Queer Lit

[Queersetti]

Tell us about your favorite work of GLBT Literature, fiction, non-fiction or poetry.

 

[Queersetti]

The Madman by Samuel R. Delaney

This is not a polite book.

It's a novel about a grad student, John Marr, who is researching the life of a philosopher named Timothy Hasler. As he learns more about Hasler's life, he discovers that the philosopher lived a secret life, one which parallels John's own explorations into raunchy anonymous gay sexual encounters.

To a large extent, The Madman can be read as as an account of the struggle of gays to reconcile their pre-AIDS lifestyle with the age of the epidemic.

Some people will be put off by the grittiness of the frequent sexual scenes in the book. Others will find them sizzling hot.

 

[Luna_Wolf72]

TWO GREAT ONES

both *Drawing Blood* and *Lost Souls* by Poppy Z. Brite. They are from horror/erotica genre and very passionately written. The protagonists in each book are gay males and the stories draw you in and make it damn near imposible to put either of them down. I would gladly recommend them to any one who does not mind alittle horror with their erotica!!!

Pet

ps...for the women: any of the *herotica* series...beautifully well crafted stories with a ton of lesbian stories...lovely reads and VERY hot!!! (oh and the authors all have other books out as well!!!)

 

[MzChrista]

The first book I ever read about lesbianism was The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall. I thought it was really incredible. Now that Im older I know its not that good, but its still special to me because it was about a girl who fell in love with another girl and when I read it I thought maybe I was the only one who ever had that idea.

 

[Rhys]

I've been reading anthologies of best short story writing...Best Gay Fiction 01, 02, 03 for well written (but occasionally depressing) fiction. There are excerpts from longer novels in them but they give a nice overview of works by gay men authors.

 

[bimarriedcock]

It's not queer lit....

....but I lost it to A Man With A Maid some years ago. Hijacked time with it (located under my brothers bed...didnt think then, but know now what he was up to) and was captured immediately! Not mainstream G/L lit...but a classic sexploration...

 

[Luna_Wolf72]

Re: It's not queer lit....

....but I lost it to A Man With A Maid some years ago. Hijacked time with it (located under my brothers bed...didnt think then, but know now what he was up to) and was captured immediately! Not mainstream G/L lit...but a classic sexploration...

Have the book and i agree it is an EXCELLENT read!~!!

lil girl

 

[bimarriedcock]

Re: Re: It's not queer lit....

Have the book and i agree it is an EXCELLENT read!~!!

lil girl

Although my considerations of the storyline was far more direct and shall we say conventional when first read....I know now that the underlying theme of characters who learn of their needs by having them forcefully drawn out of them...and who then embrace and look to satisfy those needs....an exciting transformation in my mind.

 

[glamorilla]

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote and the Enigma by Peter Milligan.

 

[seXieleXie]

The first book I ever read about lesbianism was The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall. I thought it was really incredible. Now that Im older I know its not that good, but its still special to me because it was about a girl who fell in love with another girl and when I read it I thought maybe I was the only one who ever had that idea.

the well of lonliness was the very first book about lesbianism (called "inverson" at the time). the author was put on trial and convicted of writing an obscene book. there is absolutely no graphic sexual language or situations in the book, but it was too much for people of the time. i found the book somewhat agonizing to read, actually. it's very depressing, but it is well written and captures the feeling of isolation that so often goes with being queer.

other books i would reccomend include:
memory mambo by Achy Obejas - this is about a cuban-american lesbian who lives in chicago.

zami: a new spelling of my name by Audre Lorde - this is a fictionalized autobiography written by a famous african american lesbian writer and activist. it is incredibly beautiful, i absolutely loved it. i have read it 5 or 6 times by now and each time i'm completely captivated.

the woman who loved airports by Marusya Bociurkiw - this isn't exactly a novel. it's really hard to describe the form of the book... it's a bunch of short stories, some of which are interconnected. the author is ukranian-canadian, so it's a very different perspective than a lot of the american queer fiction i've read.

rubyfruit jungle by Rita Mae Brown - a very famous lesbian novel, this is a fun book. fairly fluffy but still near and dear to my heart


oh lord, i could go on forever. i'm gonna stop now, but i'll probably come back and post more. i love books, and there are tons of really crappy works of queer fiction that i read just because they were about people like me. whenever i come across ones that are truely great reads i always feel compelled to pass them on.

 

[SweetCherry]

I so need to go to the book store one of these days.

 

[Etoile]

Oh man, I have a pretty good-sized library of queer books. I'm a book collector - gay stuff (including gender topics) and deaf stuff.

My favorite queer novel is Leslie Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues which I've read more than once. I also really like Jeanette Winterson's Written on the Body, which can be seen as a gay book because the narrator's gender is never revealed. (I've heard this was intentional.)

 

[Color Me Crazy]

Keep going, guys!

I'm always interested to hear about gay literature. Coming from a very sheltered town I don't see much (or hear much) of/about it here.

The upside is that I'm moving soon and will have more oppertunity to explore this stuff which has always intrigued me.

 

[Queersetti]

Has anyone read any good books lately?

 

[Rhys]

Flesh and Word series is very good. I have only one of the volumes so I am searching for the others.

and in the Braincandy vein, the manga series Fake by Sanami Matoh is a sappy little romance with pretty good artwork.

 

[evesdream]

I'm almost finished reading a memoir by Augusten Burroughs called "Dry" and love it. Very very funny and reminds me of a David Sedaris type of book with a good heart and lots of laughs, underscoring struggle with addiction. Highly recommended.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Re: It's not queer lit....

....but I lost it to A Man With A Maid some years ago. Hijacked time with it (located under my brothers bed...didnt think then, but know now what he was up to) and was captured immediately! Not mainstream G/L lit...but a classic sexploration...

I have this book and it is excellent.

My favorite recent book has to be Doc & Fluff by Pat Califia.

I also enjoyed Diary of a Victorian Lady by that most gifted and prolific of authors Annonyamous

-Colly

 

[cuteffsb14]

Can anyone suggest some good books for me to read. I just finished my last one and I'm having trouble finding something to read .. I'm up for pretty much anything! thanks