The new year is all about breaking old, bad habits and establish new, healthier ones. Consider kicking off 2016 by burying your nose in a great work of classic gay literature. Reading is not only good for stimulating the mind and fueling the imagination, but it’s damn sexy to boot. (These photos prove it.) After all, who isn’t attracted to a guy who’s intellectually curious?
Scroll down for six classic works of gay literature to add to your reading list in 2016…
The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal’s landmark novel is a must-read for every gay man. Seriously, if you haven’t read this book, do. The coming-of-age novel tells the story of Jim Willard, a young All-American tennis player, and his obsessive relationship with his best friend, Bob. The book was met with a storm of controversy when it was first published in 1948, but it has since gone on to be considered a time-honored classic in gay literature.
Invisible Life by E. Lynn Harris
E. Lynn Harris initially self-published this debut novel in 1991. In 1994, it was re-issued by Doubleday, received critical acclaim and launched Harris’ prolific, albeit tragically short-lived, career. The story revolves around Raymond Winston Tyler Jr., a young bisexual black man, as he embarks on a journey of sexual discovery and quickly finds himself torn between a woman and a married male lover.
Dancer From The Dance by Andrew Holleran
Andrew Holleran’s 1978 short debut novel depicts the misadventures of Malone, a young man looking for love in New York City’s thriving gay scene. Traveling from Manhattan’s Everard Baths and late-night discos to Fire Island’s vacant parks and lavish orgies, Malone looks high and low for some sort of meaningful companionship.
Before Night Falls: A Memoir by Reinaldo Arenas
Reinaldo Arenas’s riveting 1994 memoir recounts his journey from a poverty-stricken childhood in rural Cuba and his adolescence as a rebel fighting for Castro, through his supression as a writer, imprisonment as a homosexual, his flight from Cuba via the Mariel boat lift, and his subsequent life and the events leading to his death in New York. In 2000, the book was made into an equally-riveting film starring Javier Bardem.
Dear Lupin: Letters to a Wayward Son by
This witty and heartwarming book tracks the correspondence between a father and his gay son. When the book begins, Charlie, the son, is studying at Eton, although the studying itself is not a priority, much to his father’s chagrin. After Charlie graduates and begins traveling the world, Roger continues to write regularly, offering advice as well as humorous updates from home. The correspondence is packed with warmth, humor and wisdom that offer a unique insight into the relationship between a father and son.
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
James Baldwin’s 1956 magnum opus follows David, an American living in Paris, as he navigates through his homosexual desires and the frustrations that come with them, particularly his feelings for an Italian bartender named Giovanni. Years after its publication, Baldwin revealed that when he first turned in the manuscript to his publisher, they told him to burn it, warning him that the themes of homosexuality would alienate readers. Baldwin chose to publish it anyway and the book went on to be considered one of the best LGBTQ novels ever written.
Related: Six Pioneering Gay Writers Who Helped Bring HIV/AIDS To The American Forefront
alphacentauri
I have read some of the books but the one about the Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas, is disgusting with parts where he describes raping animals, being sexually abused, and sexually abusing people. It also does not really include any of his poetry, and he was not gay or any sort of role model for LGBT people as he was sexually attracted to farm animals, and people of the male gender who are not legal adults.
martinbakman
The Color Purple
1EqualityUSA
The Passion, Jeanette Winterson
zaneymcbanes
I didn’t really like The City and the Pillar, but I was glad I read it (I think one of these lists on queerty from a few years ago is what recommended it to me). This is a lovely list, just to add my two cents I’d recommend A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (or most anything by him, The Berlin Stories is such a fun read).
sfhally
How did you manage to make “Dancer From the Dance” sound like a gay rom-com? “Dancer” is important–despite the sneers from ‘literary’ fags like David Leavitt or concerned homos about how ‘shallow’ it is.
Kangol
@alphacentauri: You should read more work by Reinaldo Arenas, who was one of Cuba’s most important gay writers of the 20th century (along with José Lezama Lima, Severo Sarduy, and Virgilio Piñera). You basically fixate on one small aspect of his book and lose sight of the larger story, which is his coming of age as a gay man in rural Cuba before and up through the Cuban Revolution. At any rate I hope other people will explore Arenas’ works. He’s an amazing writer.
I’ve read all of these books except for the one by the Mortimers. Any one is a good place to start in terms of 20th century gay male writing. Other books to check out include:
Justin Chin’s Burden of Ashes
Rigoberto González’s Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa
Essex Hemphill’s Brother to Brother: New Writing By Black Gay Men
Yukio Mishima’s Confessions of a Mask and Forbidden Colors
Charles Rice-Gonzalez’s Chulito
Shyam Selvadurai’s Funny Boy
Tom Spanbauer’s The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon
Norman Wong’s Cultural Revolution
Bil Wright’s Sunday You Learn How to Box
crowebobby
@alphacentauri: I found the whole thing so unbelievable from the very beginning that I couldn’t get far enough into to know about any of this stuff.
Sammy Schlipshit
Another good and insightful book I treasure is Paul Monette’s Becoming A Man.
There are a lot of great books from back in the day.
Are any of the younger homos even writing anything more than 30 characters?
Texts do not make a book.
gaym50ish
I would include “The Front Runner” by Patrician Nell Warren. At one time Paul Newman held the movie rights and planned to play the part of the coach who falls in love with the track star — but at the time, playing a gay role could seriously damage a Hollywood career.
I think Warren eventually bought back the movie rights, but, sadly, the book has never made it to the screen. There are huge crowd scenes at the Olympic Games that would have been difficult when Newman planned to make the movie, but today they would be much easier to do with CGI, like the crowd scenes in “Gladiator.”
Another book I would include is the first gay novel I read: “City of Night,” by John Rechy.
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
The Great Gatsby.
dwperkins
A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White
How could you not include ANYTHING by Edmund White?????
dwperkins
@Sammy Schlipshit: I AGREE!
Jerry12
@martinbakman: “The Color Purple” stands out as probably one of the very best books ever written. At 89, I have read a few books, but very few have lived in my memory as “Purple”.
McShane
@Kangol: Mishima’s, The temple of the Golden Pavilion, is another good read.
chuck
Dancer from the Dance is my favorite book ever. A tragicomedy with a star is born ending. I love you Andrew.
Jonathonz
The Price of Salt, or Carol by Patricia Highsmith and Faggots by Larry Kramer are both very good.
adex2491
I’m throwing my hat into consideration:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QPIPJWU
EvonCook
@gaym50ish: Thank you. Yes, “City of Night” is a great way to learn about the era which helped created this one with a lot of unintended and unfortunate consequences.
tricky ricky
Dancer from the Dance was the first modern book of gay literature. it was a departure from the supermarket paperback rack trash of Gordon Merrick and the utter dreck of that straight woman Patricia Nell Warren.
it truly is literature. I know literature as opposed to popular fiction when I read it. I could care less what David Leavitt thinks of it. I’ve never been a fan of his work.
Dancer from the Dance is the one gay novel I have always kept a copy of and re-read every couple years like I do my other favorite classics. I still quote lines from it.
tricky ricky
@sfhally: I was wondering about that myself. the book is a bit more complex than that.
Wooly
I find “Maurice” by Forester one of the best gay novels I have ever read. Every time I read it, I can always feel the anguish of the protagonist.
robho3
@alphacentauri: farm animals can be hot- don’t knock it till youve tried it
robho3
What about ‘Faggots’ – Larry Kramer . I’m not a fan of Mr Kramer ( old angry gay man) but the book captured a certain aspect of gay like in New York.
alphacentauri
@robho3: WTF that’s sick.
alphacentauri
@dwperkins: Edmund white is overrated, and not that good of a writer, and he’s extremely creepy. He also does not tell men he has sex with that he’s HIV+.
See the interview he did for wikipedia for proof of this.
Nebbish
John Rechy’s gritty City of Night certainly deserves a mention. This chronicle of a sexual outlaw was a radical departure from the sappy sentimentalism of Vidal and Baldwin and blazed new trails in gay literature.
mujerado
Some readers look askance at genre fiction, but Vincent Virga’s clever pastiche of gothic romances, Gaywyck, is well worth the time.
Eric Auerbach
Dancer from the Dance is an insanely ra.cist book. Please don’t recommend it.
alvareznelson
I am amazed. Gore Vidal, the author of the first novel on this list, played Director Joseph in Gattaca, one of my favorite movies. And it turns out I love this movie not only because I like science fiction and I am concerned about the issue of genetic engineering in humans, but I am also gay, and I feel deeply identified with Vincent, the main character in the movie, played by Ethan Hawk. Vincent is condemned to hide his real self continually because he is not fit for the world he lives in, because he is just… normal! Society is aggressive to Vincent and it tries to repress him and denounce him, as if he were a monster, even though he has proved to be better than other “normal” people. He dreams of leaving this world and finding a place where he can live peacefully. I have always felt just like that. And now I find out that Gore Vidal was also gay! I wonder if he felt the same way about the movie when he read the script for the first time. I’m buying his novel right away.
Ladbrook
Although it wasn’t the first gay novel I read (that honor goes to The Frontrunner), Maupin’s Tales of the City was, for me, the most important. If you haven’t read it, rush to Amazon and buy the first six volumes and read them (twice). Doing so will open the door not only to the genre of LGBT fiction, but will also give younger LGBTs an honest look at what life was like in the late 70s and 80s. After reading the original 6, take a year off and then read his final 3 volumes. No LGBT library is complete without the entire collection.
Other works of import: Leavitt’s Lost Language of Cranes, the aforementioned Frontrunner, Kramer’s Faggots, and The Best Little Boy in the World by Andrew Tobias. Throw in Maurice and Dance from the Dance, and you’ve got a great start.
Pete
@sfhally: I’m grateful there’s nothing by the twee Leavitt. He and Maupin belong to a sub-category gay literature: Fairy Tales. In fact, we should call them the Grimm Sisters.
Pete
@zaneymcbanes: “City” is apprentice work. Vidal’s true queer classic is “Myra Breckinridge” (a trannie as a metaphor for the Hollywood Dream Machine). Ironically the protagonist of his ‘Classical’ novel, “Julian”, the 4th Century emperor who tried to revive classical paganism, is heterosexual.
His best works are his American Chronicles series: Burr, Lincoln, 1876, Empire!, Hollywood, and Washington, D.C.
Vidal described himself as bisexual and never identified with the Gay Rights movement. One gets a sense that for him Gay lib took the fun out of old-school cruising. He also suspects that there was a higher incidence of men who occasionally ‘dabbled’ prior to the advent of Out and Proud. He is famous for saying “homosexual is an adjective, not a noun. Acts are homosexual, not people”
Vidal also claimed that he was never intimate with his partner of 50+ years, Howard Auster, and that was the secret of their relationship’s longevity.
Of course the main reason to revere Gore Vidal is that, along with Noam Chomsky, he was the chief American Dissident of the past half-century. He believed we needed to destroy the American Empire in order to save the Republic.
The 2014 documentary about Vidal, “The United States of Amnesia” is a must-see!
Pete
What about Marguerite Youcenar’s “Memoirs of Hadrian”? Hadrian founded a cult around his lover, Antinous.
joeyty
@Pete: Yes, the Memoirs Of Hadrian is one of the best recommendations here. MAURICE by E.M. Forster too. CITY OF NIGHT by Rechy is great in a different (sleazier) way. And if you want great underlying homoerotica: read or reread MOBY DICK. (Totally overrated are Tales of the City by Maupin and The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren).
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Eye of the Beholder
This list is just what I was looking for. I think I will look for: The City and the Pillar, Dancer From the Dance, and Giovanni’s Room. Thank you Queerty!
The Illuminatti
This list misses Tales of the City, by Armistead Maupin, Maurice, By E M Forster, Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh, Christopher and his kind, by Christopher Isherwood. And many more that i think are much better than some of the books on this list. How about the novela A Death in Venice, by ?Thomas Mann? or At Swim Two Boys, by Jamie O’Neill? all of which are great books in their own rights.