Men on Men 3: Best New Gay Fiction

Men on Men #3

by George Stambolian (Editor), Various

This extraordinary collection gathers together the most popular and gifted voices in gay fiction today. Compiled from work in progress and originals written especially for this collection, as well as previously published fiction, these brilliant stories come from such renowned writers as Robert Ferro, Andrew Holleran, Felice Picano and Edmund White; from such bright rising talents as Dennis Cooper, John Fox and Robert Gluck; and from some remarkable newcomers, including C.F. Borgman, Kevin Killian and Wallace Parr.

Genres: Short Stories, Gay Fiction, Gay, LGBT, Fiction, Anthologies

368 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

American educator, writer, and editor of Armenian descent. He was a key figure in the early gay literary movement that came out of New York during the 1960s and 1970s.

Reviews

[Brian Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Men on Men 3 has been reviewed as being less exciting than the previous two editions, and I agree that there is more of a mature tone in many of these stories, although I hardly see it as a bad thing, as evidenced by this excerpt from Journey by Martin Palmer:

"His young life had coagulated into a group of set pictures that came in a series as if he were watching one of the gaudy old travelogues with voiceover. Until just a few years ago he had always had the feeling that he was the youngest person in any group, because from an early age he had been. Now when he was at an airline counter or in a department store, or when he was treated with particular deference or "sirred" by the young, he saw, in flashes, how he must appear to others: a graying middle-aged person who was "well-preserved." Lately he couldn't account for how rapidly this change, this passage, had occurred; and now he could outline an old age, and even a death in his future. There the decades lay, in orderly sequence as he quantified them, number after marching number. And he couldn't find himself in them, couldn't define his place in them clearly. Anxiety crept into him as he considered it."

There are many stories in this collection that I have marked as worthy enough to read again in the future, which I feel is the true sign of a good short story collection. The aforementioned story by Martin Palmer of a man’s journey home, 40 years later. Very astute and interesting middle-aged observations about lonesomeness, with some excellent writing.

There is of course Twilight of the Gods from Matias Viegener, a fantastical depiction of Rock Hudson, Roy Cohn, and Michel Foucault in a French clinic, fighting AIDS, philosophizing and dealing with their spectators gathered constantly outside the window.

Joe Keenan's Great Lengths is quite the hare-brained scheme just to get a man. I was glad to discover that the shenanigans of these characters are further played out in 3 of Keenan's novels, and hope to read them someday.

My Face in a Mirror by Alex Jeffers was also a favorite, and there are also great stories here from Paul Monette and Christopher Bram. Yes, many of these stories do have a more mature tone to them, but as a reader I am hardly complaining. Gay stories set in bars and baths are aplenty after all, it is refreshing to read about the more commonplace events which occur on a day-to-day basis in our lives.

As an aside, I love the cover art of these first 3 editions, particularly how the writer depicted on the cover has evolved from writing in a journal, to using a typewriter, and now in this 1990 edition, has advanced to a very hefty looking laptop.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that this collection is less exciting then the previous two Men on Men collections - I've read various criticisms of this anthology - and although I agree that many of the stories lack the excitement and variety I would like and are not always reflective of the variety of 'gay' writing at that time I can not helping liking it, and there is no question it deserves to be read still. It is somewhat of a artifact of its time, but I did not come away from it disappointed. I certainly did not regret the time spent reading it or the money to acquire it. Although many of the contributors have not gone on to produce work I want to read there are sill authors that I came away wanting to read more of - in particular William Haywood Henderson whose story Myths is part of the novel Natives which am in the process of acquiring. If I am being honest there should have been more stories like Henderson's opening up a new world, a new culture a new way of seeing what being gay could mean, something unsettling and challenging or at least unexpected.

I have dammed this anthology with weak or little praise and I feel guilty - I suppose I liked other volumes in the series so much better and found other exciting stories and authors - that I can't help but be faint in my praise - but honestly compared to the mountain of poorly written books out there this one does have value.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seriously, you should not end a collection of short stories with a self-loathing main characters who likes to have his face punched by his "lover."