Second Thoughts: More Queer & Weird Stories by Steve Berman
Title: Second Thoughts: More Queer & Weird Stories 
Author: Steve Berman
Type: Shorts, Gay Fiction
Rating: Good
Length: 212
Black of The Book: In his second collection of stories an essays, author Steve Berman once more guides readers through the dark paths of his imagination with such tales as a nursery rhyme tempting a young lover, the scent of loneliness enticing children to eat away a caretaker's historic house, and a pair of Victorian-era burglars seeking their fortune in a fey-filled London.
I enjoyed this anthology a lot, I have in the past read a couple of the anthologies that Berman has put together as well as some of his other works. I have enjoyed the majority of them thus far, which lead me to this point. I've been sitting on this book for some time now as I tend to do anymore. I picked it up last month because I enjoy reading short stories while working on Nanowrimo, novel's distract me too much.
One of the things that I liked the most about this anthology was actually the essays--and I use this term loosely--after each story. Berman gives the reader a bit of an insight into his imagination and into the stories themselves in little afterwards. Sometimes the afterwards are essentially stories in and of themselves.
That is not to say that I did not enjoy the stories, they were good. But for me there is something fascinating about seeing into the creative process and into a creators mind that I enjoy. I love seen WIP art, and so forth and so on. A couple of my favorites from this anthology were: Always Listen to a 'Good Pair of Underwear', I do not want to give too much away about this story but let's just say that the underwear talks. The over all effect is quiet humorous from beginning to end. 'A Rotten Obligation', I think that it was the ending of this story that really did it for me more then anything else. I cheered at that point. Though I would have liked a little bit more back story on this one. How did Daley die and Joe get stuck with the body? Anyway, the basic premise of the story; Daley want's to be burred some place warmer and Joe is taking him there. However, events along the way do not go as planned.
This last story, I enjoyed because I felt that I really speaks to the truth about human's and how 'queer' desire can be in everyone. We don't like to talk about it, we don't like to admit it but that is the truth. Desire doesn't fit into a neat little box it is messy and full of sink holes that we never see coming. 'Hidden in Central Asia', is the story of the author's trip to China and some of the adventures that occur there--mainly with other class members on the trip. I guess the other reason I liked this story is that trips do not always go as planned and yet we make them into these great things before and after. But I've been on trips before that were never as fun or exciting as they were supposed to be. I guess there is a very human feel to the entirety of this story and I really liked that.
Well, that is all from me for today. I hope everyone has a good weekend. Cheers.
Author: Steve Berman
Type: Shorts, Gay Fiction
Rating: Good
Length: 212
Black of The Book: In his second collection of stories an essays, author Steve Berman once more guides readers through the dark paths of his imagination with such tales as a nursery rhyme tempting a young lover, the scent of loneliness enticing children to eat away a caretaker's historic house, and a pair of Victorian-era burglars seeking their fortune in a fey-filled London.
I enjoyed this anthology a lot, I have in the past read a couple of the anthologies that Berman has put together as well as some of his other works. I have enjoyed the majority of them thus far, which lead me to this point. I've been sitting on this book for some time now as I tend to do anymore. I picked it up last month because I enjoy reading short stories while working on Nanowrimo, novel's distract me too much.
One of the things that I liked the most about this anthology was actually the essays--and I use this term loosely--after each story. Berman gives the reader a bit of an insight into his imagination and into the stories themselves in little afterwards. Sometimes the afterwards are essentially stories in and of themselves.
That is not to say that I did not enjoy the stories, they were good. But for me there is something fascinating about seeing into the creative process and into a creators mind that I enjoy. I love seen WIP art, and so forth and so on. A couple of my favorites from this anthology were: Always Listen to a 'Good Pair of Underwear', I do not want to give too much away about this story but let's just say that the underwear talks. The over all effect is quiet humorous from beginning to end. 'A Rotten Obligation', I think that it was the ending of this story that really did it for me more then anything else. I cheered at that point. Though I would have liked a little bit more back story on this one. How did Daley die and Joe get stuck with the body? Anyway, the basic premise of the story; Daley want's to be burred some place warmer and Joe is taking him there. However, events along the way do not go as planned.
This last story, I enjoyed because I felt that I really speaks to the truth about human's and how 'queer' desire can be in everyone. We don't like to talk about it, we don't like to admit it but that is the truth. Desire doesn't fit into a neat little box it is messy and full of sink holes that we never see coming. 'Hidden in Central Asia', is the story of the author's trip to China and some of the adventures that occur there--mainly with other class members on the trip. I guess the other reason I liked this story is that trips do not always go as planned and yet we make them into these great things before and after. But I've been on trips before that were never as fun or exciting as they were supposed to be. I guess there is a very human feel to the entirety of this story and I really liked that.
Well, that is all from me for today. I hope everyone has a good weekend. Cheers.