FICTION

CRYSTAL BOYS Pai Hsien-yung Translated from Chinese by Howard Goldblatt $18.95 paperback (0-940567-11-3) $25.00 hardcover (0-940567-10-4) This is the first modern Chinese novel on gay themes -- a moving story of teenage boys in Taiwan, rejected by their families and forced onto the streets as hustlers. "Possibly the top stylist writing in Chinese today... --San Francisco Chronicle Book Review "Howard Goldblatt's translation is excellent, managing to capture the bittersweet tone, the uneven bursts of poetic and prosaic narrative, and the pervasive imagery of the original ... often moving, and always thought-provoking." --World Literature Today

Read excerpt from book	OUT OF THE BLUE: Russia's Hidden Gay Literature Edited by Kevin Moss. $19.95 paperback (0-940567-20-2), 416 pp. $50.00 limited hardcover in dustjacket (0-940567-19-9) RUSSIA COMES OUT For 70 years, Soviet culture's pervasive censorship, homophobia and criminalization made taboo any mention of homosexuality or sex between men. Even during the last decade, until the repeal of Russia's Article 121 in 1993, studying gay topics was potentially dangerous.
The invisibility of gay-themed writings has been so great that, if asked where to look for gay themes in Russian literature, most non-specialists today would probably exhaust their knowledge by pointing to Mikhail Kuzmin, the openly gay poet of the early 20th century (such as his marvelous gay poem "Antinous") and author of the first gay novel in Russian, Wings. However, censorship and criminalization do not invisibility make, forever. Out of the Blue shatters the invisibility barrier. Edited by Professor Kevin Moss of Middlebury College, Vermont, Out of the Blue, is a pioneering collection of literature on gay themes by 30 writers--from the early 19th century to the post-glasnost "New Russia" superbly rendered into English by 17 translators. The introduction, by Professor Simon Karlinsky, gives historical background from the 10th century on, as well as an in-depth discussion of 19th and 20th century gay writing. This essay helps the reader understand just why gay writers and themes became so widely accepted during the last pre-Revolution decade and why they were so quickly rejected again after the Revolution of 1917. Out of the Blue is divided chronologically into four sections. The divisions correspond roughly to traditional literary periods, but more importantly, they also parallel political changes that affected gay life as well as changes in the ways gay Russians conceived of themselves. Part One: Gay Themes in Golden Age Literature (19th century) includes several of its most famous authors (Pushkin, Tolstoy, etc.). Not surprisingly, many of the materials in this section have been marginalized in various ways, or the selections themselves marginalize homosexuality by setting it in another culture or restricting it to a childhood phase. Part Two: The First Flowering of Gay Culture, demonstrates the explosion of gay literature in the Silver Age--early 20th century (Kuzmin, Esenin, Klyuev, etc.). The flowering of gay culture at the beginning of the 20th century was to be short-lived, however. In 1933, homosexuality was criminalized anew under Stalin. Given the strict censorship, it is not surprising that no gay-themed works were published in Russia until glasnost relaxed the controls. Instead, homosexuality became one of the many themes banished to underground writing. Part Three: Hidden from View, offers a glimpse into the lives and writings of six authors who, from the 1920's to the 1980's, found themselves relegated to underground or emigré writing (Kharitonov, Pereleshin, etc.). Part Four: Gay Life Reborn, shows the post-Soviet proliferation of gay-themed materials, and is the most eclectic. In this section is a wealth of material from the first gay journals: stories, poems, letters, as well as gay-themed work by such prominent writers as Makanin and Aksyonov. Out of the Blue provides a provocative look at the hidden side of Russian society. Perhaps what is most striking is that the emotional landscape covered in these writings is so familiar, running the full gamut from self-hatred to righteous anger, from passionate love to unrequited lust, from sentimental self-pity to camp wit. These selections show the range and richness of the gay experience for Russians over the past two centuries.
"An important book ... a major contribution not only to the development of a Russian gay culture but to the recovery of Russia's lost literature." --Lambda Book Report "A page-turner...leaves the reader with an understanding of how it was, and still is, to be gay in Russia." --Library Journal "Taking its name from the Russian slang for 'gay' (goluboi, 'blue'), this pioneering anthology includes a broad range of genres beginning with a gay-friendly poem by Pushkin." --Choice "Beautifully written..." --The Washington Blade "This volume is addressed to the average reader who wants to discover more about gay life in Russia while simultaneously trying to appreciate its past and future. The translations are excellent and a pleasure to read. The variety of authors represented make this volume a spectacular overview of the gay Russian experience." --Slavic and East European Journal For more information on Out of the Blue, including excerpts and photos, go to the website of editor Kevin Moss.

PARTINGS AT DAWN An Anthology of Japanese Gay Literature Edited by Stephen Miller. $19.95 paperback (0-940567-18-0) 352 pp. $50.00 limited hardcover in dustjacket (9-940567-17-2) 800 years of Japanese gay writing are included in this illustrated in-depth collection--from the loves of the samurai to 20th century writers such as Yukio Mishima, Mutsuo Takahashi. Entirely in English translation. "The collection might serve well in a class on gender or sexuality. Certainly almost every 'hot-button' issue is hit in one or more of the stories: sodomy, incest, cross-dressing, narcissism, sadism, masochism, religious guilt and so on--a collection [which] succeeds admirably." --The Journal of Asian Studies

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"Partings at Dawn was fifteen years in the making and is a valuable contribution to gay literature." --R F.D. "The list of translators is impressive and includes many who have helped introduce Japanese literature to the English-speaking world." --Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review. "The collective respect for sound scholarship and readable translation ... has resulted in an an anthology of extraordinary richness and variety. The book brings to light a broad range of narrative prose and poetry, provides important insights into the history of Japanese sexuality, and gives the reader humor, pleasure, and food for thought. Finally, the unabashedly sexual graphic content of several of the selections and many of the beautiful illustrations stand in welcome contrast to other literary works that claim the Japanese are given to only 'subtle eroticism'." --Monumenta Nipponica (Journal on Japanese culture), Sophia University, Tokyo.

SEX BEHIND BARS: A Novella, Short Stories & True Accounts Robert N. Boyd $14.95 paper (0-917342-37-2), 240 pp. "I am a convict serving time, and what I have to say about sexual activity in prison is based on my personal involvement with the young men whose stories I am telling." So writes Robert N. Boyd from his prison cell in Nevada. This is a gripping collection of his true personal accounts and fiction pieces.

PRETTY BOY DEAD Novel by Joseph Hansen $14.95 paper (0-917342-48-8), 208 pp. Scorned by his family, defeated by society, Steve turned to pretty boy Coy Randol for love and support. But then Coy was found brutally murdered and Steve was the chief suspect. "An excellent craftsman, a compelling writer, Hansen has a real gift for storytelling--for character, for scene, for pace independent of violence." --The New Yorker "Knows how to tell a tough, unsentimental, fast-moving story in an exceptionally urbane style." --New York Times

MY DEEP DARK PAIN IS LOVE: A Collection of Latin American Gay Fiction Edited by Winston Leyland; Translated by E. A. Lacey $14.95 paper (0-917342-03-3) Fiction on gay themes by 24 writers from Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina and Chile. The 30 selections in this 400 page anthology include superb work by gifted writers Mario de Andrade, Manuel Puig, Reinaldo Arenas, Anibal Machado, Luis Zapata and others. "Along with the pain of being different comes the pain of living in poverty, a theme recurrent in most of these stories--rebellious writing on two fronts." --Los Angeles Times

BOM-CRIOULO Adolfo Caminha; Translated from Portuguese by E.A. Lacey $35.00 hardcover (9-917342-89-5) Classic Brazilian novel relating in naturalistic style the overt sexual relationship between a black sailor and a cabin boy in the late 19th century Brazilian navy. "A truly revolutionary work: revolutionary in its denunciation of slavery, sadism, cruelty and man's exploitation of man; revolutionary in its startling attitudes towards homosexuality, towards race, towards interracial and interage contacts ... its message echoes beyond our time..."

ADONIS GARCIA: A Picaresque Novel Luis Zapata; Translated from Spanish by Edward A. Lacey $19.95 hardcover (0-917342-79-8), 208 pp. Adonis Garcia is a hustler who plies his trade in the streets and meeting places of Mexico City. His picaresque adventures in the Mexican gay sub-culture (which has its own rich slang) are detailed in this prize-winning novel translated into English for the first time. "This novel -- made up of poverty, desperate sexuality, sickness, hunger, persecution, abandonment and outlaw elements -- turns out to be, by a sort of magical transformation, a positive, cheerful, even optimistic book ... Luis Zapata stands revealed as one of the most radical contemporary Mexican novelists; his novel contributes to the struggle for the civil rights of the homosexual; it constitutes an ironic criticism of the use and misuse of language, of existing political and social structures, of the mass-consumption society, of deadening, alienating labor. . . " --José Joaquín Blanco

TELENY Attributed to Oscar Wilde $14.95 paper (0-917342-33-X), 184 pp. $25.00 hardcover (0-917342-32-1) This brilliant erotic novel tells of the love affair between two men in Victorian England -- handsome, 24-year-old pianist Rene Teleny, and a young bon-vivant, Camille Des Grieux. This unexpurgated edition, is based on the original manuscript and the 1893 text. An in-depth introduction by editor Winston Leyland puts the novel in historical and literary perspective and presents the arguments in favor of Oscar Wilde's involvement in the work.

FOR MORE ON OSCAR: Bosie, Oscar's Lover Photographs of Oscar Wilde Listen to Oscar's Voice (fun site) Oscar's Writings on line Monty Python's Oscar Wilde Sketch (great fun!)

NAKED TO THE NIGHT Novel by K.B. Raul $10.00 paper (0-917342-20-8), 176 pp. This is the graphic story of Rick Talbot, the quintessential hustler, who sells his body across America -- from the meat racks of Times Square to the glittering world of Hollywood. Physically endowed and stunningly handsome, Rick is driven by a compulsive desire to achieve fame and success. This novel went through three printings within one year of its publication in 1964 and became one of the most discussed novels on gay themes within that decade.

FOR THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY An Affair of the Misty City Charles Warren Stoddard $14.95 paperback (0-940567-05-9) $25.00 hardcover (0-940567-04-0) 160 pp. This is an autobiographical novel by California writer, Charles Warren Stoddard (1832-1909). It tells the story of Paul Clitheroe's unsuccessful bout of writing, acting and love in turn-of-the-century San Francisco and his eventual escape into the arms of three naked South Sea Islanders. First published in San Francisco in 1903 and long out-of-print, this edition brings to the present day reader a re-issue of what may be termed the first relatively open American novel with homosexual themes.

ENEMY: A Novel Robin Maugham $10.00 paperback (0-917342-26-7), 160 pp. Two lost soldiers stumble on each other in the desert after a tank battle. English and German, their first instinct is to take the other prisoner, but as their main preoccupation is survival, this is clearly not possible. The book traces their subsequent relationship. Robin Maugham (1916-1981), nephew of the famous Somerset Maugham, is an accomplished writer. "The sincerity of the author and his gift of narrative and brief, certain powers of describing a scene or a character make him a fiction addict's delight." --Sir John Betjeman, Daily Telegraph "It is part of the Maugham genius to be able to transmute romantic cliche into a realistic, gritty narrative... to probe the barriers of caste." --London Times

GAY FICTION ANTHOLOGY Edited by Winston Leyland $19.95 hardcover (0-917342-00-3), 192 pp. A large collection of gay fiction & non-fiction, including: --nine short stories by contemporary American writers, Among them the poignant "Das Blassrote Dreieck," set in a Nazi concentration camp. --the first English translation of Paul Verlaine's gay story. "A Draw" in its original longer version. --"Act and Betrayal," a two-act play by John Stuart Anderson, about a gay medieval Spanish king. --a new diary by Pulitzer prize winning composer Ned Rorem.

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