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For over a decade St. Martin's Press's line of Stonewall Inn Editions has given us some of the best gay literature. St. Martin's recent decision to end Stonewall Inn creates a gap that is hard to fill. One of the line's latest (and last) publications is a paperback reprint of Briefly Told Lies: Stories by C. Bard Cole (207 pages; $13.95).
C. Bard Cole emerged from the queer punk movement of the 1990s. His stories and cartoons appeared in Holy Tit-clamps, Riotboy, Dirty, Boy Trouble and other "zines", not to mention the self-published chapbooks Tattooed Love Boys and Fag Sex in High Schools. Briefly Told Lives is Cole's first mainstream collection of stories and drawings. In a recent interview in The Stranger, Cole announced that "gay literature is over. In a way, my book killed it. That's why I wrote it. That's what I hope to achieve as a writer, to end gay literature." Though there will always be books by or about lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people, we understand Cole's reluctance to be segregated in the "alternative lifestyles" section of the local Barnes & Noble. Though Briefly Told Lives deals mostly with gay men, its sharp character sketches and clever drawings should appeal to anyone regardless of sexual orientation. Cole's stories, while brief enough for beach reading, are well-written "diamonds in the rough"; the start of what we hope will be a long literary career. Far from "killing" gay literature, Briefly Told Lives guarantees its future.
"Peter Gilbert" is the pen-name of a retired British army man, who has traveled the world and writes from his own experience, or so we are told. Set in Kenya during the early 1970's, Sex Safari is "an erotic adventure" about three young men and their sex adventures with each other and with Robert, a woofy Air Force officer. There is also a buried treasure in there somewhere, in case you are interested.
Dan Tusitala is the nom-de-plume of David Evans, who has written several novels as well as biographies of Dusty Springfield, Cat Stevens and Freddie Mercury. His Bad Boys Book of Bedtime Stories (Zipper Books; 246 pages; $12.95) features "men who don't take no for an answer" in a collection of "hard and horny stories". Perhaps because he doesn't have to carry the weight of a whole novel, Tusitala does a better job getting us off than do either Gilbert or Lear. The characters are hot and the stories are hotter, which make for a good sex book.
Recently I reviewed Wild Animals I Have Known, Kevin Bentley's collected and selected diaries. Just before he published his own diaries, Bentley edited After Words: Real Sex From Gay Men's Diaries (Alyson Books; 247 pages; $14.95). When I first heard about After Words, I thought it was just going to be another excuse for a collection of one-hand fiction. I was pleasantly surprised to find instead a collection of well-written, interesting - and arousing! -- diary entries by the likes of Clifford Chase, David Leddick, Felice Picano, Andrew Ramer and Bentley himself. In my review of Bentley's published diaries, I complained that gay literature tends to leave the sex out of homosexuality. After Words makes no such mistake. From one night stands to long-term relationships, breakup to makeup, hustlers and threesomes and S&M, this book has it all.
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There's a lot of good, gayrotic fiction coming out of London's Millivres Prowler Group - Millivres, Prowler and Zipper. A case in point is Sex Safari by Peter Gilbert (Prowler Books; 301 pages; $13.95).
From Upstart Press comes Unspeakable Acts, the first novel by Walker Meade (199 pages; $12.95). Though not gay related, Unspeakable Acts received some good coverage in the queer press. Dr. Forest Jamison returns to his home town in Indiana only to be involved as a witness in a gruesome murder affecting a beloved friend's family. Will Dr. Jamison hide the truth to protect those he loves? This moral dilemma forms the crux of this riveting and disturbing novel. Walker Meade is a retired publisher who finally has the time to write books. Hopefully, Unspeakable Acts is only the first product of Meade's new, post-retirement career. It sure beats playing shuffleboard.
Jesse Monteagudo is an avid reader and freelance writer who lives
in South Florida with his partner of 17 years. He can be reached at