Cool Thing: The Best New Gay Fiction from Young American Writers

It's good to see gay fiction headed in a more risk-taking direction than the typical, humdrum coming out tales. Here, authors like Blair Mastbaum, Bennett Madison, Anthony Paull, and Wil Frabro craft grand tales in the vein that is a diverse as the GLBT community itself. Most of the tales are dark, edgy, and full of fire. While a few add a breath of campy humor and laughst to the mix. I will be interested to see where the days takes these talented writers.

There's a lot to like about this anthology. Each story offers a glimpse into the deliciously warped minds of young gays, allowing the reader a chance to view the world through a rainbow-sprinkled lens. For the most part, the stories are edgy and sinister, while some offer glimpses into the sweeter side of life. There's some beautiful poetry to be found within many of these pieces, and it's great way for gay fiction fans to see where genre is headed in the future. Gone are the days of how-to pamphlets, AIDS, and coming-out stories. For these young writers, there is no out. Gay is a way of life, and for once, that's a joy to see.

Mastbaum, Blair and Will Fabro, editors." Cool Thing: The Best New Gay Fiction from Young American Writers", Running Press, 2008. 18 New Stories Amos Lassen Today gay young people have it so much easier that I did. They can, in most cases, come out without the fear and pain that many of us felt and they are certainly more open that my generation was. This collection of short stories, wonderfully edited by Bair Mastbaum and Will Fabro is full of the excitement of youth and the stories deal with all of the aspects of GLBT life. These are the voices of the young and they bring a new dimension to gay literature--one we have not had much of. They look at sexuality in a different way, it is not a struggle for them and their coming out stories are wild, happy and enthusiastic and not important as they once were. The stories are like the colors of the rainbow--diverse and beautiful. I do not have much is common with the writers in this anthology as they did not face the same challenges and obstacles as I did but that does not mean that these stories do not speak to me. The writers here are also searchers and they sometimes find and sometimes don't. And as they search, they also flee from certain issues. What they do more than anything else is give us a picture of what it means to be young and gay today. They are also willing to write down their experiences and share them with us. The stories deal with drug abuse, looking for sex, imagining sex with Brad Pitt, of an eco-terrorist action plot, of a dead boyfriend, and other topics. They represent youth in all of its aspect and they are great reading.