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Small Favors
A young boy falls in love with his minister. A high school student moves in with his gay uncle. An artist's model comes out of the closet naked. Add a nine-year-old transvestite and a murder, and what do you get? SMALL FAVORS--stories about gay life in rural Michigan that are funny and insightful, poignant, and wise.
303 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1994
13 people want to read
About the author
James Russell Mayes
1 book2 followersJames Russell Mayes grew up on a small farm and lives in the Detroit area. He teaches English at Wayne State University and Oakland Community College. His stories have appeared in 'Christopher Street', 'Short Story' and 'Renegade.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 17, 2024
(Cottected but not altered in April 2024).
'Halfway through this collection, readers will likely realize that they've been wanting to read these wonderful stories for years, except no one had ever written them until now. Mayes's stories include "International Male," in which a lonely teenage boy, abandoned by his mother, moves in with a gay uncle whom he eventually seduces-though not as he intended-and "Peggy Hagerman's Bikini," in which two boys steal a neighbor's bikini, setting off a cross-dressing spree that ends in disaster. Although characters tend to reappear pervasively throughout this book-both as children and as adults-the very best stories are those that take place in the late 1970s, when the characters are college age, usually drunk or stoned, and trying to sort out their confused sexuality, often through comic misconnections and misunderstandings. Nearly all these stories share both an honesty and a tremendous inventiveness, which is no mean feat. For all fiction collections.' By Brian Kenney in 'Library Journal' A USA publication which I quote because it is so superior to the almost negligible information available on Goodreads.
That this book has never been reviewed or rated by anyone else (as of June 2023) gives me the opportunity, and ego trip, of being the first to sing its praises but more distressingly it is also the only book published by this author. I have been unable to track down any online specifics about him, which in part is due to my poor skills, but also because there is probably very little available online. This is distressing because it makes you wonder what else may have failed to be unrecorded digitally - and I would be delighted if anyone can supply any further information.
But anyone who produces a volume of such wonderful quality can be proud, it is more than most of us will do and certainly far superior to countless authors of great mediocrity but loud praise. I hate to say this but I wonder if the author's apparent obscurity has anything to do with the fact he did not emerge from one of those academic schools of authors? (I won't name anyone in particular because singling out is unfair and most certainly any example I produce will be countered by the production of an alumnus I admire and respect). It is a sad reminder of the now long distant era of what now appears bountiful and prolific 'gay' publications and publishers. Alyson, the publisher of this volume, aside from amusing and forgettable gay horror, lifestyle and other less than memorable books, also produced some fine literary fiction. Even the production standards of this fine hardback are a reproach, in their sturdiness, to the shoddy productions of today.
This is a marvellous collection of stories and the fact we have nothing else by this author is a tragedy and probably a reproach to the narrowness of the publishing world. Although the stories warrant an inclusion in any gay/queer interest collection they are no more limited to that readership or market then Truman Capote (though I think Mayes is a far more interesting and, in my opinion, better writer). The review I quote at the beginning says everything I would want to say. I do hope that my review will eventually be displaced by many more because that would mean this author is being read - and that is what any reader would want of a favourite author.
'Halfway through this collection, readers will likely realize that they've been wanting to read these wonderful stories for years, except no one had ever written them until now. Mayes's stories include "International Male," in which a lonely teenage boy, abandoned by his mother, moves in with a gay uncle whom he eventually seduces-though not as he intended-and "Peggy Hagerman's Bikini," in which two boys steal a neighbor's bikini, setting off a cross-dressing spree that ends in disaster. Although characters tend to reappear pervasively throughout this book-both as children and as adults-the very best stories are those that take place in the late 1970s, when the characters are college age, usually drunk or stoned, and trying to sort out their confused sexuality, often through comic misconnections and misunderstandings. Nearly all these stories share both an honesty and a tremendous inventiveness, which is no mean feat. For all fiction collections.' By Brian Kenney in 'Library Journal' A USA publication which I quote because it is so superior to the almost negligible information available on Goodreads.
That this book has never been reviewed or rated by anyone else (as of June 2023) gives me the opportunity, and ego trip, of being the first to sing its praises but more distressingly it is also the only book published by this author. I have been unable to track down any online specifics about him, which in part is due to my poor skills, but also because there is probably very little available online. This is distressing because it makes you wonder what else may have failed to be unrecorded digitally - and I would be delighted if anyone can supply any further information.
But anyone who produces a volume of such wonderful quality can be proud, it is more than most of us will do and certainly far superior to countless authors of great mediocrity but loud praise. I hate to say this but I wonder if the author's apparent obscurity has anything to do with the fact he did not emerge from one of those academic schools of authors? (I won't name anyone in particular because singling out is unfair and most certainly any example I produce will be countered by the production of an alumnus I admire and respect). It is a sad reminder of the now long distant era of what now appears bountiful and prolific 'gay' publications and publishers. Alyson, the publisher of this volume, aside from amusing and forgettable gay horror, lifestyle and other less than memorable books, also produced some fine literary fiction. Even the production standards of this fine hardback are a reproach, in their sturdiness, to the shoddy productions of today.
This is a marvellous collection of stories and the fact we have nothing else by this author is a tragedy and probably a reproach to the narrowness of the publishing world. Although the stories warrant an inclusion in any gay/queer interest collection they are no more limited to that readership or market then Truman Capote (though I think Mayes is a far more interesting and, in my opinion, better writer). The review I quote at the beginning says everything I would want to say. I do hope that my review will eventually be displaced by many more because that would mean this author is being read - and that is what any reader would want of a favourite author.
Displaying 1 of 1 review