I've had this good-condition softcover on my keeper shelves for years now, and I think it's time it went traveling.

Mordden's essays/stories [they're fictional, but feel like truth] introduce us to a circle of gay men and their friendships, loves and losses. The stories can be very funny and very touching, with occasional dark undercurrents; overall I find them beautiful.

Samples: This one made me laugh out loud. Dennis Savage, best friend of Bud-the-narrator, has just acquired a new lover - the extremely naive Little Kiwi (who, despite his childlike behavior, is in fact a grown man):

"How old is that kid, anyway?" I once asked [Dennis].
"Old enough to love."
"He has the interests of a child of eight."
"He voted in the last election."
"For whom? The Velveteen Rabbit?"

Later: One of their friends' new lovers has been very secretive about what he does for a living, so the guys have been debating whether it's unusual for someone not to talk about his work. Dennis Savage, a schoolteacher by profession, has just explained that he doesn't talk about his job because nobody's interested. Bud's reaction:

"In the succeeding silence, I was thinking that I for one talk ceaselessly about writing, my own and others'; it had never occurred to me that anyone worth talking to wouldn't find it enticing. Writing is the world entire: morals, politics, death, and feelings.

"Dennis Savage looked away. Was he thinking that a man of education ought to do better in a lover than a mail room assistant? I was. But then I have seen him, over the years, crying, sick, nude, drunk, and raging in despair, so he has long since given up worrying about what I think. I suppose I resent that; but someone who worries about how you feel can be forgiven a lot.

"'You know,' I said, as carelessly as I dared, 'I wouldn't mind hearing about teaching every now and then.'"

A day or two later:

The doorman hands me a messengered package as we turn into our lobby - page proofs of my latest book.
"What's this one about?" Little Kiwi asks.
"Same as the others. Morals, politics, death, and feelings."
"No wonder you're always so grouchy."

Mordden has several more books of stories following the same set of characters, and I recommend them all. (They can each be read alone - the loosely-connected-story theme is carried on throughout - but if you do read the series in order, you can pick up on long-term character-development.) The series:

I've a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore
Buddies
Everybody Loves You
Some Men Are Lookers
How's Your Romance

I'm adding this to the LGBTQ+ bookbox, which will be on its way to its next stop soon. Enjoy!

This book rode to the end of the bookbox.

It took me a while to get into this collection. The author's writing style wasn't meshing for me, and I wasn't particularly fond of the characters either. But as I kept going, I found myself starting to soften, as if I could start to see around the narrator's defensive shell of snark and appreciate these characters after all. I ultimately ended up liking it quite a lot, with some eye rolls along the way. (I suspect that the characters would consider that quite suitable, anyway!)

Having grown up on Long Island, I was also amused by the worshipful tones aimed at Fire Island. The disparity between their glee at their favorite gay resort and the dismissive view of "crazy rich white people" vacationers I grew up hearing was funny to me. I do have to admit that the few times I was in the residential parts of Fire Island were always off-season and never in the actual towns (such as they are) so I never got a view of the kind of resort life these men were celebrating. Walking past empty, rambling weekend houses in towns where vehicles are not allowed is a rather different perspective!

One of the books starting out in The Anthology Assortment Bookbox

The Anthology bookbox arrived with a lot of my own books in it already {wry grin}, so I'm reclaiming a few to make room for some new titles in more varied genres.

I left this book on a window ledge inside Moonstones restaurant, after stopping by for one of their tasty poke-bowl lunches. Hope the finder enjoys the book!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

*** Released for the 2019 Oh the Places We Can Go release challenge. ***