This collection of stories about gay men, who are successful teachers, lawyers, managers, and college students, revolves around their search for affection, companionship, and spiritual satisfaction
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Sixteen stories that mainly contrast the lives of gay men approaching middle age--men who've been at peace with their sexual orientation--with the psychological adjustments necessary for their childhood families to make. In his first book, Gambone evokes an oddly low-key world, full of New Yorker-like bourgeoisie who simply happen to be homosexual or to have a homosexual in the family. The two noteworthy pieces are the title story and ``Enrollment,'' the latter concerning Nick, from a close Italian family, whose cousin Monica marries into a Jewish clan. The story traces the family's acceptance of Nick's homosexuality, and Nick's small epiphany, at a naming ceremony for Monica's child, where the idea of family becomes almost cosmic. In the title piece, Robert Garthside, a yuppie, meets up with Bunkie, a black southern boy who lives with his uncle Otto. Garthside falls in love with Bunkie but can't accept that Bunkie and Otto, who swishes and camps, are not interested in the political consciousness-raising so de rigueur to urban homosexuals. Of the rest, largely well-crafted notes in a minor key, the most successful include ``Salon,'' about a young man's passage through a chic salon (a ``statement--in turquoise, peach, and grey'') to the realization that the salon's false glamour can't save him from everydayness, his inability to figure out what ``attraction and flirtation and boredom are all about''; and ``Fatherly,'' which forces a self-righteous man to confront the eccentric but healing power of a Kojak-like Episcopal priest. The others are minimalist slices of life about flirtations, breakups, and ``the knowledge of our needs.'' Overall, a mild-mannered look at middle-class homosexuals trying to fit themselves gracefully into the families they come from. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Most of the characters in this impressive first collection are in their 30s, struggling with long-term relationships and trying to deal with the long, uninterrupted stretch of adulthood ahead of them. Though the characters are also gay, these stories aren't about the fact of homosexuality or coming out, but rather about the unique problems these men face as they approach midlife without benefit of institutions available to others, such as marriage. In the title story, set like the rest in Boston, Robert, a white, "good-intentioned" liberal, makes a desperate but "politically correct" effort to free Bunkie, an inexperienced, black 20-year-old newly arrived from Alabama, of the influence of his flamboyant uncle. Similarly, in "Initiating Him," middle-aged Marty befriends a confused younger man, recalling his own initiation into a world of others like himself: "I wanted to dump the entire cornucopia of our history and culture onto his lap." "Saying the Truth" subtly probes an overpowering subject, AIDS, with plenty of emotion, none of it cheap or sentimental. With these well-drawn and well-chosen lives, Gambone helps move fiction about gays out from under the limiting rubric of "gay literature." As with all good writing, these stories focus on the particular as a way to explore the universal.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.05. Seller Inventory # G0525933115I3N10
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: HPB-Ruby, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_383460985
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Books From California, Simi Valley, CA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First Edition / First Printing as identified with "1" in the full number line.Edges shows light foxing. Pages are clean and intact. Seller Inventory # mon0002395101
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Irish Booksellers, Portland, ME, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. SHIPS FROM USA. Used books have different signs of use and do not include supplemental materials such as CDs, Dvds, Access Codes, charts or any other extra material. All used books might have various degrees of writing, highliting and wear and tear and possibly be an ex-library with the usual stickers and stamps. Dust Jackets are not guaranteed and when still present, they will have various degrees of tear and damage. All images are Stock Photos, not of the actual item. book. Seller Inventory # 10-0525933115-G
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Bolerium Books Inc., San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. 257p., very good first edition in quarter-cloth boards and unclipped dj. Seller Inventory # 15692
Quantity: 5 available
Seller: NWJbooks, Lancaster, PA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First printing. Gilt lettering on white & olive covers in a white & grey pictorial dust jacket. 8vo, 257pp. Seller Inventory # 007795
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Small Volume Books, Providence, RI, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First Edition. 8vo. 257 pp. Green paper-covered boards backed in cream cloth in unclipped pictorial dust jacket. Very light edgewear to dj. Scantly sunned along board edges. Friendly and personal inscription from the author to half title page: "For Jan- with love and many thanks for your friendship and quiet support all these years. Love, Phil" dated June 12, 1991. Collection of short stories focusing on the struggles of life as an openly gay person in 1980s & 1990s Boston. Seller Inventory # 51
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Bolerium Books Inc., San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. 257p., personal inscription to SF poet Lewis Ellingham, signed by the author, Ellingham's stamp on fep, very good first edition in quarter-cloth boards and unclipped dj. Seller Inventory # 248027
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Inkberry Books, Niwot, CO, U.S.A.
hardback. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. ix, 257 p. ; 23 cm. Seller Inventory # 1005657
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Callaghan Books South, New Port Richey, FL, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Ptg. (1st printing, 1st edition) Sturdy book, cream cloth spine, gray boards, bright gilt lettering on spine, 257 pages plus brief biographical note. DJ glossy beneath mylar with b/w photo of sky and two sculptures of male on front, cream spine and back with praise. DJ and book, both Very Fine. Seller Inventory # 821
Quantity: 1 available