Gay Fiction: From Top to Bottom

Matthew Rettenmund lovingly laments the death of the "gay book," then compiles a must-read collection of the first and last sentences of as many gay novels as he could readily lay his hands on.

I'm sticking with the books' proper first and last sentences, so am leaving out things like dates and places (“New York, 1983") in the case of books that begin or end with letters, and I'm also ignoring the “hmmm”-inspiring epigraphs that so often appear at the beginning of a novel. These are not meant to be my choices for "the best gay books." But most of my favorite gay novels are included and you will undoubtedly have read and loved many of them. Actually...how many have you read?

Very few, actually -- I love nonfiction!

Enjoy HERE.