Peter Dube

Collections such as this also invariably bring up the question, “What is a ‘gay story,’ anyway?” Is it simply a story that a gay person has written? Something that features gay characters prominently? How much focus needs to be on the uniqueness of gay life, or can the protagonist be someone who “just happens to be gay?” Does the author have to be gay—or male—to do it justice? With this anthology, Peter Dubé makes the case for stories that show gay men as people, not a stereotyped “sassy gay friend” appendage to someone straight without an interior life of their own. In these stories characters get up, walk around, and speak to the reader as flesh and blood people would. The men portrayed in Best Gay Stories 2011 are wounded, real and above all very human. It is a valuable family portrait, a snapshot of our many different stories and many different lives.… (más)

Peter Dube's introductory essay makes a powerful case for bringing together historically homophobic surrealism and contemporary queer writing, a case championed by the stories in this collection. I must confess that there was more than one piece in the anthology that left me with flashbacks to drama student performance art, but having said that, the overall quality is very high.

As with any anthology, there are bound to be some stories that appeal more than others to any single reader, and I think this particular collection is ideally suited to the 'hit and run' method. You may need to give yourself permission to skip the odd story that does nothing for you. But, more than that, I found that I needed breathing space between the stories that I enjoyed the most, to give the ideas room to breath, to settle into your brain.

For me, some stories, like Rome Adventures, were a bit like a shot of lemoncello home brew ~ a single strong taste, and not really to my taste ~ whereas the ones I really enjoyed were more like a snifter of a really good brandy ~ worth taking the time to swirl around in the glass to let all the different layers and notes unfold.

Some of the stories that stood out for me as responding to that treatment? Epidemic, which threads together narrative fragments with the lyrical certainty of a dream. Dim Star Described which is a beautiful pitch-perfect literary urban fantasy. Five Views of Mt. Fuji, a series of layered sketches that draws the reader in. Yolk, which is short, and rich, and physical, and glowing, like the rich gold of a Renaissance egg tempera painting. The Magus Club, which I almost didn't want to let settle into my mind, because it's genuinely creepy.

Overall, this is a well balanced collection, showcasing some vivid and unusual writing; a collection I recommend dipping into.

(Originally reviewed for Rainbow Reviews: http://rainbow-reviews.com/?p=968)… (más)