Malone

I hope this hasn't been done before. In the current political and social anti-gay fever (better than it used to be, yet still very bad), I enjoy reading books written by homosexuals. Here are my two favorite authors of the homosexual orientation.

David Sedaris and Brett Easton Ellis.

Anyone else? Is this a stupid thread? Is it bad to single an author out for his sexual pursuits, even if the point isn't negative?

Kane

I think it is... you speak of the political and social anti-gay fever, but isn't it really just a reaction to the attempts at political and social engineering on the side of the gay agenda?

At any rate, I know some of the authors I read are probably not gay because they are married (but what does that really mean anyway?), but aside from that, I don't have any clue as to whether an author is gay or not, and why should I care? Where a man sticks his pecker has no bearing on whether he can write or not, and unless I want to read specifically about a gay perspective, I can't see why it should matter. Every man should be free to do what he wants, so long as it is consensual, but that doesn't mean I want it flaunted in my face, or worn as a badge of pride, especially when those acts are done privately.

Malone

Yeah, you're probably right. For some reason I've been interested in this for some reason lately. I've been researching the author's behind some of my favorite literature to see how outside influences affected their work, and the idea of the gay influence kept coming back to me. Maybe I was just surprised that some of my favorite writers are gay, and I never would have guessed that in most cases. Sedaris is an exception, obviously.

alanmt

It's normal to be interested in every aspect of someone whose talent or product we admire; that's just human nature. Homosexuality is rather a hot-button topic politically now, and socially it is transitioning to general acceptance with the usual turbulance of change in mores.

An author is someone who writes, regardless of sexuality. A gay author is a writer who writes from a uniquely gay perspective, or on gay issues. I am a pretty enlightened guy myself. A love story is a love story to me, regardless of whether it's two men, two women, or one of each.

Kane, as long as you hold your wife's hand in public, I will hold my husband's. As long as you wear your wedding ring, I will wear mine. But if you promise not to have sex in my house, I will promise not to have sex in yours. Happy Thanksgiving!

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CaptainFreedom

ClancyBoy and Lin aren't bad.

Har Har Har

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Pete_C

Are gay authors different to straight ones? What about black ones? Disabled authors? One with different sized feet? Gosh, we could have a lot of threads going on about this. I can't wait.

Kane

I don't care if you hold your husband's hand in public, or even if you show appropriate public affection in public. I don't consider that flaunting it in the same way I do something like, "Hey, I'm gay and write, or I'm gay and can do this or that." Unless you want to walk into a book store and see shelves organized as "Gay authors, straight authors, black authors, white authors, latino midget transsexual authors, etc., I think you can see where I'm coming from... it bugs me enough to see whole walls devoted to "African American" authors... it's like segregation all over again.

Malone

Author's with big feet fascinate me too, Pete.

Mike C

That's an American malaise. In the UK we don't suffer from that, in fact Brighton, where I live, is considered to be the gay capital of the UK. We have gay bookshops, but a lot less than there used to be - it's less of an issue now.

As for the rest, I don't know or care which authors are gay.

It's an interesting fact, though, that most writers of gay fiction are women.

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ClancyBoy

Oscar Wilde.

C'mon guys. David Sedaris ain't that great. The Santaland Diaries were pure gold, but the rest is just mediocre.

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ClancyBoy

Oh heck, Chuck Palahniuk is sometimes pretty good too.

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Malone

Chuck's gay? I didn't know that. There's another to add to my list.

And Sedaris is a badass.

I'm not talking about "gay fiction" here. Just good writers who happen to be gay.

Lost in Some Story

I admire Sedaris for insisting that he be aloud to smoke during his book signings.

As far as writing goes, I'd have to say Capote and Tennessee Williams. Or was that the cliche answer we were trying to avoid?

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Malone

Capote is an all star. I just finished his "Complete Short Stories" and they were terrific. His "feminity" definitely allows him to capture women and that sort of subject matter, things I would never think of as a man.

R.R.Pearce

I am no less a man because I am gay! I am sure that was an over sight on your part!

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