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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

February 19, 1993

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Entertainment

New Men on Men is a celebration of diversity

Men on Men 4:

Best New Gay Fiction Edited by George Stambolian Plume/Penguin 405 pages $12.00 paper

Reviewed by Eric Sellen

Anthologies are by their very nature difficult to review. Does one focus on the quality of the individual stories? Or is it better (or more interesting? or simply easier?) to try second-guessing the editor by looking at the whole? Critique the selections or the selection?

With the best anthologies--and the Men on Men series continues to be among the best collections of gay short stories--such difficulties fade into the background. The reader can enjoy most (if not all) the selected stories, can pick and choose his or her own reading order (quite possibly different from the editor's numbering), and still come away feeling fulfilled, stimulated, and enriched.

Men on Men 4 is the latest (and unfortunately last) anthology to be produced by the series' originator, editor George Stambolian. It is well worth the purchase price--and an able (if not wholly exciting) continuation of the three volumes published before it.

Stambolian died of AIDS in December 1991. At the time, we are told, the stories for Men on Men 4 had been chosen. The only thing missing would be Stambolian's own introduction, which, in all honesty, was such an integral part of the earlier volumes that it is sadly missing here.

A lovely "Afterword" by Andrew Holleran is included, a tribute to Stambolian originally published in the literary magazine Christopher Street last year. Holleran did, however, rework the essay somewhat for use in Men on Men 4; it's still poignant, but he might better have left well enough alone--the raw emotions in the original essay have been tamed a bit too much by additional historical material.

As with the early Men on Men volumes,

Stambolian chose both new and establishe writers for number 4. And even if, as in: couple of cases, the new blood doesn't ye warrant our full exposure (it's difficult to write anything these days that can't be interpreted as an AIDS metaphor, isn't it?) part of the beauty of anthologies is not only providing for different tastes, but actually being able to celebrate such diversity--o story line, of narrative technique, of lifestyle of culture, of word choice. The narrative techniques may not be quite as experimen tal as in volumes 2 and 3 (or perhaps I'm getting jaded), but the methods of each individual writer's madness are still ap pealingly varied.

Many readers will find themselves read ing these stories out of published sequence and possibly skipping one or more storie: entirely (after reading the first paragraph o two). I certainly skipped a few, although later went back and diligently tried to read those again after finishing the rest of the book-finding one quite palatable in my own different mood a week hence, and the other two still "not my style."

Nevertheless, I also found some new favorite stories to read again and again especially a trio placed almost dead cente in the book: "The Greek Head" by Pete Weltner, "New Year" by Jack Slater, and "Inside" by David Vernon. The last o these is one of those miracles of concis‹ writing (at eight pages, it is the shortes story in the book) that by its very smallnes: evokes the largest universe--one man': universe, contained in his tiny New York apartment, as he sits: 1. waiting to die o you-know-what, 2. waiting for the pizz boy to deliver (physical food for his stom ach and visual food for his libidinal mind) and 3. waiting for the answers to all (o any!) of life's questions.

The three earlier volumes of Men oi Men are also still (or again) in print. If you like the short story format, all four ar worth having on your shelf for occasiona nibbling, insightful reading, and gentle re flection.

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Address: P.O. Box 26556

Akron, OH 44319