Prolepsis, by J.
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Prolepsis by J. Scott Coatsworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
2021, and Sean Miller is looking back to 1986, when his life changed. “The world was a radically different place back then. There was no internet, no Facebook, no email, and no cellphones” (5). The AIDS epidemic had killed, and was continuing to kill, thousands in the US. At least one million Americans have been affected. For many LGBTQ+ Americans, it was a risky time, and not just because of AIDS, and many remained in the closet.
Sean was living in Tucson, Arizona, and was the “brand-new editor for the Prolepsis ‘zine,” a zine “fresh, edgy, and new,” and it specialized in stories by authors who pushed the envelope” (5). A young man, he, too, is in the closet, and has to endure such small and yet corrosive indignities as snide comments at the video store (remember those?) when he selects gay movies. He’s not out to his roommate, to his sister, to just about anybody in his life.
Things began to change on one of his daily visits to the post office to collect Prolepsis mail—and to gaze longingly at the cute clerk, Jason, he of the nice rear end. Sean finds a pink envelope in the mail box. Sean has taken the meaning of the title, “the representation of a thing existing before it actually does” (5),” to heart, but to his shock, so has a new author, I.H. Tragitto. Tragitto has sent him the story, “Firetime,” and warns him in the cover letter that “some elements may seem shocking in this time, but sci-fi is the art of the possible, and I assure you, the things are all possible” (7).
The story in the pink envelope, “Firetime,” has an openly gay protagonist, and he has a husband. In the world of the story, “being gay was such a normal thing.” Sean was blown away. He accepts the story, paying the author the princely sum of $10, and he has “no idea what [his] decision would unleash” (8). His copy editor refuses to edit the story: “It’s … filth … It’s disgusting” (10, 11). Sean denies he’s gay, when he’s asked, an act which takes a “little of [his] soul away” (11). But another pink envelope arrives, and Sean accepts Tragitto’s next story, “The Seventh Gender,” about people who are gender-fluid and transgender. Some are even “gender-queer.” What a brave new world this writer is imagining in the future! The publisher in the UK, more than a little disturbed that such a story is in his journal, makes the same accusation. Sean feels he is “like Peter denouncing Christ” 20).
The changes have begun. Sean finds himself encouraging an anonymous closeted and lonely, gay high school student via Compuserve. He invites cute Jason over to watch a Star Trek marathon, and Jason happily accepts. Sean comes out to the lonely high school student, to Donny, his roommate, and to his surprise, finds out Donny doesn’t have a problem with it. Sean is out of the closet.
Things progress from there. Jason and Sean become boyfriends. He finds the courage to come out to his one surviving family member. Prolepsis publishes a queer issue. Not everything is positive, of course. Change often comes with a price. Sean lose his job. Still, the universe has spoken. It will, it is going to get better, as Tragitto’s stories attest. Does the writer just have a wild imagination? As he had had a utopian vision? Read the story to find out who this mystery writer is and how can he know such changes were in the future, as well as other intriguing plot twists.
This is a love story, a coming out story, and a story of identity and self. This is a tale of the power of story, of when one does imagine what is not yet in existence, then perhaps, this is calling the imagined into reality. The story is also a chronicle of the continuing evolution of the American gay community, from a time of fear and invisibility into, if not the light, at least out of the shadows. Coatsworth has written a tale of a difficult time, and tale that is sweet and funny. Things did get better—with a little help. Here’s to hope for continued progress.
Recommended.
View all my reviews
Prolepsis by J. Scott CoatsworthMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
2021, and Sean Miller is looking back to 1986, when his life changed. “The world was a radically different place back then. There was no internet, no Facebook, no email, and no cellphones” (5). The AIDS epidemic had killed, and was continuing to kill, thousands in the US. At least one million Americans have been affected. For many LGBTQ+ Americans, it was a risky time, and not just because of AIDS, and many remained in the closet.
Sean was living in Tucson, Arizona, and was the “brand-new editor for the Prolepsis ‘zine,” a zine “fresh, edgy, and new,” and it specialized in stories by authors who pushed the envelope” (5). A young man, he, too, is in the closet, and has to endure such small and yet corrosive indignities as snide comments at the video store (remember those?) when he selects gay movies. He’s not out to his roommate, to his sister, to just about anybody in his life.
Things began to change on one of his daily visits to the post office to collect Prolepsis mail—and to gaze longingly at the cute clerk, Jason, he of the nice rear end. Sean finds a pink envelope in the mail box. Sean has taken the meaning of the title, “the representation of a thing existing before it actually does” (5),” to heart, but to his shock, so has a new author, I.H. Tragitto. Tragitto has sent him the story, “Firetime,” and warns him in the cover letter that “some elements may seem shocking in this time, but sci-fi is the art of the possible, and I assure you, the things are all possible” (7).
The story in the pink envelope, “Firetime,” has an openly gay protagonist, and he has a husband. In the world of the story, “being gay was such a normal thing.” Sean was blown away. He accepts the story, paying the author the princely sum of $10, and he has “no idea what [his] decision would unleash” (8). His copy editor refuses to edit the story: “It’s … filth … It’s disgusting” (10, 11). Sean denies he’s gay, when he’s asked, an act which takes a “little of [his] soul away” (11). But another pink envelope arrives, and Sean accepts Tragitto’s next story, “The Seventh Gender,” about people who are gender-fluid and transgender. Some are even “gender-queer.” What a brave new world this writer is imagining in the future! The publisher in the UK, more than a little disturbed that such a story is in his journal, makes the same accusation. Sean feels he is “like Peter denouncing Christ” 20).
The changes have begun. Sean finds himself encouraging an anonymous closeted and lonely, gay high school student via Compuserve. He invites cute Jason over to watch a Star Trek marathon, and Jason happily accepts. Sean comes out to the lonely high school student, to Donny, his roommate, and to his surprise, finds out Donny doesn’t have a problem with it. Sean is out of the closet.
Things progress from there. Jason and Sean become boyfriends. He finds the courage to come out to his one surviving family member. Prolepsis publishes a queer issue. Not everything is positive, of course. Change often comes with a price. Sean lose his job. Still, the universe has spoken. It will, it is going to get better, as Tragitto’s stories attest. Does the writer just have a wild imagination? As he had had a utopian vision? Read the story to find out who this mystery writer is and how can he know such changes were in the future, as well as other intriguing plot twists.
This is a love story, a coming out story, and a story of identity and self. This is a tale of the power of story, of when one does imagine what is not yet in existence, then perhaps, this is calling the imagined into reality. The story is also a chronicle of the continuing evolution of the American gay community, from a time of fear and invisibility into, if not the light, at least out of the shadows. Coatsworth has written a tale of a difficult time, and tale that is sweet and funny. Things did get better—with a little help. Here’s to hope for continued progress.
Recommended.
View all my reviews
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