Men on Men 4: 2Best New Gay Fiction

Men on Men #4

by George Stambolian (Editor)

The latest volume in America's preeminent gay anthology series features eighteen stories by both established writers and unpublished authors, such as John Rechy, David Feinberg, Matthew Stadler, Paul Russell, and others.

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

416 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1992

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 5 out of 5]

Men on Men 4 begins on a sad note as George Stambolian, editor of this series, is referred to in the past. He died in 1991, a year before this fourth installment was published. George had compiled these stories before his passing, but was unable to complete the introduction.

This volume is filled with a variety of stories, everything from humor to sadness, experimental writing styles, references to Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, and Paula Abdul. There are a number of stories in this volume that I have marked to read again, and hopefully explore more from these authors in the future:

Relationships fail for a variety of reasons. In the case of Ten Reasons Why Michael and Geoff Never Got it On, Raymond Luczak provides ten reasons why these two men, who on the surface seem well suited for one another, cannot get past their unique flaws and profound differences. Very clever format. You can’t help but wish it would work out for Michael & Geoff.

Manuel Igrejas’s The Little Trooper is a tragic love story, where the sadness of being rejected and feeling unwanted is perfectly depicted.

The Greek Head from Peter Weltner is the story of an older man who was recently widowed, living upstairs from a young couple who are on shaky ground. Their relationship comes to a head when the beneficiary of a Greek Head is not as they all had expected. This story is also included in Peter Weltner’s The Risk of his Music, which is worth reading in its entirety.

Greg Johnson’s story, The Valentine, is a coming-of-age story of a boy who is expelled from school on Valentine’s Day after rejecting the advances from a girl, and accepting those from the male caretaker of the school.

In New Year from Jack Slater, a man returns to his hometown after his father passes away, and unexpectedly learns what his father truly thought about him and his sexuality. This is not only a story about grieving, but grieving for a person you never really knew.

A man who is ill with AIDS and has refused to visit the outside world to become a recluse inside his own apartment is the subject of David Vernon’s appropriately named Inside.

Matthew Stadler’s The Sex Offender is a bit odd, but the writing really sucked me in. I also really enjoyed David B. Feinberg’s If a Man Answers, which is a story of phone sex with a creative twist.

Lastly, I have to mention Opening the Door from Paul Russell, which is a very sad account of meeting a man who has AIDS and quickly becoming his caretaker. Full of feeling, with great characters. Especially the dykes from the 7-11.

All in all, Men on Men 4 is a high quality collection of short stories that I would recommend reading from cover to cover.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be wonderfully entertaining and even in some ways informative. Both from the perspectives of gay life and affirming experiences I had in my own life. I bought this book when it was first published (the receipt was still in the book) and then I never read it... till this year (2025)! In the meantime, one might say that I grew up and lived as a gay man before reading this book. In some sense, I regret this, because some of the stories are so ordinary. Just gay men leading their lives. If I had read this book back then, perhaps I would not have felt that my life was so ordinary. I was normal and I didn't know it! I never had any mentors or "teachers" about gay life, so I just stumbled my way through it. Now having read this book, I see perhaps some mistakes I could have avoided, but also that I didn't totally screw things up. One thing I learned from this book is that, apparently, lots of gay men went through the same challenges I did. I find it quite satisfying when a book you read at random helps you to feel good about yourself.

Perhaps more importantly, though, in terms of a book review, are the creative and different writing styles. For example, I have never read prose like Randy Sanderson's "Bone" — his prose is so, well, fast! I just couldn't put it down! When I encounter writing like this, where I stay up later than I should because it is so engaging and I can't stop, then I call that 5-stars. I wish I had read this book years ago.

Thank you, George Stambolian, for assembling such an awesome collection. RIP, my dear sir.

[Terry Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stories are good. A few are somewhat dull. Fortunately, most of the authors are decent writers.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be eventually reviewing all the Men on Men books, but the first four are of course the extraordinary ones - its amazing the writers published there at the beginning of their careers and volume four is no exception. I'll be honest - I love anthologies - and the Men on Men ones are extraordinary for what you can discover - in this book I found a story called The Magistrates Monkey, which blew me away and lead me to look up what the author has published so now I am reading Richard House's Bruiser and will be moving on to his other works.

I can't praise this book in particular and the series in general to much. If you like really excellent writing and great stories, even if only extracted from longer works, then get this book and all the others in the series.