Best Gay Stories 2011

In the 2011 edition of Best Gay Stories, editor Peter Dubé reminds gay men that when we step up to the proverbial microphone and tell our own stories, something monumental happens. Gone are the monolithic notions that we all some homogenous culture--go to the same bars, shop in the same stores, eat in the same restaurants, hold the same kinds of political opinions, have similar backgrounds, and work the same kinds of jobs (more often than not urban, and vaguely white-collar.) The clichés of the gay life fade and a different voice sounds, or rather different voices are heard. In our writing, to borrow the old saw of gay liberation movements passed, we are everywhere. In cities and country, offices and factories and shops and academies. We work and we fuck, we shout and we steal. We love each other and, yes, we hurt each other. When we tell our own stories, it becomes clear that we've moved well past the sentimental coming out story, the boy-meets-boy romance, the dangers and pleasures of sexual adventure, and we've done it without having to abandon them--because those things still happen and are still important. But we've found new ways of thinking about them, and have more experience to share, a deeper understanding of them, and we've added an array of other stories, from other parts of our lives, and dreams, and troubles to them. We've moved past the "gay story" and towards "gay stories." And this anthology is a testament to all the voices, the power of storytelling, a chorus of narrative impulses.


Genre: Literary Fiction