Has anyone read any good gay novels lately? I've tried several but was severely disappointed - most of the ones I've read were either riddled with cliches or preoccupied with sex. I'd like to find something written with passion and care that talks about gay life in all its aspects - not just another coming-out story or a tale of hopeless lust.

Any suggestions?

It's not a new book, but one of the most fascinating written about gay life in San Francisco in the early 1980s is Robert Glück's JACK THE MODERNIST. Gay Men's Press originally published it, Serpent's Tail reissued it, I'm not sure who's putting it out now.

I know exactly what you mean...one of my favorite gay books is Creating Man by Michael G. Cornelius (check it out at amazon...) It's exactly what you are looking for and will really touch your heart...

I recently finished "Last Summer" by Michael Thomas Ford and found it quite enjoyable.

Have you read The Swimming Pool Library by Allan Hollinghurst? I know it's not new, but I think it's one of the best. It certainly doesn't need to be hidden in gay fiction.

Michael Cunningham's novels are the best, of course "The Hours" is more literature than a fun read, but his others, "Flesh and Blood" and "Home at the End of the World" are very good. David Leavitt's short stories are good, although I didn't like "Martin Bauman" at all, "The Page Turner" was very good.

As I have said on several other threads, read Joe Keanan's two books, "Blue Heaven" and "Putting on the Ritz", they are very funny, just don't read them in public, you will laugh out loud and embarrass yourself.

"The Summer They Came" is a good read. I liked it a lot. It's bascially about the small Rhode Island town becoming the new P-Town, unbeknownst to the townsfolk. Hiliarity ensues.

Try "The Persian Boy" by Mary Renault. It's a fictionalized account of the last seven years in the life of Alexander the Great as written by his male lover. Not a "gay" book per se--the term didn't exist back then--but the two most important relationships in the book are between Alexander and his boyhood friend/lover and the Persian he later takes up with. There is male-to-male sex, adventure, jealousy, lust and a great history to boot. A great read.

If you buy it, but it through us.

I second the motion on the "Swimming Pool Library" by Alan Hollinghurst. It is a complex and sexy tale set in London and Africa at two points in the 20th century.

I just finished the oldie-but-goodie "Maurice" and enjoyed it immensely, although the style was more 19th century than 20th century and it was a little hard to get into (you may now proceed with your worst puns).

"Lost Language of the Cranes" by Davis Leavitt. That is an excellent book, though not all that recent.

I read a wonderful gay novel a few years back. However, I forget the name.....It was a love story that took place in the 1800's, I think!

I will try to find the name....it was AWESOME!

I've got two for you...
METES AND BOUNDS and BOY MEETS BOY. They are two wonderful coming-of-age stories. Of course, Christopher Rice's A DENSITY OF SOULS from 2001 and THE SNOW GARDEN from 2002 are always a couple of top picks of mine.

I'm not sure if it is even in print any more, but years ago I read "Taking Care of Mrs. Carroll" and enjoyed it immensely. As I recall, it felt like a book where characters (the main ones in particular) happened to be gay, as opposed to a "gay novel" -- that was a big reason I liked it.

Anything by E. Lynn Harris or James Earl Hardy are excellent reads.

Da Kid.

I didn't care much for "The Summer They Came" — perhaps because I rushed through it so I could return it to a friend. I'll try it again and take more time.

I thought William Storandt's first book: "Outbound: Finding a Man, Sailing the Ocean" (I hope I got that right) was terrific.

Does anyone know of any other good gay biographies/autobiographies?

As for nonfiction, Paul Monette's "Becoming a Man" and "Borrowed Time" are wonderful. "Becoming a Man" is his struggle with himself and finally becoming a complete person by coming out. I related to that book so much, his feelings and emotions shine through. It is not a coming of age story, it mainly deals with college and after. "Borrowed Time" is the story of his partner's struggle and death from AIDS. The first won the National Book Award, the second should have.

I don't know if you count David Sedaris as fiction or non-fiction, but either way read his stuff, he is the best modern satirist writing today.

I just read a couple reviews of "Mr Timothy" -- a local gay author's novel of what happened to Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" Tiny Tim after that special Xmas Day. The novel finds him at age 23 when he's without his crutch, living in a brothel and unable to get an erection. eek!

He has an "ambiguous, or perhaps unformed, sexual orientation."

Review of \"Mr Timothy\"

It sounds like a fun read -- I too am a fan of Dickens -- and I like this genre of literature where the author takes a minor character from a novel/play and turns the story or invents a new one from there -- such as in "Rosencrans and Gildenstern are Dead,""The Wind Done Gone" and "Gertrude and Claudius."

[ December 11, 2003, 10:52 AM: Message edited by: DCBucky ]