill of discovery, the promise of forbidden sex - and the mistake that cost him everything. It’s a journey that will take Wally back to his past-to a time when he was the good son, the smartest boy in his class, the shining picture of the All-American Boy. Bestselling author William J. Mann has written his most powerful work yet: a searing novel about the difference between going home and finding yourself there. By turns poignant and sexy, harrowing and hopeful, All American Boy is a big, wise book filled with insight, humor, hurt, truth, and the ever-renewing hope of love.
8) Comfort and Joy by Jim Grimsley. Any list of great gay writers of our time that does not include Jim Grimsley cannot be taken seriously. All of his work is extraordinary; this book is my personal favorite. A beautifully written love story about two men from different classes in Atlanta (one from a poor background, the other from a wealthy society family in Savannah), their romance is juxtaposed against their extremely different relationships with their families, culminating with Christmas visits to both. Complex and richly drawn, this book will make you laugh and cry, and ultimately leaves the reader the better for having read it.
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books (October 16, 2003)
Publisher Link: http://www.workman.com/products/9781565123960/
ISBN-10: 1565123964
ISBN-13: 978-1565123960
Amazon: Comfort and Joy
Ford McKinney is a devastatingly handsome, successful doctor, raised in an old Savannah family among good breeding and money. His longtime boyfriend, Dan Krell, is a shy hospital administrator with a painful childhood past. When the holidays arrive, they decide it's time to go home together. But the depth of their commitment is tested when Ford's parents cannot reconcile themselves to their son's choices, and Dan's secrets are exposed. Comfort and Joy is a poetic and finely-wrought novel that explores the difficult journey two men make toward love.
9) Where the Rainbow Ends by Jameson Currier. Jameson Currier is one of my favorite authors, and I first discovered his writing with this exquisite work. It is the story of a young man who flees the South in order to live his life honestly in New York in the late 1970’s, and the book covers the next ten years as he comes to term with life, love and finding himself. It is a heartbreaker-there are scenes that made me sob uncontrollably-but Currier is a master storyteller who shows us that no matter how far down into the depths we can go in this life, there is always love, beauty and hope to carry us through. A classic.
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Overlook TP; First Edition. first thus edition (September 1, 2000)
Publisher Link: http://www.overlookpress.com/where-the-rainbow-ends-1.html
ISBN-10: 1585670847
ISBN-13: 978-1585670840
Amazon: Where the Rainbow Ends
At the center of this epic tale is Robbie Taylor, who settles in New York City in 1978 as an optimistic, romantic young man with a circle of new friends. This powerful and passionate story of the trials and loves of a gay Everyman takes Robbie through a personal odyssey into enlightenment, spanning a period of almost fifteen years. As he navigates through the hedonism of his heady youth in Manhattan searching for faith, family, and understanding, Robbie is constantly being tested, like a modern-day Job. Currier masterfully weaves an ardent story about the families that we create for ourselves, a story that is at once lyrical, poignant, and sexy.
10) Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman. When I was editor at Harrington Park Press, I was proud of every book I published-but this one stands out above all the others. When I first read the manuscript, I was stunned by the strength and simplicity of the authorial voice, and before I was even finished with the first chapter I knew I had to publish this. A gorgeous story about a troubled teen who falls in love with a ghost and then has to uncover the truth about the ghost’s life, it is still one of my favorite gay novels, and one of my favorite ghost stories of all time. Steve is an exceptionally gifted story teller; one I wish would publish a book every year, and that still wouldn’t be enough for me. It is to be savored, cherished and enjoyed, and should be required reading for every teenager.
Reading level: Young Adult
Perfect Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Lethe Press (March 1, 2008)
Publisher Link: http://www.lethepressbooks.com/gay.htm#BermanVintage
ISBN-10: 1590210530
ISBN-13: 978-1590210536
Amazon: Vintage: A Ghost Story
In a small town, a lonely teen walking along a highway one autumn evening meets the boy of his dreams, a boy who happens to have died decades ago and haunts the road. Awkward crushes, both bitter and sweet, lead him to face not only the ghost but youthful dreams and childish fears. With its cast of offbeat friends, antiques and Ouija boards, Vintage offers readers a memorable blend of dark humor, chills and love that is not your typical teen romance.
About Greg Herren: I am the author of six mystery novels set in New Orleans: BOURBON STREET BLUES, JACKSON SQUARE JAZZ, MURDER IN THE RUE DAUPHINE, MURDER IN THE RUE ST. ANN , MARDI GRAS MAMBO and MURDER IN THE RUE CHARTRES, which will be released in November 2007. I also work as senior editor for The Harrington Park Press, and have edited, to date, five anthologies currently in print. I also have a short story in the forthcoming NEW ORLEANS NOIR called "Annunciation Shotgun."
Murder in the Garden District: A Chanse MacLeod Mystery by Greg Herren
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books; 1 edition (October 1, 2009)
Publisher Link: http://www.alyson.com/9781593501051.html
ISBN-10: 1593501056
ISBN-13: 978-1593501051
Amazon: Murder in the Garden District: A Chanse MacLeod Mystery
Behind the beautiful facade of a Garden District mansion, a powerful political family's secrets end in murder. With another major hurricane heading towards the Katrina-ravaged city of New Orleans, it's up to Chanse MacLeod to dig through decades of murders and cover-ups to find the truth before more lives are ruined....including his own and those close to him.
Greg Herren's Bourbon Street Blues, first in his mystery series that is still alive and kicking, was one of the first mystery to enter my Top 100 Gay Novels list. I think it was recommended to me by another mystery writer, as an example of how you can write a mystery appealing to a wider audience. Being the success and award collector that it was, I think that author was right. And so I'm more than glad to host Greg Herren and his Inside Reader list today.
Greg Herren's Inside Reader List
It’s really difficult to narrow my favorites down to a mere ten. However, I do as I’m told, and I do appreciate this opportunity to bring attention to some books people may have missed in their reading. To that end, I am not going to name any of the obvious titles (Dancer from the Dance by Andrew Holleran, The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren, etc) and since the request was for gay books, I am going to be literal and not name any books by lesbians (Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, People in Trouble by Sarah Schulman, anything by Jess Wells, etc.). So, without further adieu, here is Greg’s Top Ten Gay Books (in no particular order):
1) Second Line by Poppy Z. Brite. Poppy Z. Brite has long written some of the most realistic and honest gay male characters, going back to books like Lost Souls and Exquisite Corpse. But when he decided to stop writing horror and write about the New Orleans restaurant scene, he published some of the best New Orleans fiction out there (Liquor, Prime, Soul Kitchen), and created, in Ricky and G-man, two of the most honest gay male characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing about. Second Line is actually a combination of two short novels (novellas) featuring Ricky and G-man that had already been published: The Value of X and D*U*C*K*. In the first, we meet the guys when they are teenagers and starting to realize that not only are they more than just best friends, but also want to go into the restaurant business. D*U*C*K* is a quite entertaining romp about a catering gig the two take on in northwest Louisiana for a duck hunter’s organization. Second Line is a delightful introduction to the characters, and Poppy’s amazing skill as an author.
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Small Beer Press; First Paperback Edition edition (October 1, 2009)
Publisher Link: http://smallbeerpress.com/books/2009/10/27/second-line/
ISBN-10: 1931520607
ISBN-13: 978-1931520607
Amazon: Second Line
These two short novels bookend Poppy Z. Brite’s cheerfully chaotic series starring two chefs in New Orleans. The Value of X introduces G-man and Rickey, who grew up in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward and who are slowly realizing there are only two important things in life: cooking and each other. Rickey’s parents aren’t quite so taken with the boy’s plans and get him an impossible-to-resist place at the Culinary Institute of America. In D*U*C*K, Rickey and G-man’s restaurant, Liquor, is doing well but there are the usual complications of running a kitchen: egos get bruised, people get fired . . . and then Rickey is jumped in an alley by one of their ex-waiters. On the mend, Rickey takes a side job to cater the annual Ducks Unlimited banquet, where every course must, of course, include the ducks the hunters have bagged. Rickey’s crew are ready to meet the challenge, but Rickey’s not sure he can do it all and deal with the guest of honor-his childhood hero, former New Orleans Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert.
2) Gaywyck by Vincent Virga. I loved Gothic romantic suspense novels when I was a teenager (Mary Stewart, Victoria Holt, Phyllis A. Whitney), so I was absolutely delighted when a copy of this passed my desk when I was editor of Lambda Book Report. Alyson republished this classic from the late 70’s in 2000; and I was thrilled to read a gay Gothic romantic suspense. Virga channeled the Bronte Sisters when he was writing this classic, in which a handsome young gay orphan goes to work as a tutor at a gorgeous brooding (and possibly haunted) mansion on Long Island (Gaywyck), complete with a sexy but mysterious master of the estate, and secrets galore. Set just before the turn of the twentieth century, Virga’s attention to historical detail gives the book an authenticity so many other, similar books sadly lack.
Paperback: 392 pages
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (May 18, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1439235554
ISBN-13: 978-1439235553
Amazon: Gaywyck
Gaywyck is the first gay Gothic novel. Long out of print, this classic proved that genre knows no gender. Young, innocent Robert Whyte enters a Jane-Eyre world of secrets and deceptions when he is hired to catalog the vast library at Gaywyck, a mysterious ancestral mansion on Long Island, where he falls in love with its handsome and melancholy owner, Donough Gaylord. Robert's unconditional love is challenged by hidden evil lurking in the shadowy past crammed with dark sexual secrets sowing murder, blackmail, and mayhem in the great romantic tradition. As Armisted Maupin urged, “Read the son of a bitch! You'll love it!” And as The Advocate praised, “An extraordinary tour de force that merits special praise.” Angus Wilson agreed, “I enjoyed Gaywyck very much. To me a fascinating mixture of Wilde, the Gothic and, above all, the souls laid to rest in New York.”
3) The Burning Plain by Michael Nava. Michael Nava is one of the three writers I consider the Grand Masters of Gay Mystery (the other two are Joseph Hansen and John Morgan Wilson). It was Nava’s stunning Henry Rios series that inspired me to write gay mysteries. Each one of these books is masterfully plotted, beautifully written, and every character, no matter how important or not to the story, is realistic and three-dimensional. This one, however, is my favorite of the series; it concerns a pedophilia ring with ties to a major Hollywood studio, and is absolutely riveting.
Paperback: 305 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books (April 1, 2004)
Publisher Link: http://www.alyson.com/9781555838133.html
ISBN-10: 1555838138
ISBN-13: 978-1555838133
Amazon: The Burning Plain
Still devastated by the death of Josh, Henry nonetheless falls for a young actor he successfully defended against burglary charges. When the young man is murdered after leaving Henry’s house, Henry finds himself the target of a murder investigation. But the murders don’t stop, and with his life in desperate danger, Henry follows the trail of evidence, ever upward to the top levels of Los Angeles politics and Hollywood power. Michael Nava is the author of seven Henry Rios novels, five of which (Goldenboy, Howtown, The Hidden Law, The Death of Friends, and Rag and Bone) have been Lambda Literary Award winners. He is an attorney in private practice in San Francisco.
4) Like People in History by Felice Picano. The cover blurb from Edmund White calling it a “gay Gone with the Wind” is a bit hyperbolic, but this is one of my all-time favorite gay novels. Sweeping from the late 50’s through the early 90’s, it is the story of two gay cousins and their dysfunctional but loving friendship. With scenes at Woodstock to Fire Island in its 70’s heyday to ACT UP demonstrations, this book and its characters follow the development of gay culture from the closet of the 50’s/60’s through the hedonistic early days of freedom and pride through the horror of the AIDS plague. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and when you finish it, it will continue to resonate in your mind long after. A masterpiece from one of the community’s greatest writers.
Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Abacus (June 6, 1996)
Publisher Link: http://www.littlebrown.co.uk/Title/9780349108384
ISBN-10: 0349108382
ISBN-13: 978-0349108384
Amazon: Like People in History
Cousins Roger and Alistair become lifelong friends when they meet as boys in 1954. They discover their homosexuality and their lives intersect against the backdrop of 20th-century gay culture, from the beachboy surfer days of the 1960s, to Greenwich Village AIDS activism in the 1990s.
5) Steam by Jay B. Laws. Jay B. Laws only managed to publish two novels before he became an AIDS casualty in the early 90’s; it is heartbreaking to even think about the incredible work he could have produced had he not been taken so young. Steam, his first novel, is set in San Francisco while AIDS ravages the community there, and is centered around a haunted bathhouse. Everything in this book resonates, even twenty years later; the characters are realistic and heartbreaking, the story itself is a nail-biter, and Laws’ use of language extraordinary. He managed one more novel before he became too sick (the equally sublime The Unfinished), and was well on his way to becoming the gay Stephen King. Rest in peace, Jay, and thank you for sharing your extraordinary gifts with us.
Paperback: 350 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books; 1st edition (March 1991)
ISBN-10: 1555831842
ISBN-13: 978-1555831844
Amazon: Steam
6) Three Fortunes in One Cookie by Cochrane Lambert. This little-known and underappreciated gem of a novel came and went very quickly. Cursed with one of the worst covers ever given a gay novel, it was also set on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and was released the week Hurricane Katrina destroyed the region. It deserved much, much better. A complex and multi-themed novel with strong characters, a wonderful story, and a great romance to boot, it was about redemption, rebirth, and the complicated relationships within a family. Cochrane Lambert, two of the four writers who make up Timothy James Beck, gifted the world with an extraordinary work that also preserved and documented what life was like on the Gulf Coast before a natural disaster swept it all away. Well worth the read.
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books (September 1, 2005)
ISBN-10: 155583910X
ISBN-13: 978-1555839109
Amazon: Three Fortunes in One Cookie
Leaving behind a dead-end job, failed artistic aspirations, and the prospect of another cold New York winter, Phillip Powell returns to the town he spent years trying to escape to look after his mother, who has gone a little crazy. Two aunts-one of whom is a religious fanatic, the other a lesbian-a roommate who is both a hooker and a voyeur, an old classmate with a big secret, and Phillip's demented mother all play a part in Phillip's discovery that the complicated ties of home and family are often the very things that set us free.
7) All-American Boy by William J. Mann. One of Mann’s most powerful novels, with his trademark wit and style, this book is about coming to terms with terrible events in the past in order to free one’s self and move forward. Hauntingly written and heartbreaking in its realism, this book might not have been as popular as his others (The Men from the Boys, The Biograph Girl, Where the Boys Are, The Men from the Boys) but it is an excellent place to start reading the Mann canon.
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Kensington (May 1, 2006)
Publisher Link: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/finditem.cfm?itemid=9602
ISBN-10: 0758203292
ISBN-13: 978-0758203298
Amazon: All-American Boy
With these desperate words from the mysterious, distant mother he hasn’t seen in ten years, Wally Day finds his carefully constructed world falling in on itself. For years, the handsome actor has made denial his own particular art form - from his stalled career to his emotionless embrace of the hard-edged boys who regularly traipse through his bedroom. But now, faced with this sudden intrusion from his past, Wally must confront the reasons he left his hometown of Brown’s Mill in a cloud of anger, shame, and guilt. He must look face-to-face upon the ghosts of his past: his mother, whom he once loved more than anyone else in the world; his abusive father, who never looked at Wally without contempt and suspicion; the life-affirming Miss Aletha, whose love had given Wally refuge; and most of all, Zandy - the man whose memory still haunts him, whose love for Wally had been called a crime. As Wally unravels the dark side of his All-American family, he has a chance to make peace with the boy he was in order to become the man he needs to be. He is once more the 14-year-old living at Miss Aletha’s house on the wrong side of town, the music of Saturday Night Fever providing the charged, erotic soundtrack to his life. The world was on the exuberant edge of change in those days, and Wally relives the thrill of discovery, the promise of forbidden sex - and the mistake that cost him everything. It’s a journey that will take Wally back to his past-to a time when he was the good son, the smartest boy in his class, the shining picture of the All-American Boy. Bestselling author William J. Mann has written his most powerful work yet: a searing novel about the difference between going home and finding yourself there. By turns poignant and sexy, harrowing and hopeful, All American Boy is a big, wise book filled with insight, humor, hurt, truth, and the ever-renewing hope of love.
8) Comfort and Joy by Jim Grimsley. Any list of great gay writers of our time that does not include Jim Grimsley cannot be taken seriously. All of his work is extraordinary; this book is my personal favorite. A beautifully written love story about two men from different classes in Atlanta (one from a poor background, the other from a wealthy society family in Savannah), their romance is juxtaposed against their extremely different relationships with their families, culminating with Christmas visits to both. Complex and richly drawn, this book will make you laugh and cry, and ultimately leaves the reader the better for having read it.
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books (October 16, 2003)
Publisher Link: http://www.workman.com/products/9781565123960/
ISBN-10: 1565123964
ISBN-13: 978-1565123960
Amazon: Comfort and Joy
Ford McKinney is a devastatingly handsome, successful doctor, raised in an old Savannah family among good breeding and money. His longtime boyfriend, Dan Krell, is a shy hospital administrator with a painful childhood past. When the holidays arrive, they decide it's time to go home together. But the depth of their commitment is tested when Ford's parents cannot reconcile themselves to their son's choices, and Dan's secrets are exposed. Comfort and Joy is a poetic and finely-wrought novel that explores the difficult journey two men make toward love.
9) Where the Rainbow Ends by Jameson Currier. Jameson Currier is one of my favorite authors, and I first discovered his writing with this exquisite work. It is the story of a young man who flees the South in order to live his life honestly in New York in the late 1970’s, and the book covers the next ten years as he comes to term with life, love and finding himself. It is a heartbreaker-there are scenes that made me sob uncontrollably-but Currier is a master storyteller who shows us that no matter how far down into the depths we can go in this life, there is always love, beauty and hope to carry us through. A classic.
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Overlook TP; First Edition. first thus edition (September 1, 2000)
Publisher Link: http://www.overlookpress.com/where-the-rainbow-ends-1.html
ISBN-10: 1585670847
ISBN-13: 978-1585670840
Amazon: Where the Rainbow Ends
At the center of this epic tale is Robbie Taylor, who settles in New York City in 1978 as an optimistic, romantic young man with a circle of new friends. This powerful and passionate story of the trials and loves of a gay Everyman takes Robbie through a personal odyssey into enlightenment, spanning a period of almost fifteen years. As he navigates through the hedonism of his heady youth in Manhattan searching for faith, family, and understanding, Robbie is constantly being tested, like a modern-day Job. Currier masterfully weaves an ardent story about the families that we create for ourselves, a story that is at once lyrical, poignant, and sexy.
10) Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman. When I was editor at Harrington Park Press, I was proud of every book I published-but this one stands out above all the others. When I first read the manuscript, I was stunned by the strength and simplicity of the authorial voice, and before I was even finished with the first chapter I knew I had to publish this. A gorgeous story about a troubled teen who falls in love with a ghost and then has to uncover the truth about the ghost’s life, it is still one of my favorite gay novels, and one of my favorite ghost stories of all time. Steve is an exceptionally gifted story teller; one I wish would publish a book every year, and that still wouldn’t be enough for me. It is to be savored, cherished and enjoyed, and should be required reading for every teenager.
Reading level: Young Adult
Perfect Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Lethe Press (March 1, 2008)
Publisher Link: http://www.lethepressbooks.com/gay.htm#BermanVintage
ISBN-10: 1590210530
ISBN-13: 978-1590210536
Amazon: Vintage: A Ghost Story
In a small town, a lonely teen walking along a highway one autumn evening meets the boy of his dreams, a boy who happens to have died decades ago and haunts the road. Awkward crushes, both bitter and sweet, lead him to face not only the ghost but youthful dreams and childish fears. With its cast of offbeat friends, antiques and Ouija boards, Vintage offers readers a memorable blend of dark humor, chills and love that is not your typical teen romance.
About Greg Herren: I am the author of six mystery novels set in New Orleans: BOURBON STREET BLUES, JACKSON SQUARE JAZZ, MURDER IN THE RUE DAUPHINE, MURDER IN THE RUE ST. ANN , MARDI GRAS MAMBO and MURDER IN THE RUE CHARTRES, which will be released in November 2007. I also work as senior editor for The Harrington Park Press, and have edited, to date, five anthologies currently in print. I also have a short story in the forthcoming NEW ORLEANS NOIR called "Annunciation Shotgun."
Murder in the Garden District: A Chanse MacLeod Mystery by Greg Herren
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books; 1 edition (October 1, 2009)
Publisher Link: http://www.alyson.com/9781593501051.html
ISBN-10: 1593501056
ISBN-13: 978-1593501051
Amazon: Murder in the Garden District: A Chanse MacLeod Mystery
Behind the beautiful facade of a Garden District mansion, a powerful political family's secrets end in murder. With another major hurricane heading towards the Katrina-ravaged city of New Orleans, it's up to Chanse MacLeod to dig through decades of murders and cover-ups to find the truth before more lives are ruined....including his own and those close to him.