Shaun Frisky Reviews “Between Men: Best New Gay Fiction”

Between Men: Best New Gay Fiction
Review by Shaun Frisky
Photos by Kurt / Bonescribe
What better way to celebrate some the best gay writers today than by gathering them together for one big orgy? One of the most prominent, intelligent and handsome scholars of gay literature today, Richard Canning, has edited this collection of short stories. With two collections of interviews with prominent queer authors under his belt, he is the ideal person to mix and mingle these diverse, exciting and controversial writers. In his personal and clever introduction Canning writes about the tremendous span of subjects Between Men covers. It’s impossible to describe everything this treasure trove contains so I’ll point out some of my favourite moments, ones that have stuck in my mind well after finishing them.
Kevin Killian’s “Greensleeves” describes a married man named Charlie taking a young male sub for the simple reason that he “needs a change.” Their relationship becomes increasingly dependent and intense, especially with the erotic addition of his sub’s gay younger brother, until his sexual experimentation shatters his normally ordered existence. However, this daring, even dangerous, story ends exquisitely like the softest of love ballads.
Patrick Ryan brings back Frankie, one of the most complex and vibrant characters from his first book Send Me (reviewed by Shaun Frisky earlier this year). In the story “Pretend I’m Here”, Frankie is love struck by Clark Evans, a former astronaut still clinging to his glory days. His hero worship and sexual attraction to the man blind Frankie to the real reason Clark draws the young man close to him and his wife. When the truth of their intentions becomes clear, it is especially devastating because his innocent understanding of love is destroyed along with his belief in living heroes.

Vestal McIntyre is a part-time waiter in NYC and a full time writer. His first book, titled You Are Not the One, is one of the most exciting story collections published in recent years. His story included in this collection, “A Good Squeeze”, introduces us to one of the most bizarre and elusive characters in the book. His narrator makes an observation about the boys’ shower room in his school’s dormitory that surely any gay man can relate to: “how many adult fantasies, nightmares, obsessions and neuroses were born in this shower room?” Later on in the story, a man the narrator encounters in a Canadian gay sauna makes a tremendously profound and cutting statement about the way gay values are aligning themselves with straight values. He asserts, “The destiny of gays is pointlessness, just as the destiny of straights is ugliness. Don’t try to jump the track. It is better to be pointless and laugh.”
“Marge” by Michael Lowenthal (boyfriend of the awesomely sexy writer Scott Heim) is a haunting story about a boy’s interest and dangerous entanglement with his eccentric transvestite neighbour. Shaun Levin’s sumptuous and erotically charged trans-continental story “The Big Fry-Up at the Crazy Hose Café” shows that vegetarian goddesses can provide the maternal influence in modern gay family life. David McConnell’s outstanding story “Rivals” gives a refreshing twist to tales of adolescent sexual exploration and clued me into a fun new game which includes comparing scrotums. John Weir’s heart-breaking honesty in his story “Neorealism at the Infiniplex” about a man dealing with his friend’s death made me feel like someone had shaken me until my teeth rattled. Edmund White’s “The Painted Boy” is a delicious taster about a boy prostitute explored more fully in his recently published monumental novel Hotel de Dream.
This collection obviously couldn’t include every hot gay short story writer working today. There’s a notable absence of the debonair Aaron Hamburger and the wild absurdist Drew Gummerson. However, this inventive and powerful collection manages to give an overview of the current landscape of gay literature. And what a bountiful amount of talent we have.