SM READING GROUP

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Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 21:57:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gorgik@aol.com
Subject: Re: suggestion

I have a few ideas for books that are worth reading and
discussing, but I'm not clear on just what the focus of the
group is. Is it specifically fiction? Specifically novels?
You said that people prefer gay-male work, but does that
rule out "pansexual" work or just work that's essentially
hetero (like "Topping from Below")? Are story collections
open to consideration? Do you want only "serious erotic
literature," or also stuff that's fun to read ? Is the
idea just to discuss things that are hard to understand and
need interpretation, or also things that are pretty clear
but raise issues or make claims people might disagree about?

The o/p problem is an obstacle. It would be very valuable,
for instance, to read Carney's "The Rose Exterminator" now
that the group has discussed "The Real Thing." I just reread
it, because of Joseph Bean's comments, and while I don't
agree with him that it's a good book, it does have more good
qualities than I remembered; it just badly needed an editor
and apparently never got one.

Two fiction titles that *may* still be in print, or if
not there may be enough copies around: Jack Fritscher's
"Leather Blues," a short novel set in the 1960's, I believe,
and Ben George's "The Quest," another short novel set in the
1970's, barely finished at the author's death and somewhat
bizarre in the latter half. Both are about s/m and
authenticity, and they could be interesting to discuss. "The
Quest" was privately published, but I've seen copies at ADL
recently.

Gordon Hoban/Tom Hardy -- the story collections and novels
were privately republished by the author, who is now dead,
but there are still some copies available at ADL. "Runaway"
is the best collection, "The Marine Olaf" probably the best
novel. At his best, his work was definitely literature, not
just stroke fiction.

Aaron Travis's fiction is well above average, and it's
been republished by Badboy and is in print. "The Flesh
Fables" is probably the strongest collection, but "Beast
of Burden" has some important stories, too. He never
finished an s/m novel except "Slaves of the Empire," which
is pretty trashy.

Elissa Wald's story collection "Meeting the Master" was
recently republished by Grove, so it's easily available.
Two stories are gay, and several include gay elements; all
are well worth readings.

Laura Antoniou's trilogy of "The Slave," "The Marketplace,"
and "The Trainer" raises a lot of interesting issues, though
her writing is more on the trashy fun level than any literary
level. The third title has the most gay content, but it is
hard to understand without having read the earlier ones.

Of course, there's the "Beauty" trilogy by Anne Rice, but
I personally don't think there's much to discuss about it.
Either you enjoy them, or you don't; it isn't literature,
just well written fantasy by someone without the slightest
actual experience, unlike Wald and Antoniou (or the male
authors cited above).

I don't like the books, but it might be worthwhile to
devote a meeting to discussing John Preston's "Master"
series, from "I Once Had a Master" to "For Love of a Master."
Personally, I'd rather discuss his two story collections,
"Tales of the Dark Lord," which to my mind include his best
writing.

Is nonfiction appropriate? There are certainly plenty
of nonfiction books worth discussing, from Joseph Bean and
Guy Baldwin to Jim Prezwalksi's "Kiss of the Whip" (much
more serious than the silly title). There would be lots to
discuss in the "Leatherfolk" anthology edited by Mark Thompson.

Another interesting exercise might be to read both the
original and the revised editions of Townsend's "The
Leatherman's Handbook." The differences between them were
one of the prime pieces of evidence cited by Daniel Harris
in that "Death of Kink" essay I posted about on gl-asb.
Both versions are currently available.

Let me know if any of this is helpful and where you
see the group focusing.

best,
David


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