Contemporary Gay American Novelists: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook

(Hardback)

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Description

Publication of this sourcebook on gay American fiction writers, aims to grant legitimacy and recognition to this rapidly emerging area of literary studies. Though wary of canon-formation in this ground-breaking work, Nelson has selected 57 writers whose works have received serious critical acclaim and/or have won large audiences or, in a few cases, are worthy of greater attention. Included are representative writers of detective fiction and science fiction, but not authors of erotic fiction or pulp novels. Also excluded are a few novelists whose expressed wishes for privacy were respected. Writers and their works are examined in the gay literary context, and a majority of the contributing essayists are themselves gay male scholars and writers, who bring with them a level of personal and political sensitivity that is generally lacking in non-gay assessments of this literature. Each entry begins with biographical information, proceeds to an interpretive summary of major works and themes, provides an overview of critical reception accorded the author, and concludes with bibliographies of primary and secondary materials. In an introductory essay, Bredbeck inquires what we mean by "gay literature" and the tensions inherent in these terms. Conceding the impossibility of speaking conclusively of gay literature, he nevertheless stresses the importance of the task and ends with a survey of critical studies of the gay male novel and works of gay male criticism.

Reviews

Hardbound and made to last a century or so, the book covers fifty-seven modern gay novelists, giving you run-downs on each writer's biography, books and reputation. There are big names and small, some dubious, and some missing, but the volume is definitely historic.-Mandate
Nelson has done an excellent job in editing this book about gay novelists, which should be a welcome addition in all research libraries as well as other libraries where there is an interest in gay and lesbian culture. It fills a need in the area of gay and lesbian studies and is recommended for academic and large public libraries.-Reference Books Bulletin
The material provided is excellent, and the sections on critical reception, which often delineate how homophobia has informed critical opinion, are invaluable and unprecedented. A fine essay by Gregory Bredbeck helps define the idea of 'gay literature.' Gay/lesbian studies are blossoming, and this volume will begin to fill the enormous gap in our reference collections on the subject; nothing like it is currently available.-Library Journal
This book would be strongly recommended if for no other reason than that so little has been published about most of the novelists. It is important for providing analysis unavailable elsewhere.-Choice
"Hardbound and made to last a century or so, the book covers fifty-seven modern gay novelists, giving you run-downs on each writer's biography, books and reputation. There are big names and small, some dubious, and some missing, but the volume is definitely historic."-Mandate
"Nelson has done an excellent job in editing this book about gay novelists, which should be a welcome addition in all research libraries as well as other libraries where there is an interest in gay and lesbian culture. It fills a need in the area of gay and lesbian studies and is recommended for academic and large public libraries."-Reference Books Bulletin
"This book would be strongly recommended if for no other reason than that so little has been published about most of the novelists. It is important for providing analysis unavailable elsewhere."-Choice
"The material provided is excellent, and the sections on critical reception, which often delineate how homophobia has informed critical opinion, are invaluable and unprecedented. A fine essay by Gregory Bredbeck helps define the idea of 'gay literature.' Gay/lesbian studies are blossoming, and this volume will begin to fill the enormous gap in our reference collections on the subject; nothing like it is currently available."-Library Journal

Author Bio

EMMANUEL S. NELSON is Associate Professor of English at the State University of New York College at Cortland. His special interests in gay literature, post colonial literature, and ethnic American literature are reflected in his publications, including Connections: Essays on Black Literatures, AIDS: The Literary Response, and Reworlding: The Literature of the Indian Diaspora (Greenwood Press, 1992).