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Oranges and Lemons: Stories by Gay Men
Book by Rees, David
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
8 people want to read
About the author
David Rees
41 books23 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
David Rees was born in London in 1936, but lived most of his adult life in Devon, where for many years he taught English Literature at Exeter University and at California State University, San Jose. In 1984, he took early retirement in order to write full-time. Author of forty-two books, he is best known for his children's novel The Exeter Blitz, which in 1978 was awarded the Carnegie Medal (UK), and The Milkman's On His Way, which, having survived much absurd controversy in Parliament, is now regarded as something of a gay classic. He also won The Other Award (UK) for his historical novel The Green Bough of Liberty. David Rees died in 1993.
David Rees was born in London in 1936, but lived most of his adult life in Devon, where for many years he taught English Literature at Exeter University and at California State University, San Jose. In 1984, he took early retirement in order to write full-time. Author of forty-two books, he is best known for his children's novel The Exeter Blitz, which in 1978 was awarded the Carnegie Medal (UK), and The Milkman's On His Way, which, having survived much absurd controversy in Parliament, is now regarded as something of a gay classic. He also won The Other Award (UK) for his historical novel The Green Bough of Liberty. David Rees died in 1993.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 9, 2024
I have corrected some spelling and errors of grammar but nothing else - March 2024
This book is a window onto a vanished world, not simply in its content but in its very fabric - it is a sewn paperback and you probably have to be over 60 (like me) to remember the time when not only hardback books but paperbacks were created to last. This short anthology after 40 years of reading, including twice by me, is in wonderful condition and ready to last another forty years.
But what of the contents - have they lasted through their first forty years? and do they deserve to be read in another forty? I think so - there are lovely gems such as 'Embracing Verdi' by Philip Ridley (who published two wonderful novels 'Crocodilia' and 'The Eyes of Mr. Fury' and an equally wonderful collection of short stories 'Flamingos in Orbit' between 1988 and 1990) and 'Winter Light' by David Rees but also many stories which are the only recorded work of the authors and the publication date of 1987 is a reminder that there was a lot of dying to come.
There are also writers here like Peter Robins who are woefully forgotten and others like Martin Foreman who were publishing regularly up to the early years of the millennium and then disappeared - or rather their publishers disappeared. There is a whole generation of minor, but very, very good UK gay (and non gay as well) authors who were effectively silenced at the midpoint of their careers by the transformation of publishing into an adjunct of media production.
It would be nice to think that times have changed sufficiently that anthologies like these aren't necessary. I don't believe that because I don't believe that the point of gay liberation was to turn gays into a heterosexual sub set. Liberation for gays was supposed to be about freeing everyone queer and straight from the ridiculous and worn out and above all failed institutions and ideas that had rejected us for so long.
These stories are about UK queer/gay men struggling to remake themselves and the world - the stories they tell are still powerful and true. Gay boys/men are still isolated in a 'straight' culture that only recognises itself and is forcing gays to see themselves through 'straight' eyes with any real sense of being gay/queer reduced to a cliché. It is good to read stories about gay men on the outside the mainstream because, like it or not the only real survival and growth for any minority is outside the mainstream.
This book is a window onto a vanished world, not simply in its content but in its very fabric - it is a sewn paperback and you probably have to be over 60 (like me) to remember the time when not only hardback books but paperbacks were created to last. This short anthology after 40 years of reading, including twice by me, is in wonderful condition and ready to last another forty years.
But what of the contents - have they lasted through their first forty years? and do they deserve to be read in another forty? I think so - there are lovely gems such as 'Embracing Verdi' by Philip Ridley (who published two wonderful novels 'Crocodilia' and 'The Eyes of Mr. Fury' and an equally wonderful collection of short stories 'Flamingos in Orbit' between 1988 and 1990) and 'Winter Light' by David Rees but also many stories which are the only recorded work of the authors and the publication date of 1987 is a reminder that there was a lot of dying to come.
There are also writers here like Peter Robins who are woefully forgotten and others like Martin Foreman who were publishing regularly up to the early years of the millennium and then disappeared - or rather their publishers disappeared. There is a whole generation of minor, but very, very good UK gay (and non gay as well) authors who were effectively silenced at the midpoint of their careers by the transformation of publishing into an adjunct of media production.
It would be nice to think that times have changed sufficiently that anthologies like these aren't necessary. I don't believe that because I don't believe that the point of gay liberation was to turn gays into a heterosexual sub set. Liberation for gays was supposed to be about freeing everyone queer and straight from the ridiculous and worn out and above all failed institutions and ideas that had rejected us for so long.
These stories are about UK queer/gay men struggling to remake themselves and the world - the stories they tell are still powerful and true. Gay boys/men are still isolated in a 'straight' culture that only recognises itself and is forcing gays to see themselves through 'straight' eyes with any real sense of being gay/queer reduced to a cliché. It is good to read stories about gay men on the outside the mainstream because, like it or not the only real survival and growth for any minority is outside the mainstream.
January 4, 2021
As someone born in the 90s this was a great opportunity to be properly introduced to the gay men's world of the 80s. Unfortunately some of the stories in the collection I thought were badly written, however they were juxtaposed with some great ones.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews