Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Lesbians    3. Short stories, American   

Subjects:  1. American Short Story Collections    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. Lesbian    5. Short Stories (Anthologies)    6. Canadian fiction (English)    7. Fiction / General    8. Fiction / Lesbian    9. Fiction/General    10. Lesbianism    11. Lesbianisme    12. Nouvelles canadiennes-anglaises    13. Roman canadien-anglais    14. Sex & Gender/Lesbian    15. Short stories, Canadian (English)    16. Short stories   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Lesbians    5. Short stories    6. Women   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Lesbians    5. Lesbians' writings, American    6. Popular American Fiction    7. Short stories    8. Short stories, American   

Editorial Review

Although the concept of Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthologies (multiple authors)    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. Lesbian    5. Lesbians    6. Lesbians' writings, American    7. Short Stories (Anthologies)    8. Short stories, American    9. Women authors    10. Literature of special Lesbian interest    11. Modern fiction    12. Short stories   

Reviews (16)

OMG this book is SO hilarious!
Be prepared to be unable to stop laughing! The title story was my favorite, tied with "Litter String" (which is one of several stories written from the POV of Babycakes the cat). I can't wait to read more by this fantastic writer!

One of the worst books I have ever read
This book is awful. There is just no excuse for it. This collection of short memoirs are banal, tedious and utterly witless. Peck's only qualifications as a writer is the fact that she is female, over fifty, overweight and gay. Her memoirs are so insipid that finishing this book was incredibly difficult. Reading her memories about her grandparent's cows and how she is unable to pee in the woods made me roll my eyes. When she wrote about her cat, Babycakes, she made it sound as if her cat is ingenious and inovative to do all of these things which cats do naturally (her cat likes string? Really? Wow. . .).I kept waiting for this book to become the fascinating, utterly hilarious, insightful, witty literary achievement that all the other reviews claimed that it was. Needless to say, that never happened. I plan on giving this book to someone that I don't like very much.

Delightful!
A humorous, tongue-in-cheek look at life as a "woman of size."Deliciously entertaining!
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Fiction / Humorous    3. Fiction / Lesbian    4. Personal Memoirs    5. Women    6. Essays    7. Fiction    8. Humorous    9. Lesbian    10. Regional Subjects - Midwest    11. Short stories   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Lesbian    4. Lesbians    5. Popular American Fiction    6. Short Stories (single author)    7. Special Subjects In Literature    8. Short stories   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction / Lesbian    3. Fiction / Short Stories (single author)    4. Lesbian    5. Short Stories (single author)   

Reviews (2)

This is a book which is so brilliant, it shines in the dark.
Author Elise Levine uses words as if they were lightening bolts, red hot pokers, sun bursts and roman candles. Each word dazzles, kindles, scorches, inflames and sets the reader's imagination on fire. Yet this psychicburning leads not to annihilation, but to the purification which must comebefore enlightenment. These words are then uttered by characters asdevastating as fire-breathing dragons, as delicate as fireflies, asfamiliar as our own incandescent selves. Long after the book has been read,these stories stay smouldering in the shadowy corners of the mind, likeembers which refuse to die or an afterglow reluctant to fade away. OscarWilde once said, "All of us are in the gutter, but some of us arelooking at the stars." Elise Levine reminds us that those stars can beseen by lookingdown as well as up, by seeking within as well as without,and that reflections can be as true as reality. DRIVING MEN MAD is adisturbing book, a scintillating book, and a book which is ultimately sobrilliant that it shines in the dark.

Short stories for a life-time of thought
Elise Levine's Driving Men Mad is an incredible work of art.She writes with provocative skill and an intuition that creates splendor for the mind.A women's book.A lover's book.A feminist's book.A lesbian's book.She writes of real people doing real things, and dealing with real issues.Not for the faint of heart, as she will move you, cause you to question yourself, hurt you, please you, relate to you, and hold you in the palm of her hand.She will bring you into another world; one, that after reading this book, you'll never be able to escape.Read it.Remember it ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Fiction / Romance / General    4. Fiction / Short Stories (single author)    5. General    6. Lesbian    7. Popular American Fiction    8. Short Stories (single author)    9. Romance - General    10. Short Stories    11. Short stories, American   

Reviews (6)

Gay and Lesbian tales of love and ghosts
The majority of stories in this collection - edited by Julie K. Trevelyan and Scott Brassart - deal with ghosts helping the living find love: of past loves trying to help their partners move on and to find love ("Taking Care of Faith" by A.J. Potter, "Old as a Rose in Bloom" by Lawrence Schimel); older ghosts and other supernatural beings helping new lovers to find one another ("The Course of True Love" by d.g.k. goldberg, "Paisley" by Jessica Kirkwood); and, of course those with a more evil bent ("amat67.jpg" by Hall Owen Calwaugh).They're all fairly pleasant tales, easy to read an enjoyable; however, this collection is almost like reading the same story over and over.Some of the standouts making this a worthy collection to read are "The Haunting of Room 110" by Michael Price Nelson about a ghost waiting for his lover to join him, and "Eyes" by E.J. Galusha, which really did put the scare in me and is a fitting finale to the collection.An overall good collection for anyone wanting a gay take on ghosts.

Your own queer little seance to enjoy
In the anthology, The Ghost of Carmen Miranda and other spooky Gay and Lesbian Tales, the editors Julie K. Trevelyan and Scott Brassart have assembled a lively, lavender corps of ghost stories. As the title implies, this Alyson publication is not strictly a horror collection, although some of the tales certainly qualify.All the stories, however, focus on lesbian or gay characters as well as elements of the supernatural with manifestations of ghosts in some form or another.

Subjects:  1. American Horror Fiction    2. American Short Story Collections    3. Anthologies (multiple authors)    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - General    6. Gay    7. Gays' writings, American    8. Ghost    9. Ghost stories, American    10. Lesbian    11. Lesbians    12. Modern fiction    13. Short stories   

Reviews (1)

An engaging, suspense-filled, contemporary mystery
Stormy Desires by Victoria M. Brunk-St. Christopher is a steamy and sensual mystery introducing Private Investigator Analiese Charmaine Electra Montgomery (a.k.a. ACE) and her lover, Attorney Lina Sato. When a small rural town in Indiana leads to scandal and deadly tragedy, family and love are put to the test as ACE must uncover the twisted scheme and its culprit! Stormy Desires is enthusiastically recommended as an engaging, suspense-filled, contemporary mystery. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Adult    3. Lesbian    4. Lesbians    5. Short Stories (single author)    6. Triangles (Interpersonal relations)    7. Women private investigators   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (9)

A Warning
The stories are a mixed bag but well worth a look. All I really want to add to other readers' comments, though, is that the book was poorly proofread -- it is riddled with typos. If as a collector that kind of thing bothers you, you should be aware of this.

worth seeking out
Sigh. There are so few fantasy novels and stories with interesting gay and lesbian characters (especially lesbian). In a perfect world, this volume of short stories might only be mediocre, but because it's one of the only anthologies of its kind, it's downright wonderful! Mind-bending fantasy
Because of its diverse bouquet of erotic undercurrents, BTL: Fantasy is especially adept with wry, bittersweet fantasies - not the swords-and-sorcery type, but touching tales with a modern-supernatural slant. There are all sorts of uplifting motifs here - getting over midlife crises (Antieau's "Desire"), revisiting childhood places ( Thrower's "The Home Town Boy"), dealing with the deaths of friends (Shepherd's "Gary, in the Shadows") and loved ones (Silverthrorne's "The Sound of Angels"), release and spiritual freedom (What's "Beside the Well"), turning back the clock on painful memories (Verona's "Mahu"), and so on.

Subjects:  1. Fantastic fiction, American    2. Fantasy    3. Fantasy - Anthologies    4. Fantasy - General    5. Fiction    6. Fiction - Fantasy    7. Gay    8. Gay men's writings, American    9. Lesbian    10. Lesbians' writings, American    11. Science fiction    12. Short stories   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Gay & Lesbian    3. Genre Fiction    4. Lesbian    5. Poetry    6. Short Stories   

Reviews (3)

Outstanding anthology for any book collection
I bought this book for two authors I can not get enough of - Jane Rule and Joan Nestle.
Something for everyone
Whatever you're looking for, it's probably in here. I have returned to this book both when looking for a good read and when writing essays (for example on lesbian modernists): as well as having some wonderful stories spanning a broad range of styles, the introduction is damn good critical stuff and contains some very useful references. Thank goodness they've changed the cover; the previous edition featuring two half-naked women (whom you wouldn't want to run into on a dark evening) was somewhat embarrassing to be seen with at the university library. Delving into the Pool of lesbianism
Its the one compilation that has truely touched the humour, the enticing void of what it is to fall in love and what it is like to be ironically a normal lesbian, the pictures are pretty good as well :) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Lesbian    4. Lesbians    5. Lesbians' writings    6. New Age    7. Sexuality In Literature    8. Short Story    9. Short stories    10. Women authors    11. Fiction / General   

Subjects:  1. American Short Story Collections    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. Gay men    5. General    6. Lesbians    7. Pacific Coast (U.S.)    8. Short stories, American   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. American fiction    3. Fiction    4. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    5. Lesbian Studies    6. Lesbians    7. Social Science    8. Women authors    9. Literature of special Lesbian interest    10. Modern fiction    11. Short stories   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Gay    4. Lesbian    5. Short Stories (single author)    6. Fiction / Short Stories (single author)   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Lesbian    4. Romance - Anthologies    5. Fiction / Lesbian    6. Literature of special Lesbian interest    7. Short stories   

Subjects:  1. American Short Story Collections    2. English fiction    3. Feminist fiction, English    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - General    6. Lesbian    7. Lesbians    8. Women authors    9. Literature of special Lesbian interest    10. Modern fiction    11. Short stories   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Lesbians    3. Short stories    4. Small town life