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READING ROOM

Five Great Gay Books To Give Your Dad For Father’s Day Presents

By Mike Santos June 14, 2012 at 1:20pm
Today Queerty’s rolling out a new monthly book column, Reading Room, that will be a place for us to recommend (and hopefully discuss) new and classic titles we think shouldn’t be missed. Sunday is Father’s Day, and if you’re anything like us it probably slipped your mind. So we’ve selected five books that either center on gay dads, gay sons, daddies and other father figures. Grab a copy for your pop today.  
Does This Baby Make Me Look Straight? By Dan Bucatinsky What It’s About: Whether it’s when his daughter tricks him into smelling his finger (you’ll never forget this one) or cruising “CuteGaySalesGuy” when Daddy has to take his kid “potty,” Bucatinsky’s stories detail the L.A. couple (he and partner Don Roos are the wit behind Web Therapy, starring Lisa Kudrow, and other comedies) and their baby-rearing adventures. Daddy Quotient: While parents telling stories about their little ones can get old fast, you’ll be laughing your ass off to about two gay dads with two wonderful adopted kids.
One Body By John Irving What It’s About: The story is centered around a bisexual man attracted to men, women, and transgender women. So while there may not be a traditional father-son plot point, it certainly explores ideas surrounding masculinity and gender. Daddy Quotient: Irving has told strange tales of fathers or the fatherless, but this one is more personal. He recently explained in a discussion with fellow author and friend Edmund White that he was partially driven to write the book for his son, Everett having a gay son made me want to write this novel sooner rather than later; I remember wishing that Everett could read In One Person while he was still in his late teens or early twenties.” So think of it as a gift from a father to a son.  
A Sense of Direction By Gideon Lewis-Kraus What It’s About: Lewis-Kraus is determined to live a life different than his father’s, who remained closeted until midlife, so he starts out on a series of pilgrimages. The final one includes the author, his father, and his brother on a mass migration to the tomb of a famous Hasidic mystic in the Ukraine. High stress and hijinks ensue—with plenty of insight into what it means to resist one’s family “heritage” and find some answers. Daddy Quotient: An irascible gay rabbi for a father? You betcha there’s plenty of daddy issues here to unravel.
The Swimming-Pool Library By Alan Hollinghurst What It’s About: While this is book that made Hollinghurst into an sensation and one of our classic gay authors, it might not be right for all dads: It’s got some sex. Okay, a lot of sex. While 25-year-old Will, the protagonist, has plenty of issues with his father and grandfather, the main story revolves around his relationship with a man “of fantastic seniority,” 85-year-old Lord Chalres Nantwich. Daddy Quotient: It’s a daddy-son bond that has inspired many a fantasy, by exploring the intimacy (and complications) of a May-December romance.

Assisted Loving
By Bob Morris

What It’s About: Subtitled “True Tales of Double Dating With My Dad,” Morris is a gay son who gets to tag along with his 80-year-old father, Joe, who is now single and still plenty horny. At the same time, Morris obsesses with his own problems as a flabby, middle-aged guy looking for love in Manhattan’s youth-obsessed gay scene, while also turning into a bit of a yenta for fun-loving dad.

Daddy Quotient: This breezy memoir will get you thinking about how much your own perceptions of Dear Old Dad are colored by your own expectations—and why parents aren’t the only ones who feel disappointed when their family member doesn’t quite adhere to those psychic constraints.

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12 Comments*

  • NateB79

    I have to say thank you Queerty. I myself find it pretty hard to locate decent fiction geared towards gay men other than during pride month. It will be great to have a regular place to locate new books and recommend a few that I’ve read. Thanks again!

  • MACDONALDBANK

    http://www.HolyFaux.com

  • Perry Brass

    Thanks for the list, we always love lists. I of course being an author of some repute would, in ALL fairness, have to add my new novel King of Angels, which is about a close, almost passionate relationship between a Jewish father and his half-Jewish possibly gay son. King of Angels takes place in Savannah, GA in 1963, during the turbulent Kennedy years, the period of Mad Men when the times were definitely a-changing. You can look inside the book with this link: http://widget.bookwire.com/76701publisher/viewinside/35780321829794

  • Ray Hill

    You are not recommending a single book about significant changes in our political
    status: Where is “Flagrant Conduct” the story of the most important Supreme Court Case in our history or any of several biographies about GLBT movement pioneers. I suppose being GLBT is just about the party and not about the seeking equality stuff…

  • Triple S

    @Ray Hill: Get over yourself, princess. We don’t have to be raving about ‘EQUAL RIGHTS!’ every damn second of the day, you know. We, too, can also just relax and focus on a book with LGBT themes.

    Jesus, and I thought I was a bit uptight.

  • Ray Hill

    Okay so this group is just about party queens. I must have made a wrong turn. How do I get off this sick train?

  • MikeE

    @Ray Hill: I don’t see anything particularly aimed at “party queens” in this list of books. a few may be on the light side, but then, what’s wrong with that?

    The only thing I find mildly amusing is that Queerty, who have such a terrible time with editing and proof reading their articles, should have a “literary” column. It is almost ironic.

  • James M. Martin

    The plot you describe cries out for movie treatment. What fantastic parts and dialogue potential!

  • Ralph DeMattia

    @NateB79: You only read books by gay authors? My, aren’t you open-minded. And just how do you tell a gay author? I’m sure I’ve read books and articles by gay authors and don’t recall liking or disliking their thoughts because they were gay. A you call hereos bigoted. That’s funny.

  • Ralph DeMattia

    @Triple S: You only read books by gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender authors? How do you feel about Pedophile, Serial killer, or Hetero-bashing authors?

  • Perry Brass

    @NateB79: Thanks, Nate. Despite all the other crap some guy seems to want to heap on you, I’m glad you’re reading gay books, and want to keep on reading them.

  • Perry Brass

    @James M. Martin: Thanks, James. I wasn’t sure if you were addressing this to me, and I just saw the email today. But sure, I am looking for any way I can bring it to the attention of filmmakers. You can learn more about King of Angels at http://www.perrybrass.com or at its Facebook “like” page. Perry

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