Small Favors - Softcover

Mayers, James Russell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1555832598 ISBN 13: 9781555832599

Publisher: Alyson Pubns, 1998

Synopsis

A young boy falls in love with his minister. A high school student moves in with his gay uncle. An artist's model comes out of the closet naked. Add a nine-year-old transvestite and a murder, and what do you get? SMALL FAVORS--stories about gay life in rural Michigan that are funny and insightful, poignant, and wise.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Mayes's debut of interconnected short stories explores the common themes of love and sexuality with a fresh new sensitivity. Omar and Bennie are the childhood friends whose wanderings, relationships, and loves make up this book as Mayes follows the lives of gay men from initial encounters with homosexuality to commitment to lifelong companions. He is especially strong in his descriptions of young boys' first experiences, which range from comic and obvious to sweet and subtle. During the summer of 1971 (``Peggy Hagerman's Bikini'') in Mud Lake, Mich., Omar and Bennie's fascination with a precocious neighbor evolves from stealing her bathing suit to wearing women's clothes to trying to con the town's teenage Don Juan into dating Bennie; in the end, their dress-up game proves more than a meaningless escapade. In ``International Male,'' an uncle tries to ease his gay nephew's transition into adulthood with honest advice like ``you got to know for sure [you're gay] before you go making plans.'' On a more subtle note, (``Cow Girl''), Omar's lover remembers the confusing sexual tension that coursed through the house when his cousin and her girlfriend screamed, laughed, and made rhythmic slapping noises behind the guest bedroom door--offering him a close-up glimpse at forbidden love. Mayes also paints convincing portraits of men struggling with their sexual identities: In ``Only in French,'' Omar, now a college student in Manhattan, unsuccessfully balances a girlfriend, love for his male roommate, and the disturbing news of a nearby murder during a gay-bashing spree. There are some flat and confusing moments in the finale, ``Saint Peter Cut to Pieces,'' with its visions of a dismembered saint, and the opening, ``Oblivion,'' with its disoriented old man and his retarded daughter. But elsewhere, when Mayes stays away from fantasy and illusion, his everyday shines with an extraordinary light. Gentle, endearing, sometimes campy, appropriately crass, often wry, always funny. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

Set in a variety of locales, from rural homes to island resorts, many of these 18 stories deal with gay awakenings. The 15-year-old hero of "International Male," for example, discovers his sexual identity when he goes to live with his gay uncle. In "Peggy Hagerman's Bikini," a boy helps his best friend dress up in stolen women's clothing, only to find the masquerade spinning wildly out of control. One of the strongest selections is "High Street," a pot-induced tale of unrequited passion among three college friends: Dana lusts for her gay friend, Bennie, who in turn yearns for his straight-acting friend, Al. Though several characters appear in more than one story, few traits link them; at times they seem to share only the same name. Mayes often forsakes character development to concentrate on elaborate plots and situations, though only the final story, "Saint Peter Cut to Pieces," where the gardener and the yard boy run off blissfully together from the estate where they work, seems to be wildly contrived. Occasionally, the material transcends the author's lean, flat style: the title character in the witty "Lola Gets," a drag queen, warmly tells her new roommate, a male stripper, "If you got a boyfriend, you have him over for dinner, just like everyone else does."
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Alyson Pubns
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1555832598
• ISBN 13: 9781555832599
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304