From Grace Paley’s “black voice” to Tony Khner’s actured gay inty “Angels Ameri,” what mak a story reprentative?
Contents:
CELEBRATG 10 YEARS OF GAY MARRIAGE
Boston-based novelist Christopher Castellani’s fourth novel, Leadg Men, is a fascatg examatn of one of the mid-twentieth century’s most trigug gay love stori, that of playwright Tennsee Williams and his lover, Frank Merlo. My origal plan was to wre a short novel about two great gay wrers om the perspectiv of their long-sufferg partners: Frank would tell his story of life wh Tennsee, and a guy named Sandro N— would tell his story of life wh John Horne Burns, the thor of 1947’s The Gallery, a Great Amerin Novel most Amerins have fotten. By double visibily, I mean, first, the tradnal closet, bee even though Frank and Tennsee were not hidg as a gay uple, they certaly weren’t celebrated the prs as the next Bogie and Ball.
FAVE FIVE: GAY FICTN SET ITALY
In the years after, as I was draftg var failed versns of Leadg Men, I read other queer books that extend that permissn and opened up all sorts of possibili as to what a novel uld do this blurry fictnal space: Colm Tóibín’s The Master, about Henry Jam (the scen of Jam sleepg wh Oliver Wenll Holm is still one of my favor all of fictn); Monique Tong’s The Book of Salt, about the gay Indoche ok who worked for Gert Ste and Alice B. Wh one foot historil fact and one foot betifully fictn, Christopher Castelli vividly reimag one of the most fascatg partnerships of the gay lerary world.