Best American Gay Fiction 1

BRIAN BOULDREV EDITOR Best American Gay Fiction Edited by B R IAN B 0 U L D R E Y BACK :BAY R 1111 n LITTLE, JK.:-. BROWN AND COMPANY Boston Ne-UJ York Toronto London Copyright© 1996 by Little, Brown and Company (Inc.) Introduction copyright© 1996 by Brian Bouldrey All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. First Edition The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Copyright Acknowledgments appear on pp. 316-318. ISBN o-316-10320-9 (he) ISBN o-316-10317-9 (pb) ISSN 1088-5501 HC: 10 9 8 7 6 54 3 2 PB: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I I MV-NY Published simultaneously in Canada by Little, Brown & Company (Canada) Limited Primed in the United States ofAmerica THIS BOOK IS FOR Hugh Rowland, ENTHUSIAST. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction EDMUND WHITE X Xl 3 "His Biographer;' from Skinned Alive JIM PROVENZANO 26 "Split Lip;' from Queer View Mirror R. S. JONES 29 "I Am Making a Mistake;' from Walking on Air JASON K. FRIEDMAN 37 "The Wedding Dress," from His SCOTT HElM "Don't or Stop;' from Mysterious Skin 59 CONTENTS 8o DICK SCANLAN "Banking Hours," from Does Freddy Dance g8 ROBERT GLUCK "The Early Worm;' from Contact, the 114th Annual Exhibition of the Walter/McBean Gallery ERNESTO MESTRE "Monologue of Triste the Contortionist;' from The James White Review JIM GRIMSLEY "On the Mound;' from Dream Boy ADAM KLEIN 1)0 "The Medicine Burns;' from The Medicine Burns 151 MATTHEW STADLER '~Ian Stein;' from In a Different Light: Vzsual Culture, Sexual Identity, Queer Practice CHRISTOPHER BRAM "Posterity;' from Father ofFrankenstein 194 BERNARD COOPER ''Arson;' from His JOE WESTMORELAND 211 "The Spanking;' from Mirage/Period(ical) • viii • Contents MICHAEL LOWENTHAL 220 "Going Away;• from Flesh and the Word 3 JL SCHNEIDER 237 'Mer the Change;• from Modern Words STEPHEN BEACHY 2 43 "Distortion; from Men's Style ALDO ALVAREZ "ghosts, pockets, traces, necessary clouds;• from PenN Sword RICK BARRETT "Running Shoes;• from Christopher Street KEVIN KILLIAN "Hot Lights;' from Gerbil MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM "Cassandra;• from Flesh and Blood Contributors Honorable Mention Copyright Acknowledgments )IO 315 p6 • IX • Acknowledgments Several people were helpful in the creation of this book. The editor wishes to thank the following people for their help with this project: Mark Chimsky, Peter Ginsberg, Hugh Rowland, Don Osborne, and Catherine Crawford. A very special thanks to Judith Rees, who provided the quiet and space to work and entertained with the Wahkiakum County Eagle sheriff's report: She "do the police in different voices." Introduction I am a restless reader. When friends come visit me at home and inspect my bookcase, I watch their eyes narrow as they try to peg my tastes, only to come away puzzled: What do The Wooings ofJezebel Pettyfer and How to Make Your Own Stradivarius Violin have in common? My peripatetic reading agenda is satisfied by anthologies, which are plentiful these days. The