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zefrog's review
2.0
This feels like it could be a time capsule, a not that short overview of the state of gay literature at the end of the 1990s.
If this anthology is anything to go by, then authors writing "gay stories" at the time were interested in only three themes: confused teens, parenting, and AIDS. The stories here seem to carefully alternate between each. Though never the twain shall meet, apparently.
There is only one slightly odd story, Second Island, that doesn't cover any of those. It is however about death and loss, so not too far off.
For me there were only four stories out of twenty (Regular Flattop, Quiet Game, Quality Time, and Silent Protest) that evinced any kind of emotional response. The rest left me pretty much cold, which, considering the rather hefty subject matters, is perhaps not a great sign.
Still, at least, the writing was decent: none of the stylistic or syntactic howlers one is wont to encounter in such collections. Small mercies...
At the end of the day it's all very samey, both in terms of topics and in terms of voices (white, North-American male). Perhaps reading this can help us be thankful for how far we've moved down the path of diversity, though there is still much ground to cover.
If this anthology is anything to go by, then authors writing "gay stories" at the time were interested in only three themes: confused teens, parenting, and AIDS. The stories here seem to carefully alternate between each. Though never the twain shall meet, apparently.
There is only one slightly odd story, Second Island, that doesn't cover any of those. It is however about death and loss, so not too far off.
For me there were only four stories out of twenty (Regular Flattop, Quiet Game, Quality Time, and Silent Protest) that evinced any kind of emotional response. The rest left me pretty much cold, which, considering the rather hefty subject matters, is perhaps not a great sign.
Still, at least, the writing was decent: none of the stylistic or syntactic howlers one is wont to encounter in such collections. Small mercies...
At the end of the day it's all very samey, both in terms of topics and in terms of voices (white, North-American male). Perhaps reading this can help us be thankful for how far we've moved down the path of diversity, though there is still much ground to cover.
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