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Restless Rednecks: Gay Tales of the Changing South
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September 4, 2025
'"Roy F. Wood is the voice of the rural recluse, the gay loner, the Southern outsider. The men in his stories are rugged, sharp, fiercely independent and sometimes fiercely lonely; strangers in a very strange land of spitfire preachers, restless rednecks and sweet, secret longings. Woods most eccentric tales are odd little gems of satire and wish fulfilment, apt to strike those who don't know the South as mighty peculiar, apt to strike those of us who've been there as only slightly larger then life. When he turns his talent to a lower key, he can deliver classically crafted stories that come from the heart; the beautiful 'Next Time...' (sic) captures to perfection the ache of unspoken desire for the man and the moment that slipped away. And when Wood's men do connect usually against ferocious odds), sparks fly, heroes spring to life, and a Georgia boy's dreams come true"-Aaron Travis, Drummer' From the back cover of the 1985 Grey Fox Press paperback edition.
I wish I could say that I have discovered a forgotten writer of quality in Roy F. Wood, but I didn't, but he is a very good and significant writer for the time - according to the copyright information these stories appeared between 1980 and 1985 in Drummer Magazine, these are stories of the pre AIDS era (Roy Woods died from AIDS in 19860. By today (2025) not only is AIDS something that needs to be explained to youngsters (and I can't tell you happy those of us old enough to have lived through those years that makes us) but how important, indeed essential, print media, little magazines, broadsheets, small publishers, etc., were as a way of staying in touch and acquiring information. It is as absurd as relying on telegrams, morse code or semaphore to communicate.
But most importantly Roy Woods was an author of the first post Stonewall generation of gay men who could begin to live open lives and tell their own stories to willing and growing audience. It was a time of change and optimism. What I love in particular is Wood's regional voice, it is so easy to get fixated by the great gay Metropolises but there always were gays who couldn't or wouldn't go there. Wood gives these men a voice.
I would have liked to give more stars the collection but it wouldn't be fair, I am reading and post reviews of gay literature from the AIDS era and finding much of it failing to past muster. I don't want to oversell Wood as a writer - even for his time he wasn't first rank, but he is good and deserves to be read. I will still go and hunt out his novel 'Seth'.
I wish I could say that I have discovered a forgotten writer of quality in Roy F. Wood, but I didn't, but he is a very good and significant writer for the time - according to the copyright information these stories appeared between 1980 and 1985 in Drummer Magazine, these are stories of the pre AIDS era (Roy Woods died from AIDS in 19860. By today (2025) not only is AIDS something that needs to be explained to youngsters (and I can't tell you happy those of us old enough to have lived through those years that makes us) but how important, indeed essential, print media, little magazines, broadsheets, small publishers, etc., were as a way of staying in touch and acquiring information. It is as absurd as relying on telegrams, morse code or semaphore to communicate.
But most importantly Roy Woods was an author of the first post Stonewall generation of gay men who could begin to live open lives and tell their own stories to willing and growing audience. It was a time of change and optimism. What I love in particular is Wood's regional voice, it is so easy to get fixated by the great gay Metropolises but there always were gays who couldn't or wouldn't go there. Wood gives these men a voice.
I would have liked to give more stars the collection but it wouldn't be fair, I am reading and post reviews of gay literature from the AIDS era and finding much of it failing to past muster. I don't want to oversell Wood as a writer - even for his time he wasn't first rank, but he is good and deserves to be read. I will still go and hunt out his novel 'Seth'.
April 16, 2022
STORIES ABOUT RURAL GAYS
The narrators and protagonists of the stories in Roy F. Wood’s Restless Rednecks: Gay Tales of the Changing South are loners. They are aware of the limitations, and dangers, of living in rural Georgia, but their attachment to the land is deep. The word “restless” in the title doesn’t signify that the gay men in the stories will go crazy if they don’t run off to the big city. Many of them learn to make serious adjustments in order to live better lives. Some of them do just that and with a vengeance! The order in which the stories appear in Restless Rednecks is superb. Several of Wood’s stories are sensitive and literary, while others are unabashedly one-handers.
“Next Time,” the first story in Restless Rednecks, was originally published in Gay Sunshine Journal in 1982. It begins with a detailed description of rural Georgia, which also sets the stage for the succeeding stories. “Next Time” is the story that has stayed with me the longest. David Benson, who is thirty years old and works in real estate, “trekked back south after graduation, having learned enough to know he should leave the area: yet still in love with the land, his covenant with it solid and intact.” “Anticipation was all he might dream of—he knew full well the community’s attitudes towards people like him.” Benson meets a man in the local straight bar. Both of them are hesitant about declaring their attraction to each other, but it looks as if there will be a next time. “Next Time” is a wonderful story with which to begin the collection.
The second story in the collection, “The Night the Dykes Destroyed Dick’s Bar,” originally published in Blueboy in 1984, is wild and humorous. The narrator concludes: “I was sure sorry to see Dick’s Bar go up in smoke like that. Still, the night wasn’t a total loss: I got the pianoplayer.”
“Where Have All the Heroes Gone,” originally published in RFD in 1983, is immensely enjoyable and affirmative. The narrator says, “The solitude, which at first translates as loneliness, gradually becomes aloneness—which is an entire world of difference.” He also observes: “In this stygian century, all homosexual men and women are heroes and heroines, simply by virtue of living from day to day.”
Religion, various Southern versions of it, that is, appears in quite a few of Wood’s stories. In “Bastian,” seventeen-year-old Samuel Mathis gets involved with a group of break-away fundamentalists who establish a new church called Disciples of the Way not far from his home. His baptism into this “church” is unique, to say the least. Religion features in “Transfiguration,” a story about a muscleman poster that forever changes the life of Samuel, who is “isolated by choice.” Religion is also prominent in “The Shrine,” which is set in the 1950s: “Henry grew up all alone” and “was one of those rare and beautiful creatures, a homosexual.” Henry describes religion as “a molasses-style flypaper, catching and holding every unfortunate soul who touched it.” Henry decides to—well, you have to read the story. And the narrator of “The Visitation” learns how to deal in a fun way with the young men who come around to his door and try to convert him.
At the beginning of the last story, “Masters of the Ceremony,” the narrator says, “You can figure out what sort of day it’s going to be when your sextoys arrive and won’t work!” His day perks up when a pickup pulls up at his place: “The black guy got out. He was some man!” This story reads like something that would have appeared in Drummer or Honcho. It’s suspenseful, shocking, and a fitting choice to conclude the collection.
Roy F. Wood writes in his preface to Restless Rednecks: “[These stories] should, all in all, make you feel good about being a gay man. And I hope they give you pleasure in the reading.” Wood’s stories did just that for this reader. Not many writers address their readers up front in this way. I believe that Wood was really excited to have his stories out there for the gay reading public.
We are fortunate that back in the 1980s small publishers, such as Grey Fox Press, which published Restless Rednecks, and Knights Press, the publisher of Wood’s novel Seth, were able to exist for a few years and publish many exciting gay writers. Unfortunately, most of these books have been out of print and their publishers defunct for decades. I’m thankful that much of this “lost” literature is available through online used booksellers and, in some instances, can be borrowed online at Internet Archive.
The narrators and protagonists of the stories in Roy F. Wood’s Restless Rednecks: Gay Tales of the Changing South are loners. They are aware of the limitations, and dangers, of living in rural Georgia, but their attachment to the land is deep. The word “restless” in the title doesn’t signify that the gay men in the stories will go crazy if they don’t run off to the big city. Many of them learn to make serious adjustments in order to live better lives. Some of them do just that and with a vengeance! The order in which the stories appear in Restless Rednecks is superb. Several of Wood’s stories are sensitive and literary, while others are unabashedly one-handers.
“Next Time,” the first story in Restless Rednecks, was originally published in Gay Sunshine Journal in 1982. It begins with a detailed description of rural Georgia, which also sets the stage for the succeeding stories. “Next Time” is the story that has stayed with me the longest. David Benson, who is thirty years old and works in real estate, “trekked back south after graduation, having learned enough to know he should leave the area: yet still in love with the land, his covenant with it solid and intact.” “Anticipation was all he might dream of—he knew full well the community’s attitudes towards people like him.” Benson meets a man in the local straight bar. Both of them are hesitant about declaring their attraction to each other, but it looks as if there will be a next time. “Next Time” is a wonderful story with which to begin the collection.
The second story in the collection, “The Night the Dykes Destroyed Dick’s Bar,” originally published in Blueboy in 1984, is wild and humorous. The narrator concludes: “I was sure sorry to see Dick’s Bar go up in smoke like that. Still, the night wasn’t a total loss: I got the pianoplayer.”
“Where Have All the Heroes Gone,” originally published in RFD in 1983, is immensely enjoyable and affirmative. The narrator says, “The solitude, which at first translates as loneliness, gradually becomes aloneness—which is an entire world of difference.” He also observes: “In this stygian century, all homosexual men and women are heroes and heroines, simply by virtue of living from day to day.”
Religion, various Southern versions of it, that is, appears in quite a few of Wood’s stories. In “Bastian,” seventeen-year-old Samuel Mathis gets involved with a group of break-away fundamentalists who establish a new church called Disciples of the Way not far from his home. His baptism into this “church” is unique, to say the least. Religion features in “Transfiguration,” a story about a muscleman poster that forever changes the life of Samuel, who is “isolated by choice.” Religion is also prominent in “The Shrine,” which is set in the 1950s: “Henry grew up all alone” and “was one of those rare and beautiful creatures, a homosexual.” Henry describes religion as “a molasses-style flypaper, catching and holding every unfortunate soul who touched it.” Henry decides to—well, you have to read the story. And the narrator of “The Visitation” learns how to deal in a fun way with the young men who come around to his door and try to convert him.
At the beginning of the last story, “Masters of the Ceremony,” the narrator says, “You can figure out what sort of day it’s going to be when your sextoys arrive and won’t work!” His day perks up when a pickup pulls up at his place: “The black guy got out. He was some man!” This story reads like something that would have appeared in Drummer or Honcho. It’s suspenseful, shocking, and a fitting choice to conclude the collection.
Roy F. Wood writes in his preface to Restless Rednecks: “[These stories] should, all in all, make you feel good about being a gay man. And I hope they give you pleasure in the reading.” Wood’s stories did just that for this reader. Not many writers address their readers up front in this way. I believe that Wood was really excited to have his stories out there for the gay reading public.
We are fortunate that back in the 1980s small publishers, such as Grey Fox Press, which published Restless Rednecks, and Knights Press, the publisher of Wood’s novel Seth, were able to exist for a few years and publish many exciting gay writers. Unfortunately, most of these books have been out of print and their publishers defunct for decades. I’m thankful that much of this “lost” literature is available through online used booksellers and, in some instances, can be borrowed online at Internet Archive.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews