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Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City
At once a love letter to the Rose City and a dream of escape, the first-person narratives of Portland Queer reveal the contradictions and commonalities of life in one of the world’s great queer meccas. A waiter falls in love with a straight guy from the café next door. A young dyke discovers gay karaoke at the Silverado. A pregnant man prepares for new life transitions. An ambitious teenager finds her tribe at St. Mary’s Academy. A closet-case is confronted by his wife. And a video-game addict takes a chance on love. This collection features stories by Dexter Flowers, Kathleen Bryson, David Ciminello, Tony Longshanks, Lois Leveen, Megan Kruse, and Stevie Anntonym, among many others.
256 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2009
3 people are currently reading
248 people want to read
About the author
Ariel Gore
37 books345 followersARIEL GORE is the author of We Were Witches (The Feminist Press, 2017), The End of Eve (Hawthorne Books, 2014), and numerous other books on parenting, the novel The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show, the memoir Atlas of the Human Heart, and the writer’s guide How to Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead. Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish Bluebird: Women and the New Psychology of Happiness in January 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 24, 2019
Received it as part of Microcosm Publishing's "surprise packages"
Not sure about the combination of the few last stories but overall found myself really enjoying it!
Maybe I just haven't read enough queer literature but this book felt far more genuine than others - striving away from the oh so typical storyline.
I've also never set foot in Portland but that was fine.
Not sure about the combination of the few last stories but overall found myself really enjoying it!
Maybe I just haven't read enough queer literature but this book felt far more genuine than others - striving away from the oh so typical storyline.
I've also never set foot in Portland but that was fine.
April 4, 2019
It only took me 6 years to finish this. 👏 So it goes with short story anthologies and me.
Portland Queer was a pretty mixed bag. I bought it because it’s about one of my favorite cities, it’s LGBT-themed, and I like Ariel Gore. There were a few good stories here, but most of them were too slight or unfocused to be memorable.
The absolute best part was the Lesbian Lexicon in the back of the book, with terms like dopplebanger, other fucker, boycation, fauxmo, and dildon’ts being hilariously defined. I’d buy it again just for that.
For a better book set in Portland that gets the feel of the city so right, try Stray City.
Portland Queer was a pretty mixed bag. I bought it because it’s about one of my favorite cities, it’s LGBT-themed, and I like Ariel Gore. There were a few good stories here, but most of them were too slight or unfocused to be memorable.
The absolute best part was the Lesbian Lexicon in the back of the book, with terms like dopplebanger, other fucker, boycation, fauxmo, and dildon’ts being hilariously defined. I’d buy it again just for that.
For a better book set in Portland that gets the feel of the city so right, try Stray City.
October 6, 2009
Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City is a mixed collection of memoir and fiction short stories that center on the city of Portland, OR. All of the stories are written in first person narrative and beautifully display the diversity of the human experiences which only a city like Portland can provide the backdrop. These stories provide readers with a view of the city that may not have been available before this collection was published. Each tome represents a different view of life in the city as it is lived by the LGBTQI population that calls Portland home. Portland has long been a mecca for the LGBTQI masses and this collection of stories celebrates the many reasons why this is the case.
Editor Ariel Gore wanted readers to know that, “Portland is a queer magnet...and Portland is alienating and phobic...Within these contradictions, there’s also a common experience. In a world that tries to divide us further and further from each other, I want to see our threads woven together.” Gore brings together a collection of stories and raw human experiences, reminding her readers that we are all fragile beings who seek out connections with each other and find comfort in place. For these authors that place is Portland.
The book is broken up into four sections—“Love and Other Sad, Sparkly Things,” “Migrations,” “For Service and Devotion,” “Then Sometimes this Feeling of Home”—and each contains several stories. The first deals with several versions of love and how love can catch us off guard. The second section is composed of stories about leaving and returning to the Rose City, while the third and fourth sections contain stories of living and working in the city.
There are several prominent writers featured in this collection, as well as several first-time writers, which helps to present the variety of styles and viewpoints. Those who have a short attention span, as I do will enjoy the variety contained in these short stories. They're enough to keep anyone in need of good literature who is short on time happy.
Review by Jenny Greenfield
Editor Ariel Gore wanted readers to know that, “Portland is a queer magnet...and Portland is alienating and phobic...Within these contradictions, there’s also a common experience. In a world that tries to divide us further and further from each other, I want to see our threads woven together.” Gore brings together a collection of stories and raw human experiences, reminding her readers that we are all fragile beings who seek out connections with each other and find comfort in place. For these authors that place is Portland.
The book is broken up into four sections—“Love and Other Sad, Sparkly Things,” “Migrations,” “For Service and Devotion,” “Then Sometimes this Feeling of Home”—and each contains several stories. The first deals with several versions of love and how love can catch us off guard. The second section is composed of stories about leaving and returning to the Rose City, while the third and fourth sections contain stories of living and working in the city.
There are several prominent writers featured in this collection, as well as several first-time writers, which helps to present the variety of styles and viewpoints. Those who have a short attention span, as I do will enjoy the variety contained in these short stories. They're enough to keep anyone in need of good literature who is short on time happy.
Review by Jenny Greenfield
June 2, 2009
Includes great new stories by Tom Spanbauer, Megan Kruse, and Sarah Dougher. Edited by the invincible Ariel Gore.
July 7, 2009
I was real excited to scoot on over to In Other Words and buy this book. Queer and Portland - yes! As with most collections, I was more interested in some of the pieces over others - but felt that there was some interesting diversity of voices in the collection. I would have loved it if there was more of a presence of queers of color in the book, a story or two that addressed the experience of living as a queer of color in a community that is predominantly white queers. Maybe in the next collection?
Unfortunately, my book fell entirely apart. The glue in the binding came totally undone and now one must read it page by page.
Unfortunately, my book fell entirely apart. The glue in the binding came totally undone and now one must read it page by page.
July 27, 2010
Nice collection of short stories. If you don't live in Portland or have no interest in the city, you might want to pass the book over or at least be selective of the stories cause some aren't quite "literature." I think "Chinook" is an excellent story and would recommend it to anyone, anywhere.
July 7, 2009
I know I should give this book more stars - it's about portland, it's about queers, it has authors I really like who contribute. But really I was kind of let down by almost every story in this book.
April 16, 2022
“MOVING TARGETS”
In her introduction to Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City, Ariel Gore writes: “To queer is to destabilize the norm.” She also says, “To queer is to make identity, gender, sexuality, family, and community moving targets.” The first-person narratives in Portland Queer, both fiction and nonfiction, tackle the destabilization that queer people feel much of the time. And since queer people certainly aren’t the “norm,” they are moving targets much of the time, too. According to Gore. “Portland [Oregon] is a queer magnet,” but the city can also be “alienating and phobic.” These entertaining narratives submerge the reader in queer life in Portland.
David Ciminello begins the collection with a clever short story “PDXOX” that is drenched in Portland atmosphere. The narrator has the hots for Mingo, a coworker: “He’s still got a bit of the boy about him, hair cropped like an early Kennedy, but the pout’s all Monroe.” The narrator’s relationship with Mingo is frustrating. Mingo only, and unexpectedly, comes into the narrator’s life during breakups with a girlfriend. Something’s got to give.
In the sensitive “Ave Maria” by Colleen Siviter, the young narrator tells the story of discovering her lesbian identity. After fumbling around with two classmates in school, she finally makes a breakthrough when she decides: “For once, I wanted to stand my ground, try something new.” Finally, she says yes to a date.
One of my favorite pieces in Portland Queer is Tony Longshanks LeTigre’s “Lament for the Disappearing Girl.” LeTigre tells a touching story about a lonely boy who is infatuated with Krystal, who is an “out-there girl.” Krystal takes no prisoners and, as the narrator eventually discovers, is an unabashed lesbian. The narrator describes the “fierce and formidable” Krystal as his first. But is the narrator gay? All we know for sure is that his loneliness and shyness make him susceptible to this young girl who knows who she is from the get-go. The narrator takes lessons from her. I loved this story.
Dexter Flowers in “I Wear the Pants” lives for gay karaoke at the Silverado. After her triumphant performance one night, while she is cultivating the attentions of another woman, a man continues to stroke her butt even after she tells him to stop. He justifies his violation by saying that he’s gay. Dexter observes: “Gay men at the Silverado thinking they have the right to make dykes into a petting zoo.” She realizes that she still has lots to learn about navigating the queer world in Portland.
Another of my favorites is “The Strange and Highly Selective Mating Patterns of the Human Male Animal” by Michael Sage Ricci. In an ingenious, funny, engrossing, and suspenseful story, the narrator assumes the female identity of Glutter in a video game in order to attract HearthBubble the Hunter, a supposed male player, and then meet him in real life. I was impressed with how the narrator navigates between the virtual world of the video game and the actual world. Will the he eventually meet the real-life HearthBubble?
“Gay Apparel” is a humorous piece by Lois Leveen, who describes herself as “a kicky, kikey, camp vamp . . . the latest in a line of sexy, funny, loud-mouthed Jewish dames who share an innate affinity with arch gay men.” DO NOT call her a fag hag. According to Leveen, if you want to comparison-shop for Subarus or play womyn’s softball, Portland’s lesbian world is the place to be. But “if you want to dress up, nibble fabulous hors d’oeuvres, and engage in witty repartee—and I do—you have to go where the boys are.” Leveen makes insightful observations about the radically different milieus of lesbian and gay life.
The folks in the twenty narratives in Portland Queer may live somewhat unstable lives. They may be moving targets in the world around them. But they are up to the challenges of being queer in Portland
In her introduction to Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City, Ariel Gore writes: “To queer is to destabilize the norm.” She also says, “To queer is to make identity, gender, sexuality, family, and community moving targets.” The first-person narratives in Portland Queer, both fiction and nonfiction, tackle the destabilization that queer people feel much of the time. And since queer people certainly aren’t the “norm,” they are moving targets much of the time, too. According to Gore. “Portland [Oregon] is a queer magnet,” but the city can also be “alienating and phobic.” These entertaining narratives submerge the reader in queer life in Portland.
David Ciminello begins the collection with a clever short story “PDXOX” that is drenched in Portland atmosphere. The narrator has the hots for Mingo, a coworker: “He’s still got a bit of the boy about him, hair cropped like an early Kennedy, but the pout’s all Monroe.” The narrator’s relationship with Mingo is frustrating. Mingo only, and unexpectedly, comes into the narrator’s life during breakups with a girlfriend. Something’s got to give.
In the sensitive “Ave Maria” by Colleen Siviter, the young narrator tells the story of discovering her lesbian identity. After fumbling around with two classmates in school, she finally makes a breakthrough when she decides: “For once, I wanted to stand my ground, try something new.” Finally, she says yes to a date.
One of my favorite pieces in Portland Queer is Tony Longshanks LeTigre’s “Lament for the Disappearing Girl.” LeTigre tells a touching story about a lonely boy who is infatuated with Krystal, who is an “out-there girl.” Krystal takes no prisoners and, as the narrator eventually discovers, is an unabashed lesbian. The narrator describes the “fierce and formidable” Krystal as his first. But is the narrator gay? All we know for sure is that his loneliness and shyness make him susceptible to this young girl who knows who she is from the get-go. The narrator takes lessons from her. I loved this story.
Dexter Flowers in “I Wear the Pants” lives for gay karaoke at the Silverado. After her triumphant performance one night, while she is cultivating the attentions of another woman, a man continues to stroke her butt even after she tells him to stop. He justifies his violation by saying that he’s gay. Dexter observes: “Gay men at the Silverado thinking they have the right to make dykes into a petting zoo.” She realizes that she still has lots to learn about navigating the queer world in Portland.
Another of my favorites is “The Strange and Highly Selective Mating Patterns of the Human Male Animal” by Michael Sage Ricci. In an ingenious, funny, engrossing, and suspenseful story, the narrator assumes the female identity of Glutter in a video game in order to attract HearthBubble the Hunter, a supposed male player, and then meet him in real life. I was impressed with how the narrator navigates between the virtual world of the video game and the actual world. Will the he eventually meet the real-life HearthBubble?
“Gay Apparel” is a humorous piece by Lois Leveen, who describes herself as “a kicky, kikey, camp vamp . . . the latest in a line of sexy, funny, loud-mouthed Jewish dames who share an innate affinity with arch gay men.” DO NOT call her a fag hag. According to Leveen, if you want to comparison-shop for Subarus or play womyn’s softball, Portland’s lesbian world is the place to be. But “if you want to dress up, nibble fabulous hors d’oeuvres, and engage in witty repartee—and I do—you have to go where the boys are.” Leveen makes insightful observations about the radically different milieus of lesbian and gay life.
The folks in the twenty narratives in Portland Queer may live somewhat unstable lives. They may be moving targets in the world around them. But they are up to the challenges of being queer in Portland
May 16, 2023
This is difficult to rate as anthologies often are. The concept is excellent and I was excited to find an collection of writing from local queer authors. There are a few stories in here that really resonated with me and I felt were hidden gems. There were others that left me with a bad taste and made me want to quit reading. It has a mess of energy because the guidelines are very loose. I think something that would have greatly improved this and made it five stars would be requiring every story to be memoir. There is a downside to that of course because the embellishment of tales is a staple of literature and especially gay literature. It has magic that would be removed. If the compiler valued that she could have insisted they all be fiction or even just include wether it was fiction or memoir. I am somewhat biased to memoir, however. The reason an anthology like this is so important is queer voices are often dismissed or lost. All in all, this was interesting, and a few of the stories made the entire read worthwhile.
January 24, 2021
3.5 stars. Always fun to see one’s home city in the pages of a book.
August 30, 2010
I really liked reading these short stories and recognizing all the local haunts and neighborhoods. My favorite story was by Michael Sage Ricci, about dating in the online gaming world. I also really liked "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" by Donal Mosher, and this line describing the scene at a bar: "An expression of tawdry confidence gains strength as it's met and reflected."
A few stories I didn't really understand, but for the most part, I'd recommend this book to my Portland peeps!
A few stories I didn't really understand, but for the most part, I'd recommend this book to my Portland peeps!
February 11, 2010
Loved all the great stories in here.
Read
November 9, 2010Ummm bought this out of Portland nostalgia, liked it because it has a story by Sarah Dougher. Recommended to others with Portland nostalgia, probably not anyone else.
Read
August 7, 2011Not a bad anthology - some tales better than others and none stand out as excellent. Worth reading though for a taste of the sheer variety of gay and lesbian life in PDX.
Want to read
March 18, 2013omg
dnf
June 20, 2016I still don't understand this format?
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews