His: v. 2: Brilliant New Fiction by Gay Writers Book

Anthologies of gay male fiction have become increasingly popular during the past decade. Edmund White and David Leavitt have produced volumes of classic stories, and the Men on Men series (now edited by David Bergman) has presented works by both established and new writers. In the past three years Robert Drake and Terry Wolverton's His and Hers series have distinguished themselves by featuring the work of (mostly) up-and-coming writers in a format that is both accessible and pleasurable to read. Winner of a 1998 Lambda Literary Award, His2--the second of the series--contains 19 pieces that are beautifully written, surprising, and often provocative. From Alex Jeffers's "A Handbook for the Castaways," a Daniel Defoe-like meditation on male desire penned in 18th-century diction, to William J. Mann's "Say Goodbye to Middletown," a story of lost love, sex between men and boys, and eventual redemption, the stories here deal with the complexities and emotional incongruities of gay male sexual attractions. Rick Stanford's "The Gospel of Bartholomew Legate: Three Fragments" is an experimental exploration of religion and lust that is startling in both form and content, and "Whose Song?" by Thomas Glave (winner of an O. Henry prize in 1997) is a shockingly taut tale of rape, lust, and repentance that moves us as it unnerves us. His2 is as fine an introduction to gay male writing as you will find. --Michael BronskiRead More