An Asian Minor: The True Story of Ganymede

by Felice Picano

An Asian Minor is unlike any book that you are likely to read this year. The story of a thirteen-year-old boy who discovers that he is "the most beautiful mortal ever born," it examines that dubious honor in a retelling of the classical Greek myth that has attracted artists for centuries.

Genres: Fantasy, Queer, Mythology, Gay, M M Romance, Fiction, Historical Fiction

122 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Felice Anthony Picano was an American writer, publisher and critic who encouraged the development of gay literature in the United States. His work is documented in many sources.

Reviews

[Shin Mon Thway · Rating 5 out of 5]

God, how I loved this tasty little morsel! 😍 I admit, the main reason I bought this book is because of Jason Frazier, the narrator. After I got my first taste of him from “Blame it on the Mistletoe”, I knew I gotta get more of his yummy, sexy narration. 😁 So I went audio hunting on Audible and bought several more of his titles. And this little treat caught my attention right away.

First of all, I studied English literature and classics are and will always be my first and great love. So it’s no wonder, I also have a special fondness for mythologies. I love myths, that vivid and powerful imagination of gods and their glory, the powerful heroes and their epic battle scenes, the beautiful world of nymphs, mermaids, goddesses and unicorns, all that kind of deliciousness. And we have of course, at least heard if not read about Ganymede, the most beautiful mortal who has ever walked on this earth. 😊 So beautiful and perfect that he was taken away to Mt. Olympus to become the cupbearer of Zeus, the king of all gods. 😉 However, this is a very different perspective on retelling of Ganymede because this is his POV. 😱 And let me tell you, our hero Ganymede is a one very cheeky and snarky Grecian brat. 😂 The way he conveyed the story, it was masterfully and beautifully crafted, of course with the healthy amount of quick wits and a bit of dry humor. 😉

This is not just Ganymede retelling what truly happened some 4000 years ago. This is him teaching us valuable life lessons, passing us a wisdom that he’s learnt first hand so that we won’t settle for the first thing that came along our way. 😌 It was fun, it was witty and hilarious and it was glorious. 😱👏 And Jason Frazier’s superb narration made it even more enjoyable and realistic to immerse oneself into this mythical, magical world. 😍 I was in a different plane when gods walk among mortals and engage interactions with us, puny and weak humans. I was in a place where there were mighty and magnificent temples built for gods that we worshipped and when we still believe in the fortune telling by chicken blood that we had just sacrificed. I was mesmerized, I was in love, I was Ganymede himself and I was in love with my plain, wise and loving sheep farmer, Zeus. 🥰 And smutwise, although it isn’t explicit, it was very titillating and erotic. 🔥 Well, after all, for the lovers of books about men loving men, Ganymede truly was our pioneer in the art of lovemaking between men. Right? 😁 I can’t recommend this little tasty morsel enough! And you know the best part??? This audio was under 5 bucks! 😱 Can you believe it? Because I can’t, and I’d gladly pay 50 bucks for this glorious and beautifully narrated story. 👏 Loved, loved and loved it! 💙


5 And just like our love, I became immortal stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️




Audio rating

Story - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Performance - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you listen to audiobooks on a regular basis, as a listener you start to find performers you love. Before you know it, when you’re looking at the lists of audiobooks, you’re searching the listings not by title or author, but by who performs the audiobook, and then reading the blurbs of the books they’ve done. Finding a new and awesome performer is like finding a new author, and in fact absolutely leads to just that: finding new authors through the performer.

I reviewed this in full over at Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews.

[Erastes · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a traditional Greek tale with formal classic language then this is certainly not for you. Picano visualises a young man, given immortality at fourteen, who has aged mentally with the earth; he sees and knows the world – the modern world – and he speaks like a modern (albiet an American) boy. He decides to speak up and tell his true story because he sees that “a certain group of overconcerned busybodies are intent on making me a symbolic victim of an old pervert’s lust; and contrarily, by others saying that the perversion is fine.” He wants to set the record straight, to point out that his human rights had NOT been violated and he’s not the unwilling victim, raped and abducted without his permission.

He also says in the prologue, that he wants to give guys of today some hints

“to get themselves a sugar daddy who really counts, rather than settling for whomever comes along.”

Yes – unhinge your classical brain, we ain’t in the land of Laurence Olivier as Zeus!

Now you’d think I’d be complaining bitterly but I’m really not. I thoroughly enjoyed it once I saw the tack that Picano was taking. Ganymede is a cheeky little bastard, but wouldn’t you be if you were fated to be the most beautiful youth that ever lived? Picano takes the story mentioned in The Iliad that Ganymede was the son of Troas, King of Troy and whilst some of the ends of the story are changed a little, Ganymede Explains It All with typical youthful brio. When Zeus propositions him, there’s one of my favourite lines in the book and typical of the boy:

“If you want me, you’re going to have to do a lot better than they did. I’m not going to be known as the idiot who threw over Apollo and Hermes and Ares for an instant baking.”

The fact that his dad is dying of embarrassment as his son talks back to Zeus is a perfect touch.

Ganymede learns very early on that being so beautiful is both a blessing and a curse. His father shows him off as one of the wonders of Troy and soon on the boy is exiled from his home because Troas doesn’t want any gods turning up to court his son and making a nuisance of themselves. Ganymede’s adventures begin after this, rejecting Hermes, Ares and Apollo (after giving them a little taste of what they were going to miss) because he knows he’s worth more than any old randy minor god. And who can blame him. However it’s not until he’s humbled that he gets the chance to fulfill his destiny. The fact that it was Ganymede that brought about the Trojan war and subsequent destruction I thought was nicely done. It was his face that launched those ships, after all!!

The book is illustrated with lovely black and white drawings by David Martin which are very lickable and I wish I could show you one.

This book could easily have descended into a laughable, sporkable farce-but it doesn’t. It manages to be a fun, funny read thanks to the characterisation of the narrator and if you can get hold of a copy, reasonably priced, I think you’ll enjoy it.

[CivilWar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love me some hilariously outdated, often bad, old books (and many other things, for that matter), and I am a fan of queer literature and of Greek mythology (as in I actually read classical writing, not the accursed retellings now, or looking it up on Tumblr), so I basically just had to read this.

The fact that it is outdated is visible before you even pick it up, by just looking it up here, on Goodreads: look at the original cover from the 80s, and look at the cover of the digital re-release from 2017: WOW! They're a bit different, huh? When I saw the new one I straight up burst with laughter - what, can you tell that tastes have changed?

Speaking of covers, I don't even hate the new one (and I do dislike the original one because it's not to my taste at all), but the same artist illustrated multiple scenes, I think four illustrations - the artstyle, I want to sugarcoat it but I can't, is hideous, it's that smushed "Tumblr style" that was popular back in the 2010s which is very much not well suited for illustrations on a novel, or indeed for much of anything, it is good for people who are having fun and/or improving. The presence of the "Tumblr style" on something so old-timey and decidedly un-tumblr in its ethos is itself funny, for reasons I'll explain in a bit.

Just as outdated is of course, the premise, where the pre-to-early teen Ganymede fucks several of the gods - Hermes, Ares, Apollo and Zeus, in that order - with this causing a lot of hijinks. The prologue alone, by which I mean the first paragraph or so, speaking of the sort of fundamental naturality of such things with a casual tone, and complaining of busybodies going on about Ganymede's violated human rights, is enough to clue you in "yeah, you're in for something from a very different era of Yankee gay culture, old friend".

Speaking of the intro, let's talk about the writing style: it is absolutely banal, and I'll discuss in a bit why that's a special sin here. But no description of mine can show what I mean better than just showing you a paragraph. Have the aforementioned prologue:

Although it’s been a very long time since anyone had heard from me or even about me, I understand that my name and story are currently a hot topic, due to a certain group of overconcerned busybodies intent on making me a symbolic victim of an old pervert’s lust; and contrarily, by others saying the perversion is fine, and neither I nor my human rights have been violated.

So, to clear up these conflicting charges, I’ve decided to spend some time during my break here up on Olympus to tell you what really happened some four thousand years ago—and not so incidentally, to give the current crop of good-looking young guys what I hope are a few hints as to how to get themselves a sugar daddy who really counts, rather than settling for whomever comes along.

My own main man, Zeus, or Jupiter, or whatever you want to call him, is sleeping, as he and most of the other folks up here have been doing since you people stopped offering sacrifices and asking for our intercession in various affairs. A sort of extended hibernation, you may call it, with restless me awakening every few centuries to make sure no one needs a drink—that, after all, being my main job as an immortal, in case you forgot.

The whole book is written like this.

Now, because of this, you might be tempted to think that the book is very vulgar, or very explicit, pornographic: Neither of those is even remotely true. The book, indeed, does not have any profanity, not a single no-no word, not as a damn, in fact. Likewise, despite the nature of the book as a sort of sexy fantasy on words, no sex, genitals, even body00 form, is described with what might be called "salacious" or "suggestive", let alone explicit. There is too, a marked lack of anything resembling fetishism, besides the obvious ephebophilia that underpins the whole premise of writing a book in that style about this topic.

It's bad enough that Ganymede narrates the whole book like that, simply because, well, it's annoying, mf sounds like James Charles or something, but much worse is that it turns the entire experience of reading the book into an experiment in how blasé you can get it.

See, the issue with retelling something is that you risk falling into banality: why retell it if it's already told? You gotta bring something new to the table, or there's no point. Claudian wrote De Raptu Proserpinae to flesh out Persephone's feelings and Demeter's grief before finding out what happened to her daughter, rather than just trying to once more tell a story already perfectly told like a fucking textbook.

The modern Greek retelling is specially egregious, because it is done exclusively by people who do not understand what mythology is, how it works, why there are variations in oral tradition, and because they associate it with modern social trends, specially feminism, while they utterly fail to reflect on ancient Greek patriarchy and using that to critique modern patriarchy, instead the whole genre consists of women with raging, seething internalized misogyny who turn even the girliest of heroines like Psyche into tomboys who HATE DRESSES and AREN'T LIKE OTHER GIRLS, without examining either the myth, the society it came from, or our society and times and feelings. Instead they fall into the banality of telling a story that was never meant to be good literature, without enough changes to actually turn it into such.

This retelling of the Ganymede myth does something similar, very differently, in some aspects less bad but then multiplied in its shittiness by the writing style: there is a lack of understanding, or even basic knowledge, of Greek mythology, nor is the story interested in exploring either how the myth relates to Greek pederasty or the gay desires of the time or indeed literally anything at all. The Ganymede myth is very much one of those which is not renderable into a self-contained piece of fiction, being an extremely simple one: boy is beautiful, Zeus comes down from the sky to abduct boy, makes him cupbearer of the gods, done.

Now, of course, you can just add details and bits to a story that """the original""" didn't have, as indeed the ancients did, and this is done for a variety of reasons: to make it good literature, to give it new religious/cultural meaning, to come up with an etiological story, etc etc. That this book does that is not an issue: the issue is that it does that, because it knows of nothing else to do.

It cannot be good literature, because it's written like that, and obviously no new meaning is given to the myth, as, say, even Euripides himself gave to Chrysippus, a similar myth. The writing style, then, ends up making the fundamental problem of banality many times worse: by writing down this myth with nothing added, with no real "point" to it, thus suffering thus all the banalities of the retelling, with a style that is itself banal, the banality is suffered not just in content but in form. It is not just that the story is basic and pointless, but also that it sounds like a gay TikTok influencer talking about his affairs with rich men and giving the reader some almost certainly bad advice about not settling for anything but the best.

Despite this all, and because of the short length (lol), I can't actually hate it: It is very obvious that the only reason that it was republished was because the writer saw that Greek retellings are now real popular and went "Hey I wrote one of those once, a reprint is in order". But while recent retellings are indeed Bad, they are bad in entirely different ways: they are always written "seriously", which is to say, as real novels taking themselves seriously, which the author gay-zine-from-the-70s-write-to-us-about-your-experiences style is very much... at odds with, as is the blasé, nonchalant portrayal of pederasty, not even in ancient but clearly in modern terms. All of this is very funny, and makes me giggle.

Funniest of all, though, is that I can't figure out who this book is even for. It's not for fans of retellings of the modern day, for obvious reasons, it's not for fans of classical themes in literature because of how it's written and the total lack of care towards the mythology of anything, but despite me calling the style as from "gay-zine-from-the-70s", the thing is that those zines, which I've read and combed over quite a few, dealt with extremely graphic, explicit, fetishistic etc matters: which is to say, the amateur style is easily understood as being irrelevant because it's not the point. But this book has no such objectionable content, it has an objectionable premise , which is very different. It is actually less graphic, explicit, etc, than the average of such retellings, let alone the ones that are basically middle aged housewife porn. So it's not for gay perverts either. Who is it for then? Allen Ginsberg (wink wink nudge nudge), who? That amuses me.

[Jerry L. Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The obvious reference point is Merlis’s “An Arrow’s Flight,” but Picano sticks to the time period instead of inserting modernity into the mix. And Picano’s conversational Ganymede is funny and breezy and altogether charming. His observations on life and mythos are as interesting as they are clever.

[Jayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was originally written in 1981 by Felice Picano, and details the early life and career of Ganymede, as told by the alluring boy in his own words. It is extremely well-written, a colourful, ribald account of his escapades as he fights off the attentions of men of all rank and age. His beauty also captures the attention of various Immortals, who will go to great lengths to seduce him. It probably should be noted to those unfamiliar with Ancient history that Ganymede is 12 at the beginning of the book, so 21st century sensibilities do not apply.

The book hasn’t been in print for a long while, but now it has been republished as an audiobook, narrated in a salacious drawl by Jason Frazier. This is the first audiobook I have listened to all the way through. The delivery is everything, especially with a book that could be dismissed as being either too highbrow by some or too lightweight by others. This would be a shame. In fact, it is a witty, sexy, sometimes humorous account of Ganymede’s life. The reader gets a peephole view into the lusty world of Troy and its inhabitants, where beauty is highly prized and judged at every turn. Ganymede is the most beautiful of all boys, gaining sexual experience with a variety of Immortal lovers, before being disgraced and shunned for rejecting the top man, Zeus; probably not his greatest career move.

Jason Frazier’s voice should have an R rating. He could read a telephone directory and make it ooze with sexual promise. The book itself is not explicit, but the theme of lust runs through it in a pulsing thread. Ganymede learns humility, but still retains an arrogance that only truly beautiful people can get away with. He isn’t particularly likeable, but that doesn’t matter. His story is told in such rich and gorgeous detail, one cannot help but be captivated. This is a book to be savoured at home, rather than driving, or in a public place, as it would be a crime to miss a single word.

I was given a copy of this Audiobook in return for an honest review.

[Dmitry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A peculiar little thing from the 80s. A story about an arrogant twink Ganymede, told in a voice of an uptight 40 y.o. spinster.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an amazing short listen. I love read mythologies so I thought this is such a great short story about Ganymede. I just love how Jason Frazier has done this narration. Even though it is short it was definitely entertaining.

[BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvellous!😂 I just love the dry, ironical, satirical voice that Felice Picano has given to Ganymede.

[ButtonsMom2003 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audio review:
Overall 5
Performance 10
Story 4

OK, I have to admit that I didn't really understand this story but I LOVED the audio performance by Jason Frazier. After I listened to it I looked up Ganymede and realized why I didn't know much about the story. I've never really been into mythology but now, after Googling Ganymede, I think I will go back and listen to this short audiobook again.

I've found a new audiobook performer to add to my list of favorites.

A complementary copy of this audiobook was provided to me but my review is freely given and not influenced by the gift.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A modern retelling of the legend of Ganymede from his point of view. This novella is short, quick, to-the-point and delightful.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple novella that takes only an hour to read. Nevertheless it's delightful and charming and worth reading. If only we could all find our own Ganymedes --- or Zeuses!

[Meraxes Targaryen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars a really good short story ! Ganímedes isn't just a pretty face

[Kirstin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard this story before, but I absolutely loved it. It was sweet and had a moral. The narration was spot on and is one I'll listen to again.

[Colin Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in the first person from Ganymede’s perspective, this novella tells the tale of how a young prince, destined for greatness due to his looks becomes too much of a risk for his earthly guardians and is shunted from pillar to post. Clearly his looks attract the curiosity of the Gods, who in turn seduce him. Far from naive he works his way up the pecking order to get to Zeus. The book is interspersed with cartoon images of scenes. The style of writing is approachable and easy to read but seems to emulate the classics to give it context.

This is not a story of explicit sex and despite its centrality this is glossed over. The character of Ganymede is somewhat unclear as he is both experienced and yet vulnerable. He seems to build relationships with others but they seem transitory throughout and there are no apparent constants in his life in terms of bonds. Sadly there is nothing really to like or dislike about the central figure.

As this is a novella the pace is quite fast with little time to develop either characterisation or scene. The book is divided into chapters which relate scenes from the life of Ganymede.

The book’s later chapters take a slightly different and somewhat modern interpretation of the myth, but unfortunately this doesn’t add to story. It is an interesting read but not one that I would necessarily go back to.

This review is also posted at Gay Book Reviews

[Ronie Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a twist ending! It is fascinating to learn this story is at the center of an old discussion. A discussion that lead to the downfall of empires.

Ah! History repeats, so I am told. At least every 80 years. The roaring 1920s and 2020 had some similarities. Older gen not understanding new gen. A war! Then it was Germany now it's Ukraine vs Russia. Women in the work place to: women in the workplace wanting equal pay for equal work. Low on resources then was not being able to purchase items without a ration coupon. Now we have Fednow. Then the bird flu hit. Oh now had COVID 19. A different flu with just about the same results. Except now has a bit more.

Not a humble brag. It's just the facts.

[光彩 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jason Frazier is very skilled at portraying Ganymede’s cunning, his insouciant apathy to the “heartbreak” of all the gods that came before Big Z, his mild arrogance, and the first time he actually felt more than just liking for someone.

But — Zeus, really? That dude? C’mon.

[Cintia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Putlih 📚🎀 · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a good story and this is definitely my favourite Greek mythology retelling <3

[Avga Jupa · Rating 5 out of 5]

These author is totally fantastic.