In September, the Light Changes

by Andrew Holleran

The author of the best-selling gay novel Dancer from the Dance presents a new collection of short stories--many never before published--that explores the lives of a variety of memorable characters as it deals with such themes as travel, broken love affairs, failed dreams, and comedies of circumstance. Reprint.

Genres: LGBT, Fiction, Short Stories, Gay, Gay Fiction, Queer, Contemporary

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Born in 1943. Andrew Holleran is the pseudonym of Eric Garber, a novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is a prominent novelist of post-Stonewall gay literature. He was a member of The Violet Quill, a gay writer's group that met briefly from 1980-81.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this collection of stories in hardcover back in '99 but I never read more than the first story. Strangely enough, finding it again and rereading that story I realize it takes place in Oaxaca, my home of nearly 5 years. Many years have passed since I first bought the book, but I'm glad I waited to read it. The stories are painfully beautiful and painstakingly written. I had a difficult time reading Holleran when I was younger. The stories indicated the eventuality of some of my worst fears. Now that I'm older I'm closer to realizing those same fears, but I'm somehow less afraid of them. These stories of aging queens dealing with too much loss, of friends, of youth, of beauty, strike to the heart, but their humanity is so great that they offer sympathy, not death.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of short stories, all written with tenderness, warmth and humour, and never is a word wasted or superfluous.

Andrew Holleran's writing is exquisite and so easy to read.

Anyone who enjoys well written short stories, and is not shy of possibly being taken outside of their comfort zone, should get a copy of this book and read it, they will not be disappointed. Set in various locations around the world, but predominately in the USA, these stories about gay men living their lives, transports the reader to different worlds which they may or may not have, or even expect to, inhabit. Love, life, death, friendship and more is explored.

I loved this book.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

a collection of holleran stories (and my last unread work from him) depicting gay men individuating, making lives for themselves, mourning, lusting. there is no other writer with such an uncanny ability to reveal homosexual feeling in honest, frightening language. some of the comic stories are less effective but then there are the sad, aching dramas that give name to emotions i’ve only distantly recognized in myself. suddenly these feelings are morbidly close and ugly, earth shattering, massive and everywhere. “innocence and longing” might be my all time new favorite short story, where a man in florida describes the intimate process of witnessing men in public. “amsterdam” shows the slow death of a friendship as AIDS and mores drives people apart, “blorts” is about a man with a beautiful chest who is utterly divided from the earth. in every narrative, time passes with the melancholy of a summer as it slowly anneals and fades. “sunday morning: key west” aches against the threat of looming death. only to submit to a beautiful sunrise in the company of people you love.

thank god for gay writers.
“he is a frozen shriek, dangling in space”

[E. Rickert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why aren’t we talking more about Andrew Holleran?

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of 16 short stories won't appeal to many readers. Most of the tales concern gay men going through some form of midlife angst, typically as they are traveling somewhere or drifting from one season to the next. The title story -- the last in the collection -- typifies the vague melancholy that hangs over all the stories. The protagonist, an older man living by himself, is enjoying the last days of summer in Fire Island as the resort gradually empties out after Labor Day. At first, he enjoys the solitude but then finds himself drawn to a younger male couple living across town. He chances to make their acquaintance when they stop by one day asking for an herb from his garden. Days later, as a storm blows in, he finds himself feeling lonely and wondering how he can make an excuse to visit the two men. "I am a professional homosexual, he thought as he sat staring at the fire; I lecture, write, think about homosexuality and I sit here alone while they are chopping tomatoes together four walks away in their little house." At last, he gives in, goes out into the weather, and makes his way to their house on the pretext of borrowing some cooking oil. In their kitchen, they hand him a carafe of oil and chat for a minute about their house restoration project. "...And then -- after the smallest of pauses, he realized they were not going to ask him to stay."
Again and again, Holleran's characters bump up against the realization that their youth has passed by, and the light of their life is changing, and fading. By the final story, the gloom had got to me, and I was glad to be done with the anthology. But a few days later, I picked up the book again and leafed through a few of the stories again. This time, I could ignore the plots, and, instead savor Holleran's luminous descriptions of places and people. It might well be a book that will grow on me.

[John Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Holleran writes exquisite short stories. Not all of them are collected in IN SEPTEMBER, THE LIGHT CHANGES, but a good number are. Holleran's observations here as a gay man living amidst other gay men and various strangers range over a span of years from the 1960s to the end of the last century (this book was published 1999). One gets the strong sense that the characters are based on amalgamations of real people he has known, although the stories are crafted as and presented as fiction. The stories also appear to fill in some gaps in his other autobiographical narratives, the novels THE DANCER FROM THE DANCE (1978), NIGHTS IN ARUBA (1983), and THE BEAUTY OF MEN (1996). After this collection was published, Holleran moved into the 21st century with the novella GRIEF (2006), and we haven't seen any other book-length works published by him since then. Holleran is one of those writers one wishes were more prolific, but the quality of his prose is so uniformly excellent, and the relevance of his observations so on point, that one supposes both might suffer if he pushed himself to finish more stories sooner. Still, I hope there are more great works in store for us, whether in short or long form.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holleran is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. His first book, Dancer From the Dance, offers an amazing voice, interesting characters, and some heartbreaking observations on romance and innocence. I think his voice is better suited to novel-length prose, but there are some stand-out stories in this collection. Most of them involve Holleran's signatures - lovely descriptions of setting, stinging observations of longing, and the occasional bawdy character. Though these are short stories, you feel in each of them that the narrator is taking his time. The writing is not largely "in-scene" as it is in a lot of contemporary fiction, which made the experience of reading this a little nostalgic. When that style is done well, it works. Memorable tales include: two city friends visit other friends at a rural cottage to meet someone's new lover, a man visits his HIV-afflicted friend living in Amsterdam and becomes obsessed with the friend's journal entries on him, and the story of a guy with amazing "blorts." Looking forward to checking out another of his novels.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

The short stories in this book are beautifully written, and some, though few, were enjoyable. But on the whole, this book felt like a broken record. The characters were flat and uninteresting, very predictable, and it was the same story over and over and over...

[DoctorM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this especially for two pieces. The first story, set in Oaxaca, is bleak, razor-sharp, and brilliantly sardonic. The title story is...haunting and magical.

[R.J. Gilmour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holleran's short stories detail the lives of assorted narrators, who are all similar in style and nature and the lives they live in all of the gay meccas of the late 20th-century. Stories are set in New York, Fire Island, Philadelphia & Florida (where Holleran later moved to take care of one his parents). The stories speak to a particular time and place that any gay men will recognize, and they are wonderful exercises in ideas. In essence a place for Holleran to play with some of the larger ideas and themes that he expands in his novels. The stories are at once sweet and nostalgic capturing a period of time that has since evaporated.

[爾凡]

I found the writer's position is withdrawing, reflective, humorous and painstakingly sentimental. Since, I am being different age, culture and city, as a queer there are some extent of longing for intimacy and desire might share and unresolved in this 2020s period, cross-generations and cross-national. However, the homo-centred and materialistic worldview given me a lot of uneasy, even annoying, especially the cold distance in those character and relationship.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

So thrilled to have been able to obtain s copy as not available in UK. Holleran brings his characters and relationships vividly to life
Sexuality, friendship and families conveyed in mix of lust, love regret and melancholy.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Holleran made Gay Literary History with one of the first openly gay romantic novels, Dancer from the Dance. This collection of short stories, published in 1999, seems a charming period piece by now, a reminiscence about a time when gay life for so many revolved around the 4 Ds: disco, drugs, dish, and d*ck. (This was the vogue Back In The Day.) Everyone in this limited universe is either rich or charming, and everyone is white and educated, although not above ogling hot Latinx stock-boys at the grocery store, or shagging them if the opportunity presented itself.

Within the confines of this fin-de-siecle world of A-Gays and some few in reduced circumstances, Holleran finds stories that are telling, even poignant. A weekend in the country where one sets out to seduce your host's new boyfriend, only to find that was the implicit intention behind your invitation. Dinner with the Legendary Ashley Moore, social dictator at the top of the social pyramid, whose rules of conduct are as arcane and decadent as Louis XIV. A lonely gay man living in a small suburban town, who meets a male nurse who reveals the abundant sexual prowling on the Down Low. A trip to Key West to see an old, a fellow AIDS survivor, when merely living was a near-triumphant act of will, and the grace of the gods.

Most of these tales are short, little more than a dozen pages. Collectively, they are a remarkable portrait of an era, as the first round of The Great Plague has finally abated, and the weary survivors try to find new order in the world. Some have retreated to charming towns in the country; others have stayed in the urban jungle, but forsworn sex. Optimism may seem in short supply, but there is kindness in having taken care of one another during the ravaging years.

Holleran's stories hold up admirably in the 20 years since publication. A terrific read.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know these stories. I've been a part of many of them. I know these places.... the Village, Fire Island, Amsterdam. I know these men, as bar buddies, acquaintances, friends and more. And I know these emotions, having felt them too. Joy. Triumph. Serenity. Frustration. Ennui. And Loss. Holleran's stories perfectly captured not only time and minute detail but feelings that every one of us has dealt with in relationships. I can't help but wonder if the experience is different now for guys living this. I imagine it must be. I would like to think that people outside the life would read this, and gain some insight into what life was like for a group of men trying to live their lives.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this collection of short stories from Andrew Holleran, and I am more in love with his writing style and his work! He has a way of enrapturing you into the world of the (usually unnamed) narrator, to the point where you feel the man's thoughts and emotions along with him. Holleran's style is quite beautiful. Highly recommended to any and all!

[Vivencio · Rating 5 out of 5]

not since roth's 'goodbye colombus', have i so thoroughly enjoyed an author's collection of short stories. the elegant prose depicts passions with a recurrent plaintiveness that is both sweet and profound.

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories were pretty good, while others are mostly forgetable.

[Rmychal21]

Just started this book, will let you know.

[Andy Lusia]

Sad and beautiful like all of his others...

[Mejix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but uneven. There is pleasure in the recognition of characters and situations, but it's all surface, there really isn't much insight.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this three stars because it's Andrew Holleran, but really, I much prefer his longer form stuff.