Let’s face it: Ethan Mordden is a cool name. Before you’ve sampled any of his writing, you already expect a dark, Michael Schiefelbein-quality story from an author with a name like that.
Think David Sedaris instead, but don’t be frightened if you are not a Sedaris fan. The similarity is only in the autobiographical, family-oriented, short-story nature of the presentation. Mordden certainly doesn’t appear to be writing to generate laughs or fulfill therapy requirements.
Indeed, this is not comedy. It may not even be autobiography, as the book is clearly listed as one of the author’s fictional works. But who cares...it is superbly written. And just because it’s not comedy doesn’t mean it is without wit. Bud (Ethan), our main character, is bursting with wit. You just have to be paying attention sometimes to get it.
The stories progress more-or-less forward in time. At first, Bud is at home, presenting the “rules” for living at home. To help shatter any notions you have that Ethan is anything like David Sedaris, here’s Rule 1:
Don’t try to love Them; just get along with Them. Love in families only makes for ghastly scenes that will haunt you for life.
A pretty strong start. The book opens with a very short introduction that spells out his purpose: “I want to show how [gay life] feels, how it pursues its self-discovery.” He also lays out a theme that will bind all of the stories together: the need for comradeship. Hence the title. The stories follow this theme very well.
The introduction also makes a claim that puts me into a minority position. Mordden says: “This may be why The New York Times is so fanatic about terming gays ‘homosexuals.’ It’s like calling blacks ‘niggers,’ calling Jews ‘kikes.’ It demotes them, questions their right to a culture.”
I was shocked when I read this. If you asked me to give you the gay equivalent of “nigger” and “kike”, I would reply, without hesitation, “faggot.” It’s a word that is difficult to use nicely, even in exclusively gay circles. But “homosexual” is just as bad? I refuse to accept that. It may be clinical, but it fits me to a T. If your argument is that the right beats us with it, trust me...they’ll beat us with “gay” sooner or later. I won’t run from myself forever.
Sorry, I’m ranting, and needlessly, because this book doesn’t continue to dwell on this. The stories are much better than the intro!
Instead, the book really is about comradeship, and each story provides a fresh perspective. Some are quite moving, like the breathtaking tale of brotherly love in “Kid Stuff,” the unique perspective on maleness in “Hardhats,” and the unfulfilled quest of “I am the Sleuth.” There isn’t a weak story in the lot. You could probably read the stories multiple times and not grow tired of them. And they’re set in New York!
You might be surprised that one could write so much on this theme. Yet this is only book 2 of a 7-book “Buddies” cycle. CGM took a poll to ask whether we’d pick another Mordden book in the future. The answer was...decidedly yes!