Classic Gay Male Lerature (207 books)

Contents:

• 25 MOST INFLUENTIAL GAY AUTHORS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
• 21 BOOKS EVERY GAY MAN NEEDS TO READ RIGHT NOW
• CLASSIC GAY MALE LERATURE
• GAY AUTHORS BOOKS

25 MOST INFLUENTIAL GAY AUTHORS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

Bgraphers have ntually bated Whman’s sexual orientatn; his poetry, particularly Leav of Grass, which faced ser censorship after s publitn, ntas several homoerotic imag, however others argue that this was untentnal. He often nied that there was any homoerotic subtext his wrg, yet those who knew him claimed that their relatnships, he was rather ank about his sexualy. Osr Wil (who also appears on this list), after meetg Whman 1882, was adamant that Whman was gay, and even told the activist Gee Cecil Iv, “I have the kiss of Walt Whman still on my lips.

Dorian Gray was origally published Lipptt’s Monthly Magaze, and drew such harsh cricism for s pictn of “immoraly, ” (one character the novel exprs a potentially romantic fatuatn for another male character) that when was later re-published as a book, Wil toned down the novel’s homoerotic subtext.

21 BOOKS EVERY GAY MAN NEEDS TO READ RIGHT NOW

Locke was gay, and acted as a mentor and role mol to several other gay members of the Harlem Renaissance, cludg Countee Cullen, who appears on this list. García Lor was gay, and due to his cln of homoromantic them his work, he was heavily censored durg his lifetime—his work was generally banned Spa until 1953. In 1956, Baldw published Gvanni’s Room, a novel that drew tense attentn and cricism for s portrayal of homosexualy and bisexualy and is often ced as one of the most important queer novels ever wrten.

Capote was openly gay, and while he was never much of an active participant the gay rights movement, the openns wh which he exprsed his inty njunctn wh his level of celebry was an important tone queer history. As a gay trans man, Sullivan was met wh obstacl to his transn, for at the time he was seekg medil attentn, heterosexualy was a crern for regnn of medil necsy for transn. Known for his grim and often btal sense of humor, Sullivan once wrote, “I took a certa pleasure rmg the genr clic that even though their program told me I uld not live as a Gay man, looks like I’m gog to die like one.

Their varly humane and hilar portras of queerns and same-sex love and lt—and the everyday liv of those who experience them—are illumatg, whether you’re gay, straight, or somewhere between. Meticuloly rearched and ttly plotted, books such as The Last of the We (1956) and The Persian Boy (1972) naturalistilly pict gay love agast a vivid, betifully renred backdrop of war and polil BaldwJam BaldwUPI/Bettmann ArchiveBaldw’s semal novel Gvanni’s Room (1956), about a tragic love affair between a nfed Amerin man and his Italian boyiend Paris, unflchgly exam the societal prejudic that kept (and ntue to keep) many people om acknowledgg their sexual AokiAoki is an Amerin wrer of Japane scent who is bt known for her llectns, cludg Seasonal Veloci (2012) and Why Dt Shall Never Settle upon This Soul (2015), and her novels, cludg He Mele a Hilo (2014) and Light om Unmon Stars (2021).

CLASSIC GAY MALE LERATURE

Michael ChabonChabon has long had a gay followg due to his 1988 novel The Mysteri of Ptsburgh, which featur a protagonist who has both homosexual and heterosexual enunters. Many of his later works feature gay characters, though their sexualy is ambient rather than LorLor’s wrg reflects her experience as a Black lbian and a mother.

GAY AUTHORS BOOKS

Christopher IsherwoodIsherwood, 1966Camera Prs/Pictorial ParaIsherwood’s 1964 novel A Sgle Man follows a gay man grievg for his lover over the urse of a day. Armistead MpMp’s effervcent novels about gay life San Francis, startg wh Tal of the Cy (1978), brought to life a i foreign to much of the JordanJordan primarily wrote through the lens of bisexualy and racial jtice.