Category: Books
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BOOK REVIEW | Rupert Everett, Vanished Years
Celebrity memoirs can be terribly dull things: at best, scandalous and shocking and at worst, clumsily written and dull.
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Coming Out: Top 10 Coming Out Novels
Having always been a fan of reading, I navigated my way through my teenage years by devouring as much gay fiction as I could. It made me feel affirmed and like I belonged. It’s always good to know it’s not just you. Here are my top ten “coming out” novels:
Maurice
Maurice by E.M. Forster: This is one of the original classic gay novels. Written around the time of War World I, it’s never going to be smooth sailing when Maurice discovers that he’s gay in a world where homosexuality is illegal and considered a perversion. It’s a beautiful story, though, with some gripping moments.
A Boy’s Own Story
A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White: This literary masterpiece from 1986 outlines the coming of age of a young gay man in a tender and well-written account. The writing is lyrical and moving with an evocative and fascinating story.
Running With Scissors
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs: This is a coming out story with a difference. Burroughs’ childhood was far from usual. He grew up with an alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, ended up being adopted by his mother’s psychiatrist and his eccentric family and had a relationship with a 33-year men whilst in his early teens. Memoirs don’t get much more compelling, brutal or funnier than this one, thanks to Burroughs’ comical take on his life
Sucking Sherbet Lemons
Sucking Sherbet Lemons: by Michael Carson: Young Martin Benson is a teenage boy who’s gradually coming to terms with being gay in a predominately Irish Catholic community in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It’s a humorous and touching book of a boy’s dilemma between the joys of discovering gay sex and the guilt instilled on him by a religion that labels him as sinful. It’s is also the first of a trilogy which goes on to follow Benson as he navigates his way through life.
Fifty Ways Of Saying Fabulous
Fifty Ways of saying Fabulous: by Graeme Aitken: Billy is a young boy living on a farm in New Zealand. He’s not quite cut out for farm life and spends his time imagining he’s Judy from “Lost in Space”, fumbling with a friend and lusting after the 19-year-old farmhand. It’s a very funny and entertaining read.
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To YOu
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron: James is a misfit and in discord with his surroundings and fractured family. Caught in a limbo between leaving school and starting university he feels adrift. His psychiatrist is driving him more insane and his crush on a co-worker is getting more than he can manage. This is an above-average account of the pain and confusion that sometimes accompanies being a teenager.
Mysterious Skin
Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim: This is a dark and at times disturbing read. It’s a coming of age novel but with a twist. Brian is a guileless innocent and forges an unlikely friendship with a savvy cynic and part-time male prostitute, Neil. The novel is fast-paced and at times shocking as the two move towards a conclusion which causes Brian and Neil to re-evaluate their shared past. Mysterious Skin has also been made into a movie which TheGayUK has reviewed
A Home At The End Of The World
A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham: Pulitzer Prize winner Cunningham has created a moving account of the extraordinary situation which Bobby, Claire and Jonathan, three friends and lovers find themselves in. The book explores how people manage to find a place for themselves and is an accomplished piece of work.
How I Paid For College
How I Paid for College by Marc Acito: This camp tale is reminiscent of a 1980s teen movie but with a musical theatre loving cast of misfits and a gay main character. It’s a light and funny book with lots of tongue in cheek moments and an amusing storyline.
Terre Haute
Terre Haute by Will Aitken: Jared is the son of a wealthy family growing up in Indiana who happens to fancy boys. He’s sly, manipulative and cunning and has a predatory nature. When he enters into a relationship with an older man he quickly gains the upper hand. This is a moody, erotic tale which is really compelling to read but also makes the reader wince a little. Jared is definitely an anti-hero with a difference.
Happy reading people.
This article was first published in 2012
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BOOK REVIEW: Love You Bye, Scott Mills
Scott Mills has been a much loved DJ at Radio One for the past 14 years and also happens to be one of the boys (aka gay).
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Scott Mills To Release Autobiography
Scott Mills is one of Radio 1’s most loved DJs, having been at the station for over a decade.
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BOOK REVIEW | Briefs Encountered by Julian Clary
Noel Coward was the toast of 1930’s British society with his razor sharp wit, sartorial elegance and much loved plays and songs. Goldenhurst, his house in Kent, provided a refuge where he could be himself and hide from the prying eyes of the general public and more importantly the law. (more…)
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BOOK REVIEW | My Policeman
Naive schoolmistress Marion first catches sight of handsome Tom in Brighton and is instantly smitten by his wholesome good looks and swimmer’s physique.
In spite of some reservations about this dashing young policeman, she is determined that her love will be enough for them both. The complication is that Tom is increasingly lured into the gay underworld of 1950’s Brighton when he meets sophisticated gay museum curator, Patrick. The ensuing love triangle has far reaching consequences for the three of them in a society where homosexuality is still illegal.
Vintage style is big business in the 21st century and one decade which brings on a warm rush of nostalgia is the 1950s. Homes are being decorated with stylish repro 50’s patterns and tweed jackets are making a comeback, but have you ever considered what it was like to be gay before the law reforms of 1967 made homosexuality legal? This pitch perfect novel captures the atmosphere of fear which surrounded being gay in 1950’s Brighton. Roberts has created a compelling and haunting story with strong credible characters which is hard not to become instantly immersed in.
The backdrop of historical detail doesn’t intrude on a great story but adds depth and colour to it. The city of Brighton is recognisable by its landmarks but alien in its climate of repression. I would heartily recommend this book as being well written and eminently readable. It’s a book which causes you to stop and think about how we view the past through a filter of our own current experiences and realise that maybe the good old days weren’t always so good for gay men.
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BOOK REVIEW | My Policeman
★★★★★ My Policeman |Naive schoolmistress Marion first catches sight of handsome Tom in Brighton and is instantly smitten by his wholesome good looks and swimmer’s physique.
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BOOK REVIEW | Jack Holmes And His Friend
Grand master of gay literature, Edmund White, is now in his 70s and his first novel was published in 1973. He’s renowned for his classic novel “A Boy’s Own Story” which accompanied me through an episode of glandular fever back in my teens and made the days bearable.
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BOOK REVIEW | James Lear
The nation’s women are gripped by “Fifty Shades of Grey” fever. Huddles of women are whispering about it in corners and passing dog eared copies back and forth. Book shops are selling out and the author is breaking records all round with her tale of BDSM sex and raunch. It set me thinking about how a few of my friends and I experienced a similar phenomena with the books of James Lear.
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BOOK REVIEW | Tales Of The City
Summer is here and one thing that is fundamental apart from booking that desired holiday destination is getting the right book to take with you.
