sdyer@bbncca.ARPA (Steve Dyer) (10/12/84)
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From: Henry C. Mensch <ihnp4!pur-ee!Pucc-I:ag5>
<<Gggrrrrrooowwwwwwlllllll!!!!>>
Well, I think that I have an opportunity to start off mod.motss
on something which won't require flaming of any sort. Steve Oaks's
discussion on the Serial "Brothers" brought to mind the fact that
we *can* discuss this kind of stuff on the net. All the recent flaming
about right/wrong/moral/immoral/etc has taken this aspect away from
our newsgroup.
I'd like to propose some discussion on current gay literature.
Not just Boswell and the like, but also books which tend to be more on
our "leisure time" reading lists.
Unfortunately, since having left New York to return to school
in West Laughable, I haven't had much exposure to this kind of stuff.
The two most recent items I've read are "The Boys on the Rock," and
"Slate."
I particularly liked "The Boys . . . " because it was set in
my old neighborhood . . . it still is difficult for me to imagine gay
people living in "da Bronx." Also, I identified greatly with much
of the feeling expressed by the main character...After having just
realized what he was, and that it wasn't so bad, he wanted to be out.
His "lover" at the time (if indeed, the other person could be called
that; the relationship was *very* shallow) wasn't so sure...He still
wanted to remain among the clothes . . .
And, I found "Slate" (by Nathan Aldyne??) to be the most
entertaining gay novel that I have read in a *long* time. What
got me interested in the book was a blurb that I saw somewhere
that read something like this: V(alentine): "Oh no, another body..."
C(harisse): "Uh, oh; is my hem straight?!?" I was impressed because
this novel, a murder mystery, showed gays and straights interacting
openly, and without prejudice or malice (indeed, the only malicious
actions that I recall reading about were toward Sweeney Drysdale, the
town rat fink and gossip columnist.....)
I'm hoping that other readers will have more to offer on
these items. If you wish to post a followup article, do so by
composing it and then mail it to ...!bbncca!motss. If you want
to mail to me directly, use the paths below.
Happy reading!
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Henry C. Mensch | User Confuser | Purdue University User Services
{decvax|ucbvax|sequent|icalqa|inuxc|uiucdcs|ihnp4}!pur-ee!pucc-i!ag5
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"How sweet it is to be loved by you . . ."
-- James Taylor
--
/Steve Dyer
{decvax,linus,ima,ihnp4}!bbncca!sdyer
sdyer@bbncca.ARPA