During the past thirty or so months I’ve reviewed books that I liked, that I found difficult, or unpleasant, and some that were just plain mediocre. Among them were three books of short stories. As part of those reviews I’ve said that I’ve never liked the short story or novella format, that I somehow always felt like I’d missed the point…or worse, wondered why the story was written. I then reviewed and praised, sometimes highly praised, the stories of Larry Kinsman, A Well-Ordered Life, and Andrew Holleran In September, the Light Changes. I even had some positive words for Ken Harvey’s If You Were With Me, Everything Would Be All Right.
The Men on Men 2000 short stories, each by a different author, have proven no different from these earlier three books… I still profess not to like the genre, yet again I confess that the tales are well written, sometimes emotionally draining, and, dare I say it, totally enjoyable! Gathered by two savvy editors (David Berman and Karl Woelz), Men on Men 2000 is the tenth in a series of “best gay fiction of the year.”
The general themes are very much in tune with the issues of the new millennium. Several deal with gay fatherhood, of the sorrow when a same-sex relationship ends and where children are involved, of weekend fathers jealously guarding a relationship with his son, trying to husband time together.
Particularly moving was “Quiet Game” by William Lane Clark. The narrator is left with five-year-old Benjamin and younger Runyon, sons of his partner who has now moved temporarily to Hawaii…only temporarily is really permanent. Ben and Runyon have been loved, cared for, schooled, protected and parented more by the narrator than by their biological father. The plot deals with the kids’ visit to their mom (with whom narrator gets on well). But since narrator has neither legal nor social standing when mom keeps the kids and sends them on to their grandparents there is nothing to be done. In fact the biological father has appeared. “Whatever happened would happen between the parents and the grandparents, the father, the mother, and their children, their family.” What loss! What sadness!
One story deals with same sex domestic violence. “Home” by Bill Gordon captures in drearily evocative detail the relationship between a poor, young man who’d been raised in dysfunction and who now possesses, manipulates and controls his young partner. The relationship, once minimally functional (at least each got some emotional need met by the other) has now deteriorated. The dominated intends to end the relationship, but still is dominated, humiliated, beaten. Yet stays! The final paragraph is open to interpretation. Perhaps the relationship finally will end…or not!
Domestic violence is rampant in our society, only recently publicized in straight relationships and still not widely recognized in same sex partnerships. The pain, the lack of control, the fear, the ambivalence fairly flow to the reader. “Home” is not easy reading! It sure as hell is excellent writing!
Coming of age stories have always been popular fare…whether straight or gay. This collection has several. I especially liked “Regular Flattop” by J. G. Hayes. The story line is sparse. Three teen boys hang together in a very tough Irish-American neighborhood. One dies (it is unclear how) leaving the others to grieve. The narrator realizing his gay nature fights his feelings causing even greater guilt at the loss of his loved friend. The characters grow, become more self-aware, finally reach a space where they can acknowledge sorrow, tenderness, love. This beautifully written story literally rises from the page so evocative is the description and character development. This Men on Men 2000 collection I think is worth the price for this story alone.
There are also a number of AIDS stories, written from several vantage points…coming to terms with one’s own death, living in a partnership where AIDS is an ever-present subtext, coming to terms with being HIV positive, a partner’s coming to terms with a lover’s infection…all these and more are here. This story group, while wonderfully written, for the most part resonates less with me not because I am unsympathetic but because I have more personal connection with domestic violence, with coming-of-age feelings, and with gay fatherhood. Nevertheless, among these stories one seems especially meaningful.
“Arrival” by David Vernon deals with an HIV-positive guy and his childhood best (female) friend at a trip to Disney World. The two take time to re-connect while spending time in the fantasy world’s attractions, The Space Mountain ride, from the lines to get aboard, through the ride proper and finally through the exit, is metaphor for the emotions and life situation of the narrator. And, it seems, the story is already an award winner in 1999.
Well here I am again recommending yet another book of short stories with only a few reservations. Perhaps the form has come to meet my needs in a era where there is never enough time, when reading time is often snatched half an hour here, ten minutes there. Maybe that explains why my taste has shifted to the literary equivalent of the forty-five minute “Queer As Folk” episode…then again maybe not!