January Books: A Gay Literary Medley

Bart Yates, one of Kensington Books’ brightest literary lights, first made a name for himself with his first novel, Leave Myself Behind (2003). Yates’s second novel, The Brothers Bishop (2005), was not as successful and there were many of us who feared that Yates would turn out to be a one trick pony. Such fears were put to rest with the recent publication of Yates’s third novel, The Distance Between Us (Kensington Books; 352 pages; $24). Yates’ tale of musical genius, eccentric behavior and domestic dysfunction is one of the best “gay novels” I have read this year (or any year).

Author Bart Yates

But calling The Distance Between Us a “gay novel” is manifestly unfair and book sellers do Yates an injustice by shelving his book in the “gay studies” section.

Unlike previous Yates books, with their gay male protagonists, Leave Myself Behind centers on an elderly straight woman, Hester Parker. Once a brilliant pianist, Parker’s career as a soloist ended when she injured her wrist in an accident. Married to the great violinist Arthur Donovan, Hester had three children – Paul, Caitlin and Jeremy – and settled down in Bolton, Illinois where she teaches piano at the local conservatory.

Now 71, Hester’s life has fallen apart. Her husband left her for another woman, her two oldest children are alienated from her, and her youngest son left her in tragic circumstances. Left living alone in the family home, Hester takes in a boarder, Alex, a young college student with his own set of problems.

In The Distance Between Us, Yates looks at the world through the eyes of a bitter old woman and does a good job doing so. Hester Parker is not a likeable person and one finds it difficult to sympathize or empathize with her. As an individual, Hester is hard to handle, and with her family – the messiest collection of talented eccentrics gathered under one roof – she is even worse.

It is only when dealing with Alex – a fellow even more damaged than Hester or her kin – that Hester allows her finer nature to come through; a nature that failed her when her youngest son Jeremy needed her most. Only toward the end does Hester manage to come through for her family in need.

The Distance Between Us fascinates us with its unique (if disturbing) characters, brisk dialog and interesting plot, even if the ending left us a bit cold. Ironically, the most disappointing character in the book is Alex, the gay character.

Perhaps Yates devoted so much of his creative energies on the Donovan/Parker family to have much time for his book’s sole gay male character. But these are minor faults, and do not detract from the book’s intrinsic value. All in all, The Distance Between Us is Bart Yates’ masterpiece (so far), and one of the best books of 2008.

Short Views: Steve Berman continues to amaze me. The brilliant author of last year’s Vintage: A Ghost Story, Berman also contributes to gay literature as editor, mainly through his own Lethe Press. Several Berman-edited, Lethe-published books have come across my desk, and each one of them is worth reading. For starters, there is Vintage itself, now back in a new, Lethe Press edition. Then there is Second Thoughts: More Queer and Weird Stories by Steve Berman ($13). A worthy successor to Trysts, Berman’s first collection, the stories and essays in Second Thoughts first appeared in media as diverse as The Journal of Magic Arts and the anthology His Underwear.

Author Steve Berman

Two “best of” anthologies showcase Berman’s genius at editing other people’s work. Best Gay Stories 2008 ($18) is just that: the best gay stories of the previous year. The twenty stories and essays here run the gay literary gamut, and include short works by Jameson Currier, Greg Herren, David Levithan, Jeff Mann, Ethan Mordden and Aaron Shurin, just to name a few.

Wilde Stories 2008: The Best of the Year’s Gay Speculative Fiction ($15) is, of course, named after Oscar Wilde, who once said famously that “I can believe anything, provided that it is quite incredible.” Wilde Stories 2008 would make Oscar proud, since it is a fascinating collection of “the fantastical, the strange and the scary” in gay short fiction. One of the short stories, “Ever So Much More Than Twenty” by Joshua Lewis, is already a winner: the recipient of a Gaylactic Network Spectrum Award for best short fiction.