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.