Men on Men 7: Best New Gay Fiction

Men on Men #7

by David Bergman (Editor), Various

This extraordinary collection of gay fiction builds on the six previous volumes in the series, which is firmly established throughout the literary world as the cornerstone of America's gay literary tradition. The stories in this seventh edition are diverse, culled from the talents of established authors such as Andrew Holleran, Felice Picano, and Allen Ellenzwaig, as well as from the work of new young writers.

There are new themes in this seventh edition: more stories deal with the working class milieu and address class issues and insecurities; relationships between gay men and lesbian women are portrayed, as is the impact of the media on gay life; and more of these stories are unabashedly sexually explicit than in previous collections. Bergman's collection once again reflects the continuing vitality of gay literature and attests to its ability to confront the challenges of our times.

Genres: Gay Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Gay, Anthologies, LGBT

380 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the penultimate volume in the Men on Men series and once again I must praise it for the quality and variety of the writing. It is also, like the other volumes an incredible resource - if it wasn't for appearances in anthologies like this it would be virtually impossible to read almost any prose work by Kevin Killian unless you were willing to pay the outrageous amounts his out of print work commands. None of it is available on Kindle. I find it inexplicable how many gay authors works are impossible to acquire in book form or only at great expense (Martin Hyatt's last novel immediately springs to mind).

But back to Men on Men 7 (my apologies for the above rant) - it is a fine anthology and a reminder of how vibrant gay publishing was not so long ago (how long ago and vanished those times seem!) But also reading through the MoM series is to be dazzled at the explosion of talented writing was revealed with the advent of the post Stonewall gay liberation. I think in all sorts of ways we have to accept and ignore just how dramatic and significant the changes were.

This anthology, and all the MoM anthologies, are wonderful reading pleasure and excellent guides to further reading.

[pjr8888 · Rating 3 out of 5]

4th printing