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You’re right, Giovanni’s Room is a terrific book that I read 30 years ago.

I read it years ago but still often think of “Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality” by John Boswell. It gives a well-researched account of homosexuality in the west and how it became transformed from being relatively common and accepted in Ancient Greece, Rome, and Europe in the early Middle Ages to publicly reviled until recently.

Benoit: If only you had run into me when I was still living in San Francisco! I’d have provided you with a lengthy and probably ridiculously thorough list… I read Kramer’s “Faggots” when it first appeared in 1979 — and just before my first and only trip to Fire Island for which I found it invaluable research at the tender age of 23. I loved the book then and still have my original copy. I should re-read to see how I feel about it today. That was, of course, the summer of the three queer classics: Andrew Hollaran’s “Dancer From… Read more »

Shout out to ‘Stone Butch Blues’ by Leslie Feinberg!

What a comprehensive and varied list! Great compilation. Among my favs are Nightwood by Djuna Barnes, The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal, and A la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust.

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.

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.

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” —… Read more »

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.

Can’t wait to check these books out! 🙂

Hey Benoit – did I miss the ‘L’ books on the 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.

“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.

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.

Gay Summer Reading List: Writers Choose the Best…

Image via Passport LGBT Summer Reading List: Writers Choose the Best Are you an avid reader looking for some good gay material to help keep you entertained this summer? You’re in luck! Earlier this month, The Good Men Project created a list on the…

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

Some really good books on these lists.

I am surprised that none of Armestead Maupins’ books were mentioned.. His “Tales of… series are phenomenal!

Interesting after all these decades that we still see three times as many males asked to recommend books as females and more than twice as many authors recommended we male than female…and every time I was unsure of the gender for whatever reason, I gave the benefit of the doubt to females. (I have little knowledge of the percentages of transgendered people in recommenders or recommended.) I’m kind of surprised by how many men who were asked for their recommendations listed five males and while almost every woman recommended at least one male writer. We’ve still got a long way… Read more »

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/opinion/09gurganus.html

Not a book, but how about a copy of Gurganus’ April 2006 op ed in the New York Times about how the Duke lacrosse boys are gulty of the rape they were accused of (while simultaneously lusting after their “abercrombie appeal”). It defines the “vicious queen” character even better than some of Proust’s characters.

Andre Gide is da bomb

Can’t believe no one mentioned Randy Shilts’ “The Mayor of Castro Street”. That book changed my life.

I’m a big fan of Maupin’s Tales of the City, but his “Micheal Tolliver Lives” really hit close to home. I think it’s his best novel.

Also, I’d mention: Gore Vidal’s “Myra Breckenridge”; John Rechy’s wonderful “Numbers”; any of Genet’s novels; Christopher Bram’s “Gods and Monsters”; Richard K. Morgan’s “The Steel Remains”; Frederick Pohl’s “Gateway”