The Name of Love: Classic Gay Love Poems

by Michael Lassell (Editor)

The Name of Love captures the classic expression of love between men, ranging from the ancients (Catullus and Martial) through the Renaissance (Shakespeare and Michelangelo) to the moderns (Walt Whitman and W H. Auden). This volume includes words by more than a dozen living poets who push the notion of "love poetry" to its limits, at the same time opening doors to understanding gay male love in African-American, Asian, Latino, and Native American communities.

Genres: Poetry, Queer, LGBT

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1995

About the author

Michael Lassell has written extensively in the fields of design, travel, the arts and GLBT studies. His poetry, stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in newspapers, magazines, books, journals and anthologies in the U.S. and abroad, as well as numerous college and university textbooks.

He has been most often anthologized for his poem, written at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, "How to Watch Your Brother Die."

His work behind the scenes on Broadway with Disney have been described as some of the most honest accounts of production life.

He was the features director of "Metropolitan Home" from 1992 until 2009. And has served as managing editor of Interview and L.A. Style magazines, as well as a theater critic for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and L.A. Weekly.

Lassell currently resides in Greenwich Village, New York City.

Also writes as Michael Lewis.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that I bought over 15 years ago and I continue to pick it up and read a poem or two and fall in love with the book all over again. I have pressed leaves as book marks for my favorite ones.

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 2 out of 5]

Concuerdo en lo de: ¿qué tan "clásicos" son los poemas? No creo que tanto.

Hay otro libro, en español, de poesía gay (creo que el de Poesía Homoerótica) que tiene una mejor y más trabajada recolección por fecha de los poemas con homoerotismo.

Éste, el de la publicación, es más "light". Lo típico de romance: lloro cuando no estás, soy feliz cuando despierto en un hotel de mala muerte y sigues dormido a un lado, te amé pero dijimos 'adiós'; y todo éso. Hay muy poco de "fogosidad". Creo que el más certero fue el que comparaba la cazuela de frijoles quemados con un amor furtivo, mi favorito en la compilación.

Otros igual son buenos, la poesía y comparaciones. Pero ninguno me super encantó.

[JL Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting little collection of poetry that can definitely be read in just one sitting. I enjoyed the variety, although I do wish there had been more classic poetry in here in comparison to the modern (although maybe that's just not readily easy to find). Still, the name "Classic Gay Love Poems" made it seemed like there would be a larger amount of pre-1970s authors and texts. I also realized mid-read that this book was from 1995, which explained the underline thread of tragedy and loss in these poems, which was very interesting as far as an unintentionally timeperiod specific collection. Basically just wish it was longer and there was more variety overall, but still a nice read.

[Harrison Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nightstand book collecting almost 4 dozen supposed "classic" poems. I was hoping for a true collection of "classic" works. In my view, while some of them deserve the moniker, most do not. The editor seems to have a very loose idea of what a "classic" is. Additionally, while you might think this would be a collection of romantic poetry, some are vulgar -- I certainly wouldn't want to give this as a gift to someone I'm romantically interested in.

[Ferci · Rating 2 out of 5]

The collection is NOT that classical.