Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature

No matter what your lifestyle or who in the past had one that was the same, all the authors in this book are easily some of the most brilliant minds on the planet. I can easily say that with every word one can become drunk with literature and it is a delight to do so here with this anthology~! I'll have another cup of knowledge please~!

This book is almost operatic in scale; from the most ancient to the most modern literary sources, it sweeps through the opus of gay and lesbian literary creation. In a field, and at a time, where the historical sexuality of writers is still so often censored (through omission or commission) by the whole chain of the academic and publishing and book sales industry, this work tells us what should REALLY be on the shelf in your local bookstore under "Gay and Lesbian" other than the current line-up of soft-core trash. Knowing a place in a tradition or a larger story of a community of ideas, is fundamental to every individual and community identity, and as a gay man, this volume made me even prouder of the intellectual and creative contribution men and women of my community have made....forever..! You don't need to read it from cover to cover (after all it contains an immense volume of material), but I am promising myself time to do just that as soon as possible. The pure pride of holding it in your hands and leafing through it, is worth every cent of the substantial cost.

Fone, Byrne R.S. editor. "The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature". Columbia University Press, 1988. Something for Everyone Amos Lassen and Literary Pride In a single volume we have a taste of gay literature, from Ovid to the present day. In other words, "The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature" has a smattering of everything written by us and about us. It is a great book for the beginner and a wonderful resource for all of us. In includes poetry, drama, non fiction prose, essays, biography. It has articles on love, on friendship, on intimacy and desire and on man-man sex. This is one book that will never bore you and it includes many items not usually included in the canon of gay literature. Even those of us that read gay literature on a regular basis will find some surprises here. Exclusively male, it covers the entire span of literature, every genre, every major gay author is included and the selections were chosen with care and obviously love and respect. It's a hefty volume at close to a thousand pages and a bargain at the price of about $30. Dr. Bryne R.S. Fone has don e an admirable job in assembling this book and he has reason to be proud. He, himself, is no stranger to gay literature being professor emeritus of English literature at City College of New York. Organized chronologically it not only presents the literature but it interprets it as well. Divided into sections, there is an introduction at the beginning which explains how the selections fit into the scope of gay history and culture. It is extensive and adequately covers the entire gay writing experience and I found it so interesting that no matter the age or the language, we have always loved and that love has always been expressed in the literature of the period. This was no easy task, assembling a book like this but the selections have been meticulously chosen and assembled in a way that the book flows from period to period, from selection to selection. Beginning with part one "Inventing Eros" we get a chance to see how men loved in ancient times. The texts come from such places as Mesopotamia, the Old Testament and quite naturally from Greece and Rome. Moving forward we learn of sodomy as depicted in ancient texts in the section entitled. "Inventing Sodom". From romantic friendship between men to more serious affairs of the heart, we get insight about the nature of masculine desire. Moving along the chronological timeline, we cross the spectrum of time dealing with Europe and Asia and enter the brave new world of America and not an author nor an era is left untouched and not included. This is a monumental work and it is a tribute to men writing about men and should be part of every gay man's personal library. I thought I would spend a little time telling you about the modern age but I am not discounting what came before. After all, there would be no modern age of literature, it there had not been those writing prior to it. In the section entitled "Out There; Americ

This is a readable and interesting book not only for westerner but also for us Japanese. However I would like to read much more on Greek and Latin literatures. And next time more comprehensive volume including Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Persian and Arabic anthologies I hope to read.In addition, the editor didn't understand the Greek language well, since he erroneously thought that " Amores " of Lucianos(p.23-24) is different work from " Affairs of the Heart " of (Pseudo)Lucianos(p.49-).