AfterElton’s 50 Best Gay Books!

14. Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

Before the movie there was this exquisite short story, first published in The New Yorker in 1997, where it drew raves and awards, then included as part of Proulx’s 1999 collection, Close Range: Wyoming Stories, which became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. “Of course I knew the story would be seen as controversial,” Proulx said. “I doubted it would even be published.” But it’s a testament to the power of this spare and understated story that it would go on to be as successful as it has. Rarely have so few words said so much.

15. The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst

This 1988 novel tells of the unabashed sexual exploration of a gay Londoner in the early 1980s, but it’s anything but mere erotica. Hollinghurst’s first novel is breathtaking in its use of language and was way ahead of its time in its willingness to take a hard look at issues of sexuality, race, and class. In literary circles, some dismissed the book because of its explicit subject matter, but for anyone with an open mind, the author’s talent is undeniable.

16. And The Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts

As a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, Shilts had a front-row seat to the devastation of the AIDS crisis in the early 1980s. Eventually, he turned what he saw into this 1987 book. "Any good reporter could have done this story, but I think the reason I did it, and no one else did, is because I am gay,” Shilts said. “It was happening to people I cared about and loved." So who was responsible for letting the AIDS crisis spin so wildly out of control? According to Shilts, everyone played a part: from a homophobic population, to an utterly hostile government, to gay men themselves, who remained in denial far too long. Tragically, the great chronicler of the AIDS epidemic later succumbed to the disease himself.