Editorial Review

It's no secret that commercial markets for short stories have been drying up for the past 30 years. This is considered a reflection of the diminishing readership for short fiction, and, as a result--with the occasional startling exception--book advances are small, reviews scarce, and promotion negligible. The prophets of literary doom have more or less ignored gay and lesbian fiction, however, where the short story flourishes among a feisty and increasingly discerning readership. "At the end of the 1990s," notes Emma Donoghue, "the only difficulty in compiling a collection of three decades of superb lesbian stories is that there are so many to choose from." Perhaps the best and widest-ranging of recent anthologies, the Read more

Reviews (5)

30 years of fiction from an international selection of authors
I bought this book because one of the stories was written by the outstanding Jane Rule.
Excellent Book
First off, Emma she's an amazing writer, I actually borrowed the book from the Library, once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down, it was that good. Some of the stories I could identify with and it also helped me withsome problems I was going through, this book is a definite plus in my book,if you haven't gotten it or read it you should, go for it! .

wonderful collection
The variety of stories in this book is wonderful; some are risque, some are tragic, some are terribly romantic... sexy, sad, nostalgic, and funny. Most times I couldn't put it down. My favorite story has to be "TheLobster Queen" because it reminds me so much of my first romantic...episode with a woman. It's positively heart-wrenching. Other excellentstories include "The Woman Who Loved the Moon," "The DarkHouse," "The Burning Times," and "The CatherineTrilogy." (That was devestating. I cried myself to sleep after readingthat.) One the whole, this book is great. I would recommend it to anyone,straight or not so straight, because it offers so many honest and variedviews on lesbians and lesbianism. It's compassionate. It's tender. It willwin your heart. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthologies (multiple authors)    2. English fiction    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. Lesbian    6. Lesbians    7. Short Stories (Anthologies)    8. Short stories, American    9. Women authors   

Reviews (1)

Moving tale of Coming Out and Moving to New York
Scanlon takes us through a series of short stories all focusedon Freddy.We watch Freddy grow up, come out, accept himself, and hisfamily's and friends' perceptions of him.Scanlon makes us like Freddy, whether or not you are gay, you can identify with his struggles against his family.He was that unplanned for child born years. His Mom recognizes his being gay at an early age and indulges him and it.His father and grandfather abduct his GI Joe, but Mom buys him a new one and takes him to the toy store to outfit him in the latest Ken Doll fashions.No one thinks it odd that this young guy has always liked show tunes.He owns LPs by age 4!I think its great and record store owners set some aside for him.He grows up in Bethesda, Maryland, outside DC and gets out as soon as can.He lands in NYC, where his warmth and innocence do him harm, but gain him some nice friends.He works in comedy and, of course, as a waiter.This is not a sex-filled work, but a good mix of humor, insight, and asks us to confront our own attitudes with gay teens, men and later AIDS. Well worth a read. ... Read more

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

Reviews (4)

Real book reviews
"Hallasy writes with a sly wink and wry smile and just the proper dash of rueful bitterness."
Pales in comparison with Auster
I stumbled across this book while looking for Paul Auster's New York Trilogy.Sadly, this novel (or, I suppose, trilogy of novels) is entirely forgettable.The comparison invited by the title does this volume nofavors, because Paul Auster's luminous meditations on time, identity, andmeaning put Paul Hallasy's flat, uninspired prose to shame.Hallasy'snovel is the story of a young man who comes to NYU, encounters the NYCboehmian life, comes to terms with his homosexuality, and confronts thebeginnings of the AIDS epidemic.I have to admit that I skimmed the secondand third sections of this book, having lost any ability to pay seriousattention to the narrative, so there may be other major plot points orthemes that I'm neglecting.The subject matter and time period have beenthoroughly covered elsewhere, and with much more insight and skill.Thebook is published by iUniverse.com, and the error of the title may point toa problem with this "new face of publishing": at a traditionalpublisher, an experienced editor might have been able to steer Mr. Hallasyaway from a title already used by a better author.This trilogy isoverflowing with utterly specific cultural references- songs, place names,celebrities, brands, movies, etc., that fix the story in a particular time,place, and subculture.The allusions may be the greatest asset here- ifthe reader was there then, this could be a sure ticket to nostalgia. There's also some wit to be had, but not much.Oh, and I came acrossseveral spelling errors.The best advice I could offer would be to go readthe other New York Trilogy, the good one, Auster's, and leave this onealone.

Pales in comparison with Auster
I stumbled across this book while looking for Paul Auster's New York Trilogy.Sadly, this novel (or, I suppose, trilogy of novels) is entirely forgettable.The comparison invited by the title does this volume nofavors, because Paul Auster's luminous meditations on time, identity, andmeaning put Paul Hallasy's flat, uninspired prose to shame.Hallasy'snovel is the story of a young man who comes to NYU, encounters the NYCboehmian life, comes to terms with his homosexuality, and confronts thebeginnings of the AIDS epidemic.I have to admit that I skimmed the secondand third sections of this book, having lost any ability to pay seriousattention to the narrative, so there may be other major plot points orthemes that I'm neglecting.The subject matter and time period have beenthoroughly covered elsewhere, and with much more insight and skill.Thebook is published by iUniverse.com, and the error of the title may point toa problem with this "new face of publishing": at a traditionalpublisher, an experienced editor might have been able to steer Mr. Hallasyaway from a title already used by a better author.This trilogy isoverflowing with utterly specific cultural references- songs, place names,celebrities, brands, movies, etc., that fix the story in a particular time,place, and subculture.The allusions may be the greatest asset here- ifthe reader was there then, this could be a sure ticket to nostalgia. There's also some wit to be had, but not much.Oh, and I came acrossseveral spelling errors.The best advice I could offer would be to go readthe other New York Trilogy, the good one, Auster's, and leave this onealone. ... Read more

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

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Gay    4. Gay men    5. Short Stories (single author)    6. Social life and customs    7. Wales    8. Modern fiction    9. Short stories   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. American Short Story Collections    3. Canada    4. Canadian fiction    5. Fiction    6. Gay    7. Lesbian Studies    8. Lesbians' writings, Canadian    9. Love / Sex / Marriage    10. Sexual Instruction    11. Short stories, Canadian    12. Social life and customs    13. Lesbians    14. Self-Help/Sexual Instruction    15. Sex & Gender/Lesbian    16. Social Science / Lesbian Studies   

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!
Read more

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. Gay    4. Lesbian    5. Short Stories (single author)    6. Fiction / Short Stories (single author)   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Gay    4. Short Stories (Anthologies)   

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

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

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Gay men    3. Popular American Fiction    4. Short stories    5. Fiction / General   

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

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   

Editorial Review

It goes without saying that this collection is required reading for anyone who read and enjoyed the first installation of these stories in Read more

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

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

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

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   

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   

Reviews (4)

The best book I read last year
I was very impressed with the quality of writing in this book, and the extraordinary compassion of the author that is evident even in the less likeable characters.The metaphors in the book are richly woven into the stories, especially the two dealing with the friends from the Jesuitcollege whose lives are profoundly affected by their relationships. I hopethis book gets a wider reading public than gay men as several themesexplored in the book- illness, breast cancer, finding the father figure,sexuality and sensuality, loss of traditional spirituality- are issuesfacing many men and women in society. I was distressed to learn that MrBarnett himself had died of AIDS shortly after the book was published. Hewas a very gifted writer of perception and depth, and I mourn this loss tothe literary world.

Sensitive and Powerful!
A most sensitive and yet powerful collection of short stories with 'The Body...' being the best of the lot. With this expressive power how come we didn't hear more from (and on) this VERY talented writer ???

The best work of American fiction from the AIDS pandemic
Put simply, Barnett's "The Body and Its Dangers" is the bestwork of American fiction to come out of the AIDS pandemic--its beautifulprose, its rich and fierce vision.The long story "The 'Times' As ItKnows Us" alludes to and is finally equal to Joyce's "TheDead":it's a story as large as the complexities and sorrows itdescribes. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Gay men    4. Short Stories (single author)