Suggest a good gay novel

[Latimer]

Mary Renault's book on Alexander the Great, "The Persian Boy". I believe many of Renault's books on ancient Greece have a homoerotic tone. I loved reading them when I was growing up.
Also, Gore Vidal's "Julian" and "The Judgment of Paris".

 

[Latimer]

As a naïve, and tender hearted teen by chance..or, was it synchronicity... I selected John Rechy's, City of Night.....a precursor to my own journey...recommended for its earthiness....and willingness to explore the seedier side of life....not for the romantic personality....

So were you a street hustler, as was Rechy?

Rechy wrote a piece once in which he described returning to the corner he used to haunt to see if even though he was in his fifties (or so) at the time, "he still had it". I've forgotten whether he discovered he did or not.

 

[blublud]

The Front Runner and the two sequels, by Patricia Nell Warren, were fantastic - had me glued to my recliner for days reading.

 

[Cormac135]

All By Michael Carson.

Sucking Sherbet Lemons
Stripping Penguins Bare
Yanking Up The Yo=Yo.
and Benson At Sixty.

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=benson+...RoMPF_9zaPkqzi1peY_VmFbUzojuqw1BwDv8uNtnwAAAA

 

[frankfrank]

Look no farther than our website, right here...the "Gay Stories" Forum...scroll down the first page and find "WATCHING BRAD" by gsdx.

It's definitely reached "novel" length, and it's possibly the best fiction that I have ever read...well, let's say the best LITERATURE, period.

He was originally writing it as a SHORT STORY, then it just took on its own life, and "wrote itself" through his mind. He truly has a gift.

 

[justaguy]

Look no farther than our website, right here...the "Gay Stories" Forum...scroll down the first page and find "WATCHING BRAD" by gsdx.

Yea. Thanks Frank. Watching Brad is a great story. I read it quite a while ago now. It really is GSDX's legacy to JUB.

Believe it or not, I also have a story/novella on here of just 3 chapters under a nom de plume, but it is more erotic fiction, than anything of great literary value. Starts off pretty light, builds up then finishes with a serious, romantic ending. It's called 'How Matt Became my Lover'.

http://www.justusboys.com/forum/threads/428567-How-Matt-became-my-lover

 

[dpnice]

Mary Renault's book on Alexander the Great, "The Persian Boy". ...........................

This really should be on everyone's 'to read' list whether they are straight or gay.

 

[kallipolis]

So were you a street hustler, as was Rechy?

Rechy wrote a piece once in which he described returning to the corner he used to haunt to see if even though he was in his fifties (or so) at the time, "he still had it". I've forgotten whether he discovered he did or not.

I am not suitably equipped to perform the role...but a few of my bed mates, over the years were street urchins....

 

[kallipolis]

This really should be on everyone's 'to read' list whether they are straight or gay.

I concur..it's a light read...for the romantic personality....if we are going to delve into the realm of historical icons..I may suggest "The Memoirs of Hadrian" by Marguerite Yourcenar...another fictional work...which focuses on the Emperor Hadrian's life, and love affair with the handsome Antinous....

The novel is sketched in the first person by Hadrian beautifully framed as a letter to Marcus Aurelius..

I quote:

"Of all our games, love's play is the only one which threatens to unsettle our soul, and is also the only one in which the player has to abandon himself to the body's ecstasy."

 

[MorrisseyX]

Read invisible life by e Lynn Harris I think his first book is his best. The book looks into the life of a closeted gay black man. Unlike James Baldwin Harris focused specially on struggles if gay black men. I think Harris changed book industry for black gay men writers his books were popular and sold millions.

 

[vulgar_newcomer]

Rearend Deliveries. The story of the gay U.S. Male and how they got shafted. By MikesDong

 

[borg69unimatrix]

I really enjoyed "The Catch Trap" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. (fiction)

Tommy Zane hates lions, a major obstacle in a family of lion tamers. But Tommy's dreams--and talent--fly higher, up in the rigging with the trapeze. When rising star Mario Santelli offers him flying lessons, it looks like the start of wonderful new life, and to Tommy's surprise, his relationship with Mario deepens even as his skill soars in the rigging. But life in the 1940s forces them to keep their love a secret, and the stress pushes both Tommy and Mario to a precipice. And as Mario flies higher and higher, Tommy begins to wonder if it will always be his role to catch Mario as he falls.

A tremendously moving tale, a rich family saga, a wise and compassionate portrait of a special love in a cruel world.

 

[chrisrobin]

Maurice by E. M. Forster
English love story; happy ending; differing social classes; Say what?

 

[beefybro]

I honestly have a really hard time with "gay books" more often than not. I mean certainly good ones exist and there have been a lot of really great novels and memoirs already mentioned in this thread, I just feel like for every LGBT-oriented book with high aspirations there's about twenty that shouldn't be read anywhere but a beach. I mean obviously that statement is hyperbolic in a lot of ways and I do enjoy a quick and/or fun read pretty often, I just think the relatively large amount of poorly written, poorly thought, borderline-erotic books perpetuates a negative stereotype about the men who read them.

Anyway, after all that, one of my favorite books of all time was written by a gay man and contains a whole bunch of gay characters, including the two protagonists. It's called At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill, and I'm actually a little surprised no one has brought it up yet. It's absolutely amazing. Over the years I've owned four or five copies because I ruined my first one crying all over the last few pages and I've loaned them out to friends who have all loved it so much that the loans became gifts.

The super basic synopsis is that two young, Irish men from vastly different backgrounds meet each other again after being in school together and then parting ways. One of them asks the other to teach him to swim, and he does, and as the lessons continue a relationship grows. The entire novel is set against the background of the Easter Rising in Ireland, from 1915-16. The hardback is over 500 pages long so there's a bit more to it than that, but that's the skeleton of the plot.

It took me a while to get into it; the entire thing is written in a very strong vernacular and an almost Joycean stream-of-consciousness style. I basically had to plow through the first 60-70 pages feeling like I had no idea what was going on and then suddenly the writing just clicked. I honestly probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't prepared for a serious and difficult read, at least in the beginning, but it is totally worth the effort IMO.

Edit: And a second for Maurice.

 

[rareboy]

Read 'the Persian Boy'. It is beautifully written, you'll learn new shit about Alexander the Great and your heart will break.

 

[justaguy]

Read 'the Persian Boy'. It is beautifully written, you'll learn new shit about Alexander the Great and your heart will break.

Thats spooky. I was just half an hour ago reading an article in this mornings NZ Herald about a tomb they have uncovered in Greece with 5 bodies in it which they believe could be the reamains of Alexander the Greats mother and/or other relatives.

 

[mikemizanin729]

I've never read any.

 

[Latimer]

^
What do you most enjoy reading?

 

[kallipolis]

Thats spooky. I was just half an hour ago reading an article in this mornings NZ Herald about a tomb they have uncovered in Greece with 5 bodies in it which they believe could be the reamains of Alexander the Greats mother and/or other relatives.

Good for tourism.......and Mary Renault's, Persian Boy had litttle to do with the actual life of Megas Alexandros....it's a work of fiction...

http://www.tovima.gr/en/article/?aid=668651

I quote:

The five individuals buried appear to be one woman over the age of 60 (to whom most of the bones recovered belong to), two men aged between 35 and 45 years old (the youngest of whom seems to have suffered fatal knife injuries), a newborn infant and one more person, who identity has not yet been determined, but is likely an adult.

 

[lambdaboy]

"Angels in America" The Book(s), The Play and if nothing else see the movie where Meryl Street not only plays a woman but also plays a Jewish Male Rabbi. The story of the horror and sadness of AIDS. Nothing will ever beat it in my mind!