This annual series began in 2008 with the first three volumes edited by Steve Berman, the founder of the press. I gave both the 2009 and 2010 volumes a “thumbs up†rave review. Last year (2011), the editor torch passed to Peter Dubé of Montreal—novelist, biographer, and cultural critic—who, like Berman, is “into†queer, speculative and surreal fiction.
“Gay†refers to the stories but not to the authors; this collection has one female author. All the stories were copyrighted in 2011 were previously published.
The fifteen stories range in length from two pages to 25 pages for the first story, a “speculative surreal†story about a bar run by angels who all fly away toward the end of the story. Two victims of suicide (a brother in one case, a former lover in the other) find each other. The second story is about “caking†in which a guy gets his Latino trick to sit on a fancy wedding cake who is, unfortunately, lactose intolerant. Absorbing too much, he suffers all night.
Many authors are relatively unknown, but some are well-established gay writers, including Felice Picano, Noel Alumit, Jeff Mann, and Ian Young.  Picano’s piece is taken from his volume of memoirs of people who impacted his life (True Stories, Chelsea Station Editions, 2011).  Two pieces are described as essays, rather than fictional stories. Mark Ambroise Harris’ charming memory of “Beautiful Books†in his local public library as he was growing up includesWilliam Burrough’s Naked Lunch and a book of Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographs of naked men.  The second essay is Jeff Mann’s meditation on bondage play with a hunky Hungarian while his partner watches and gets upset.
The single story written by a woman, “Action†by Cecilia Tan, is a nice story but lacks gay content.  Two actors starring in a “gun movie†become friends until one is accidentally killed when blanks bullets turned out to be real; later the other actor commits suicide.
This volume portrays more sex than last year’s offering, for example, “Gay for Play†by Conner Habib, a college professor turned porn star.  The story also provides philosophical speculation.
All but one of the stories/memoirs/essays are told in a straight-forward narrative fashion and are well-crafted. One story, William Henderson’s “Words between Words†is a kind of stream of consciousness, repeating the same words over and over again, reminiscent of the movie Last Year at Marienbad.
A common theme is overcoming lost love and seeking new love.  A prime example is the last story “The Fermi Paradoxâ€: nothing works out for the characters.
These stories are all notable works. The collection is recommended for all libraries and readers serious about current gay writing.
Reviewer: James Doig Anderson
Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Science Rutgers University
