Gay Fiction to Satisfy Every Taste

As readers of AfterElton.com know only too well, literature is a declining art form. As a form of entertainment, books are currently less popular than television, movies, pop music or the Internet.

Most “bestseller” books take in a fraction of the revenue earned by a blockbuster movie in ticket sales or by a hit TV show in advertising revenues. And except for books written by “celebrity” authors like Stephen King, most literary successes are memoirs written by people who made their mark in other media or are books recommended by Oprah Winfrey, herself a TV personality.

Literary award shows, even the Pulitzer Prizes, are not discussed (or televised) the way the Oscars, the Emmys, the Grammys or the Tonys are. Even people who were avid readers as children (thanks, Harry Potter!) tend to give up recreational reading when they get older and discover other forms of entertainment, the way most American boys give up soccer when they grow up.

In spite of all that, good writers continue to write and good books continue to be published, and helping to promote them is one reason why I write book reviews. Good gay books honestly speak to us as gay people, which is more than I can say about some of the other media.

In fact, in an age when most major television networks and film studios are increasingly reluctant to produce shows and movies about the GLBT community, books continue to provide gay-inclusive and gay-positive entertainment. And books do not have to be dull by any stretch. In fact, some of the best books are as exciting as any Hollywood blockbuster.

One publishing company that knows the value of a good gay book is Kensington Books. At a time when other publishers are pulling back, Kensington continues to put out entertaining gay novels and short story collections. Some of Kensington’s output is erotica (not that there is anything wrong with that) and some is pure fluff. But, at its best, Kensington’s books provide hours of entertainment for every gay book buff. Three of Kensington’s recently published novels prove my point.

THE SIXTH FORM: A NOVEL by Tom Dolby (312 page hardcover; $24.00) is a good example of a Kensington gay novel at its literary best. Dolby is a gay writer and personality - his apartment was featured in the New York Times - who won fame and notoriety with his first novel, The Trouble Boy.

But while Trouble Boy was a light romp about Manhattan nightlife, The Sixth Form tells a more serious story of teenage boys in the Sixth Form – the senior class – at a prestigious New England prep school. Dolby, a graduate of The Hotchkiss School, used his own prep school experience in his description of Berkley Academy. But as a good writer should do, he expanded upon his experiences to create a compelling work of fiction.

The Sixth Form centers on two boys in Berkley’s Sixth Form: Todd Eldon and Ethan Whitley. Ethan, a transfer student from California, befriends Todd, the son of wealthy but distant parents. Together the emotionally uncertain Ethan and the sexually confused Todd navigate Berkley’s muddy waters, but they are no match for Hannah McClellan, a beautiful and seductive (in both senses of the word) teacher and gourmet cook.

Hannah invites the boys to enter her fascinating world and in so doing they discover more about her and themselves than they were ready for. Though The Sixth Form is not as entertaining as The Trouble Boy was – the plot slows down at times, and Hannah is not a fully developed character – it is a better novel, and the reader who first met Dolby by way of his debut novel will not be disappointed.

CODE OF CONDUCT by Rich Merritt (456 page paperback; $15) is a good fictional follow-up to the non-fiction Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star. Admittedly, Merritt’s first novel is a bit of a disappointment following his autobiography, a good example of truth sometimes being more exciting than fiction.

However, standing on its own merits, Code of Conduct is a fascinating, ambitious, exciting novel telling a story that Hollywood bigwigs would surely make into an epic drama – if it weren’t about gay people.

Merritt puts his experience in the U.S. Marines to good use in this book, peppering the plot with details that only a veteran such as he would know. Thanks to Merritt, we learn about an underground society of lesbian and gay service members, who befriend and support one another while maintaining a straight facade to the unforgiving military establishment.

Code of Conduct takes place in the hopeful days of 1993, when newly inaugurated President Bill Clinton promised to abolish the antigay provisions of the military’s Code of Conduct. (And we all know how that one ended.)

While the plot centers on a tragic love story between two Marines – Gunnery Sgt. Don Hawkins and First Lt. Patrick McAbe, a helicopter pilot – Code of Conduct has more characters and situations than one can mention in a brief review. Closeted colonels, repressed Investigative Service agents, homophobic politicians and unscrupulous reporters clash with uniformed men and women who just want to live their lives while serving their country. The result is an exciting read that never lets down, even when we know what’s going to happen next.