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Title: Better Angel by Richard Meeker, Forman Brown, Hubert Kennedy ISBN: 1555835732 Publisher: Alyson Pubns Pub. Date: July, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.43
Rating: 5
Summary: A Top-Level Early Novel, Unfaded by Time
Comment: BETTER ANGEL takes place in the 1930s, but its themes and its style are timeless. Richard Meeker's semi-autobiographical novel is not just one of those 'interesting' early works, that pale beside later masterpieces. This is a mature, intelligent narrative of a gay man's youthful years. It is told with confidence and a persuasive, occasionally poetic style.
Most gratifying about Meeker's novel is its completely positive view of homosexuality. The author gives equal weight to the physical and the emotional aspects of being gay. His protagonist is initially driven by his erotic impulses, but behind the impulses there is always the emotional core. After some questioning and experimentation, Meeker's hero is never in real doubt about the possibility of same-sex love. There is no trace of shame or guilt in the novel's depictions of male-to-male relations: the reader is convinced along with him, that this love,too, is valid.
There is plenty of humor in the novel, as well as some interesting non-technical musical discussion. And Meeker is careful to characterize each player with subtle and convincing traits. Neither dated, nor only academically important, BETTER ANGEL is a novel that should be read by everyone.
Rating: 4
Summary: One the best "early" gay novels
Comment: In 1933, using the alias Richard Meeker, Forman Brown published his novel "Better Angel."
A bitterly frank coming of age story, "Better Angel" has become a classic of gay literature, and deservedly so. Like E.M. Forster's "Maurice" (which was written in 1914 but not published until 1971), this novel is a candid examination of a young man's coming to terms with his homosexuality. The kinship between the two extends to the basic optimism inherent in the works, which is both surprising and refreshing. Unlike so many early works which used allusion and insinuation when it came to the sexuality of their characters, these two novels have been rendered openly and without shame. To think that this novel was published decades prior to Gore Vidal's "The City and the Pillar" and James Baldwin's "Giovanni's Room" is truly remarkable.
Beautifully written, with a prose style which equals Forster's, this novel should be read for generations to come.
Rating: 5
Summary: Unusual Coming Out Story
Comment: Excellent book.
Unlike many contemporary coming out stories, the gay protagonist here does not get drunk, take drugs, or become suicidal. He just tries to understand his feelings and tries to do the right things. This was set in the Great Depression in 1933, in a religious Mid-Western family setting (initially), with entrapping police, and almost universal hostility. The narrator is able to grow and develop with dignity, while building long-term sexual and other relationships.
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Title: Avoidance: A Novel by Michael Lowenthal ISBN: 1555973671 Publisher: Graywolf Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Earth, As It Is in Heaven by Roman Genesis ISBN: 0595191037 Publisher: iUniverse.com Pub. Date: August, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: City of Night by John Rechy ISBN: 0802130836 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: March, 1988 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Soccer Field Is Empty by Mark A. Roeder ISBN: 0595225101 Publisher: Writers Club Press Pub. Date: April, 2002 List Price(USD): $20.95 |
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Title: Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs ISBN: 0312283709 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: July, 2002 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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