Gay Fiction to Satisfy Every Taste

March 19, 2008

Books by and about gay men of color are sadly few and far between. To its credit, Kensington’s books about African-Americans and Latinos do not treat race as an “issue” but as a fact of life, just as being gay is.

A good example of this is last year’s Boston Boys Club, by “Beantown Cuban” Johnny Diaz. Other good examples are the novels of Frederick Smith, particularly 2005's Down for Whatever and the current Right Side of the Wrong Bed (260 page paperback; $15).

Smith writes well about the lives of gay African-Americans and gay Latino-Americans in Los Angeles, where the two groups integrate with each other much more frequently than either of them do with the city’s soon-to-be minority of whites. A political case could be made of the fact that while the light-skinned Hispanics in Diaz’s book (like Diaz himself) mainly socialize with white “Anglos,” the dark-skinned Latinos of Smith’s novels hang out with African-Americans (or Asians). But, politics aside, both the Diaz and Smith books provide compelling entertainment for readers of any race. (Full disclosure: The author of this review is Hispanic.)

Of the three books reviewed so far in the present column, RIGHT SIDE OF THE WRONG BED is the closest to the light “beach reading” that Kensington is (in)famous for. This is because Smith gives his story a light touch throughout his book, except towards the end when the plot gets a bit serious. But it is hard not to enjoy this lighthearted, “opposites attract” yarn of Kenny Kane, a thirtyish Buppie on the rebound from a relationship gone bad and Jeremy Lopez, a barely legal Latino party animal.

Needless to say, Kenny has his hands full with his “JLO” and their relationship has more ups and downs than a roller coaster. If Rich Merritt’s book is epic drama, Frederick Smith’s novel is (except for the ending) pure situation comedy, as entertaining as anything you will find on television. Those who bemoan the decline of gay literature would do well to pick up these or any other Kensington books, which provide us with more hours of fun than any TV show or movie.

ART THAT DARES: GAY JESUS, WOMAN CHRIST, AND MORE by Kittredge Cherry; AndroGyne Press; 96 pages; $38.95.

Images of Jesus Christ that dare to defy tradition have long been controversial. Even today, when blasphemy laws are off the books or no longer enforced, portraying Jesus as gay or female often leads to attacks from the press or the pulpit and even attempts at censorship. In Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More, Kittredge Cherry brings together contemporary new and daring interpretations of the Christus.

Based on an exhibition that Cherry mounted at the JHS Gallery in Taos, New Mexico, Art That Dares “features the work of eleven brave, visionary artists who portray the gay Jesus, the woman Christ, and more. Here they tell the stories behind the images, including the controversies that erupted when the art was exhibited.”

Like Cherry herself, the artists whose works grace this book do not want to defame Jesus or destroy Christianity, but to expand their outreach to include those who have long been oppressed by the traditional Church. Their work is inspiring, arousing and thought provoking, which is something that all good art (and all good religion) should do.

Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer who lives and writes in South Florida. Send him a note at jessemontagudo@aol.com.

Submitted by

Dennis Ayers

on Wed, 2008-03-19 21:45.

TAGS ::

Reading is certainly underrated...

Submitted by

Ed Kennedy (6324 points) (1177 posts)

on Wed, 2008-03-19 22:05.

I try and read 1-2 novels each week - Amazon ships to work, and the guys that work for me are amazed at the volume. Books are, to me, more involving than TV or movies (though I admit to consuming far too much of those)

The last time AfterElton mentioned a few books, I hopped on Amazon and ordered them. I read "Code of Conduct" and loved it. Yes, it's fluff, but it was well paced and entertaining. I followed that up with "Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star" and while I found it a good read, maybe it was a bit too real in a lot of ways - I was in the Air Force 1993-1997 - I lived the advent of Don't-Ask/Don't-Tell, and I felt the pain. So it was good, and got the point across, but was a little too real for me.

I also went ahead and read "A Really Fine Prom Mess" that was mentioned here, and while an adolescent book, found it fun and refreshing - a beach read. I just finished "Bling Fall" by Christopher Rice. I have to admit, I didn't like it, and was surprised. I had read his prior novels, and really enjoyed them. This was just...dark. It had no sublty, and the main characters was completely unlikeable. I don't know where Christopher lost his ability to write characters that people could relate to, but I hope he finds it soon.

I try and convince the younger people who work for me to read more, that "A Beautiful Mind" the novel was so much more complex than the movie. That a set of historical novels like "The Pillars of Creation" and it's followup by Ken Follet can teach us more about how we got to the society we have than you can get from the DailyShow, which I'm enjoying right now, as I type. Harry Potter was a start, but that train is over, and I seriously worry about future generations ability to imagine their own worlds and visual something out of the written word.

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