Gay Haiku

by Joel Derfner

Impossible to resist, this hilariously sassy and sweet collection of haiku turns the perilous sport of gay dating into pure poetry.

For hundreds of years, the Japanese haiku has been equated with peaceful contemplation and spiritual enlightenment. A delicate balance of rhythm and line, the haiku has provided countless readers with an appreciation of the changing of the seasons and the miracles of nature. Now, in Gay Haiku, readers can finally appreciate more important things—like the changing of boyfriends and the miracles of shopping.

Irresistible and irreverent, this collection of one hundred and ten witty and wicked short poems captures the many dating disasters of first-time author Joel Derfner. In a wonderfully fresh and original voice, Derfner shamelessly mines his personal life to send up such broad-ranging topics as gay pop culture, politics, family, sex, and, of course, home decorating.

Gay, straight, or undecided, readers will delight in Derfner’s dry sense of humor and unmistakable charm as he tackles the big questions of life.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Queer, Humor, Short Stories, Nonfiction, Gay

128 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 2005

Reviews

[Koeeoaddi · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite?

Did you just say you
Think Mansfield Park is boring?
Get out of my house.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watch how I spell embarrassment now...

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book,
It was witty and silly.
Go out and buy it.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best. Haiku. Ever.

At least, best English-language haiku ever.

A sample from the amazing Mr. Derfner:

"Frantically hiding
Porno and Mapplethorpe prints--
Mom is on her way."

Plus, my copy is signed! Bonus!

[Leyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilariously brilliant!!

[Ellis Billington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because the title jumped out at me from the shelves at my library, and I'm so glad I did. I love queer poetry, and I have a soft spot for haiku, so in many ways it felt like this collection was made for me (or at least, made for people like me). This collection is short, snarky, and at times laugh-out-loud funny. Derfner has mastered the art of the poetic turn, which is difficult to do in a form as short as the haiku. Often, the last line of a poem would take me by surprise and make me look at the rest of the poem in a different light. I did find myself wishing there was more of a change between the beginning and end of the book, as this collection was a narrative of sorts, but overall this was a wonderful find.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, there may be times I probably shouldn't be allowed loose in a bookstore by myself. But how can you not pick up a book with a title like that & then, because it is so small, read it straight through while you are standing there? Because after all it was certainly very readable. And enjoyable. And it made me laugh. The only problem was it seemed like a great gift book, but I couldn't think of anyone to give it to - my gay friends/family would think I was giving it to them because I'd found a book with Gay in the title (yes, I mostly mean you, S.) & my straight friends/family would most likely shake their heads at the weird stuff I read & give as gifts. Their loss

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious

[Kelly Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

checked it out at the library because i figured it needed to circulate some more. quick and quipping read.

[Mere Flesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

lil vulgar, lil mean, pretty funny for a Saturday afternoon when work is dead.

[Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and witty. It was a fun read.

[Jayme Horne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witty, clever, and fun.

[adrocrobi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice lil poetry book, I like the backstory. Creative concept

[Nathan Bartos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious, and while dated, still very relatable.

[Pamela · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I'm at work, and my friend sends me this questionnaire that the author filled out, and it's amazingly witty and hilarious, so she's like, "Oh, I'll interoffice his book to you." I read it in one sitting (about 15 minutes), and when I was done, I nearly tossed it into the garbage can before I remembered that Gay Haiku is a book and not a copy of US Weekly. So now I have it sitting on my desk, but I'd really like to give it away, as I can't imagine I'll ever read it again.

[Janie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few funny, a few sweet. Sometimes an embarrassment to the haiku, which can be so much more than this.

[Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haiku is the only type of "poetry" I like. In fact, I adore it. This book has some of the most amusing, entertaining, special and well-worded haiku I have ever encountered. I read my favorites repeatedly.

Women together
Joel Derfner casts a spell
Witchy ways abound

[Jimme · Rating 2 out of 5]

A reader of this book can have a bit of fun with a bunch of tiny poems, each, of course, with a limited number of syllables on each line? But I take my beloved much haiku more seriously than does this bit of amusement, which is isn't nearly serious enough.

[Alexis]

How could I NOT add this to my list of books to read?

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it.
I'm not wrighting a review in haiku, though.
Wouldn't want to be too much like everyone else.


Some of these are sad.

[Abigail Lubin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in one go. The haiku are brilliant, hilarious, sweet, profound, accurate,... Joel Derfner is fantastic as a professional homosexual.

[Yoshi Gillette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kitschy, some funny most not

[Aileen-heather Kleywegt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Funny, - Not much else to say, if you like 3 liners, and a fair amount of sexual references, this poetry read, can be quite entertaining. :-)