August 10, 2001

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

eveningsout

Two short story collections deserve to win awards

Kosher Meat

edited by Lawrence Schimel Sherman Asher, $14.95 paperback

The Rose City

by David Ebershoff

Viking, $23.95 hardcover

Reviewed by Anthony Glussmun

Short story collections come in one of two forms: a selection of stories from a single author, or a sampling of various authors' work. Two noteworthy collections currently available illustrate the different ways to anthologize nicely.

The first, Kosher Meat, is a collection of stories about Jewish gay men, by Jewish gay men. Edited by Lawrence Schimel, the anthology deals with all aspects of the lives of gay Jewsfrom Israel to New York to Eastern Europe, there's a bit of everything on display.

The first story, Jonathan Wald's "My Nazi Summer," illustrates the love/hate relationship Jews have with the blond haired, blue eyed Aryan ideal,

especially when presented

within a society that still reveres it.

KOSHER

MEAT

"The Day I Was Caught," written by Daniel M. Jaffe, deals with a young man coming to terms with his homosexuality in an Orthodox Jewish household. For those who don't know, Orthodox Jews are Judaica's answer to fundamentalists: everything in the Bible must be obeyed. That includes the passage in Leviticus often quoted by fundamentalist Christians, about men lying with other men

being an abomination. What the Christians don't say, however, is that technically, since it's in the Old Testament, it doesn't apply to Christians. It does, however, apply to Jews, and that's what the narrator of the story must deal with.

It's all here, some erotica, some stories that seem like erotica but aren't, and a classic tale of a golem, a clay man brought to life through Kaballistic magic. It's a well-rounded anthology, and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award this year. It didn't win, but

not for want of trying.

Then, of course, there is the collection of works by a single author. In this instance, that writer is David Ebershoff, who, before making a name for himself with his debut novel The Danish Girl, cut his teeth in the publishing world in his role as the publishing director of the Modern Library imprint of Random House.

Ebershoff's stories are about men, young and old, seeking to find themselves and others in the world.

There is another, more esoteric theme tying together the stories in The Rose City. The title refers to Pasadena, California, home of the Rose Bowl, and each story involves the city in some way. Some characters live in Pasadena, some are from there, still others consider moving there. It's an odd tie, but it does bind.

"Chuck Paa," the first of the stories, deals with the quest of the titular character to find himself, and a role for himself, in a cold world, all the while trying to escape the specter of his even colder mother.

The final story, "Trespass." tells the tale of Mitch, a boy discovering that, while he might be different from the object of his affection, he is not alone,

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Ebershoff is good at speaking in different voices. Instead of a collection where all of the stories involve characters who think alike, speak alike, are alike, Ebershoff grants his stories wings and lets them fly in whatever direction they choose.

This one should be nominated for a Lambda Literary Award; the announcement of the nominees bears watching.

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