Beyond Definition: New Writing from Gay and Lesbian San Francisco

This aptly titled anthology presents a set of unpretentious voices speaking plainly about the realities of San Francisco's gay and lesbian scene as it has evolved and affected today's society. Especially notable contributions to this compelling collection come from Robin White recalling the potentially erotic occasions of his "Brushes with Barbers"; Judith Fauconnier in her meditations on the "Breaking" of both hearts and spirits in the wake of a breakup; Lucy Jane Bledsoe in "The Rescue" as her narrator considers the crumbling of a crush on a businesswoman in suit and sneakers ("How low could I sink?"); and Edward Wolf in the moving AIDS poem, "Garden." Throughout, the epidemic that has ravaged San Francisco's gay population casts its shadow. Indeed, it permeates these powerful writings: "Isn't that just the most awful question: is it safe to kiss?" asks Robert Kaplan in "AIDS Death #54,911." Filled with loss, grief, and the spirit to endure, this is a welcome addition to gay and lesbian literature. Whitney Scott

There is an in-your-face quality to the pieces in this thin anthology of poems and short prose by some 50 writers. This is not mainstream gay and lesbian writing (like the "Men on Men" and "Women on Women" series), which helps make it bold, political, funny, and at moments profoundly sad. Here one can find aspects of what some refer to as the fringes of the gay and lesbian community: radical faeries, the transgendered, and folk into rough sex and body piercing. People of color and women are well represented. Susie Bright sums it up best in her introduction: "Beyond Definition is an entire volume dedicated to stories of sexual identity that weren't visible or understood before, let alone appreciated." Recommended for libraries and resource centers with established gay/lesbian collections.
Lee Arnold, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.