♦◊♦
David McConnell
Writer, novelist
The Satyricon by Petronius
A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White
Prisoner of Love by Jean Genet
Griefby Andrew Holleran
About Ed by Bob Gluck (novel-in-progress)
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Christopher Bram
Novelist, essayist
Another Country by James Baldwin
Christopher and His Kind by Christopher Isherwood
Divine Comedies by James Merrill
Angels in America by Tony Kushner
The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin
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Bob Smith
Comedian, author
A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym
The Man of the House by Stephen McCauley
The Greeks and Greek Love by James N. Davidson
The Professor’s House by Willa Cather
I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company by Brian Hall
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Bernard Cooper
Novelist, memoirist
In Youth Is Pleasure by Denton Welch
Cute, Quaint, Hungry, and Romantic: The Aesthetics of Consumerism by Daniel Harris
Travels With Lizbeth: Three Years on the Road and on the Streets by Lars Eighner
White People by Allan Gurganus
My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerley
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Andrew Solomon
Nonfiction writer, journalist
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
Bertram Cope’s Year by Henry Blake Fuller
Geography IIIby Elizabeth Bishop
Transparent by Cris Beam
Á Rebours by Joris-Karl Huysmans
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Allan Gurganus
Novelist, short-story writer, essayist
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Collected Poems by Arthur Rimbaud
Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Complete Poems by Constantine Cavafy
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Adam Haslett
Novelist, short-story writer
The Symposium by Plato
The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1 by Michel Foucault
Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality by John Boswell
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil
♦◊♦
Ali Liebegott
Poet, fiction writer
Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Another Country by James Baldwin
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
Valencia by Michelle Tea
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Colleen Coover
Comic book artist
Love and Rockets by Los Bros Hernandez
Dar: A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary by Erika Moen
Don’t Bite the Sunand Drinking Sapphire Wine by Tanith Lee
Baker Street by Guy Davis
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
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Mark Thompson
Author, activist
Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. by Jonathan Katz
A Single Man and Christopher and His Kind by Christopher Isherwood
Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir by Paul Monette
All: A James Broughton Reader edited by Jack Foley
The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon by Tom Spanbauer
♦◊♦
Kevin Sessums
Author, journalist
The Way We Live Nowby Susan Sontag
Any poem by W.H. Auden or Elizabeth Bishop
Good Times, Bad Times by James Kirkwood
The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction 1948–1985 by James Baldwin
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
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About Benoit Denizet-Lewis
Vocalyze
Some really good books on these lists.
Fabulous lists! (Especially the lovely Brad Gooch’s)
My Faves:
a la recherche du temps perdu — Marcel Proust
Sheeper — Irving Rosenthal
Concerning the Eccentricities of Cardinal Pirelli — Ronald Firbank
Two Serious Ladies — Jane Bowles
My Loose Thread — Dennis Cooper
Glad to see some love for the marvelous Alison Bechdel (Fun Home is a quicker read than the massive opus of DTWOF), but let’s not forget Howard Cruse, especially Stuck Rubber Baby and Wendel.
“I wish someone had given me a list of required gay reading when I was coming out. Gay men gave me a lot of things back then (porn, theater tickets, crabs), but no one gave me book titles. As a young gay man, I could have used a literary roadmap to help me put my experiences—and my feelings—in some historical and sociological context.”
I can very much relate to this paragraph. Thank you for choosing to be person to give the titles of great LGBT books to young people like myself. I will definitely read many books on this list.
I just briefly browsed the list, but I like that you asked a bunch of people to give their input. So relieved to see The Color Purple made a couple “Top 5s”. Interesting that no one lists “The Well of Loneliness” or “The City and the Pilar”…are these texts famous more for being firsts but not necessarily the best? One of my favs that doesn’t seem to get mentioned by anyone is “Passing” by Nella Larsen.
Hey Benoit – did I miss the ‘L’ books on the list?
So I guess you missed all the Bechdel, Lorde, Woolf and Tea (among others)? This is a men’s site, so it makes some sense that there’s a bit more focus on Gay men’s lit. There’s also Feinberg’s Stone Butch Blues, but unfortunately that looks like the main test dealing with trans* experiences. Also, I’m not seeing much bi stuff, though I could be wrong, since I’m not familiar with all the texts.
The Marketplace, mentioned a couple of times, is Bi-
Can’t wait to check these books out!
Great recommendations! I want to add one new title to the list – A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski, just out this year from Beacon Press.
I’m glad to see some of my favorites already mentioned — “We Two Boys” by Jamie O’Neil is deeply touching and supremely beautifully written; Tom Spanbauer’s “The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon” continues to make me laugh and cry out loud every time I read it; James Kirkwood’s “P.S., Your Cat is Dead” gave me the first glimpse of being able to laugh about something I’d struggled with for too long; “Coming Out Gay,” by Don deserves mention as it helped a generation of men accept themselves; I feel that John Rechy’s books — particularly “Numbers” — saved my life by showing me that what I thought I wanted isn’t at all what I wanted; and similarly, if feel that Walt Whitman was my first lover as I held him in my hand and poured over his tender “Leaves” and his hints of what I did truly seek while those things were not yet available to me.
I am reading a new book by Madeline Miller, “The Song of Achilles,” a re-telling of Homer’s Iliad. The relationship between Achilles and Patrclus is a rich imagining of love between two men and promises to make this book a gay-themed classic… at least on my list. Thanks for the terrific article. It’s great that in 2012 we don’t have to search obscure newsgroups and hunt for subtext to find the best gay reads.
Holding the Man, autobiography of Timothy Conigrave (Australian). “Captures” the times, growing up pre-AIDS and then the tragedy. But “captures” doesn’t quite cover it. It’s the most moving thing I’ve ever read.
The Front Runner is the best books ever!