Gay Western Novels..

[injest]

I like westerns...if anyone runs across any books based on the old west and gays, I would like to hear about them.

Here is one I have located...anyone read it?

The Filly by Mark Probst

http://www.cheyennepublishing.com/reviews.html

[Jeff Wrangler]

I like westerns...if anyone runs across any books based on the old west and gays, I would like to hear about them.

Here is one I have located...anyone read it?

The Filly by Mark Probst

http://www.cheyennepublishing.com/reviews.html

I've got it. It's on my to-read pile. ... 

I've snooped through it from time to time. I don't hold much hope for it--probably why I haven't read it, yet--but we'll see. Eventually. 

[MaineWriter]

Here's an interview with the author...

http://speakitsname.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/author-interview-mark-r-probst-author-of-the-filly/

L

[injest]

I've got it. It's on my to-read pile. ... 

I've snooped through it from time to time. I don't hold much hope for it--probably why I haven't read it, yet--but we'll see. Eventually. 

uh oh...that doesnt' sound promising!

[injest]

the thing that attracted me to this novel was a review I saw that said it would be an excellent book for a young gay teen. That interested me. That is a niche that isnt' really served. When D came out, I wanted to get him books that featured gay characters but the only thing I found that didn't have a lot of graphic sex in it was Mary Renaults books. (the fact that they presented an idealized sense of what a gay relationship should be was a major plus)

[injest]

and one of the problems I have found with gay youth groups is the emphasis on sex and porn. That isn't my familys values, and the fact that my son is gay does not mean he doesnt' need to abide by them. or that they are obsolete..

[delalluvia]

I've got it. It's on my to-read pile. ... 

I've snooped through it from time to time. I don't hold much hope for it--probably why I haven't read it, yet--but we'll see. Eventually. 

Well, let us know how it turns out.  I read one gay Western novel once - it was from the 'erotic' book section of Borders - and it was basically Danielle Steele for gay men.  Horrible.  Just horrible.   

[MaineWriter]

the thing that attracted me to this novel was a review I saw that said it would be an excellent book for a young gay teen. That interested me. That is a niche that isnt' really served. When D came out, I wanted to get him books that featured gay characters but the only thing I found that didn't have a lot of graphic sex in it was Mary Renaults books. (the fact that they presented an idealized sense of what a gay relationship should be was a major plus)

The interview I posted, the author addresses that question:

SiN: Some reviewers are touting your book as YA. Was that what you had in mind when you wrote it?

MRP: Absolutely. I wanted to write a book that I would have enjoyed and that would have helped me to come to terms with my homosexuality when I was a teenager. There weren’t any books like that 25-30 years ago and the gay books that did exist back then, if I’d had access to them, would have embarrassed me and would have filled me with guilt, due to their very adult nature. If even one gay teen reads The Filly and feels better about himself because of it, I will feel that I have been a great success.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Well, let us know how it turns out.  I read one gay Western novel once - it was from the 'erotic' book section of Borders - and it was basically Danielle Steele for gay men.  Horrible.  Just horrible.   

Aw, now, c'mon, Del, don't tease us like that and then not tell us the title! 

The New Yorker once said of Kenneth Branagh's film of Much Ado About Nothing, "Sometimes all you ask of Shakespeare is Denzel Washington in leather pants," and sometimes all you want of a gay Western is a couple of hot cowboys doin' the nasty. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

The interview I posted, the author addresses that question:

SiN: Some reviewers are touting your book as YA. Was that what you had in mind when you wrote it?

MRP: Absolutely. I wanted to write a book that I would have enjoyed and that would have helped me to come to terms with my homosexuality when I was a teenager. There weren’t any books like that 25-30 years ago and the gay books that did exist back then, if I’d had access to them, would have embarrassed me and would have filled me with guilt, due to their very adult nature. If even one gay teen reads The Filly and feels better about himself because of it, I will feel that I have been a great success.

If the author actually conceived of the book as a novel for young adults, that may explain a lot about the impression I got on my browses through it, and it would alter my expectations when I actually sit down to read the whole thing. I had heard nothing about the book when I found it at Giovanni's Room, our independent gay bookstore, and just picked it up because it was a gay Western. While Giovanni's Room doesn't have a "young adult" section, it does have a section for books aimed at gay parents and at children growing up with gay parents, and so forth, but that wasn't where they had The Filly. I found the book shelved with all the other gay novels, and I think that probably colored my expectations, too. I wasn't expecting a novel for "young adults"--and I had also recently completed Longhorns, which is most definitely a novel for adults (had a good story line but struck me as a little simplistic and implausible).

[Clyde-B]

If the author actually conceived of the book as a novel for young adults, that may explain a lot about the impression I got on my browses through it, and it would alter my expectations when I actually sit down to read the whole thing. I had heard nothing about the book when I found it at Giovanni's Room, our independent gay bookstore, and just picked it up because it was a gay Western. While Giovanni's Room doesn't have a "young adult" section, it does have a section for books aimed at gay parents and at children growing up with gay parents, and so forth, but that wasn't where they had The Filly. I found the book shelved with all the other gay novels, and I think that probably colored my expectations, too. I wasn't expecting a novel for "young adults"--and I had also recently completed Longhorns, which is most definitely a novel for adults (had a good story line but struck me as a little simplistic and implausible).

I have nothing against sex in the story, unless it reads like the purpose of the story part is to pass the time between sex scenes.     Then it gets kind of boring because it's usually poorly written.

I read Tin Star, and that was actually just a romance novel about two guys, again there wasn't much of a story beyond the romance.

I guess I'd like to find a good Western where the main characters are gay and that plays a part in it, but there's also an exciting story to it too. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

I read Tin Star, and that was actually just a romance novel about two guys, again there wasn't much of a story beyond the romance.

I guess I'd like to find a good Western where the main characters are gay and that plays a part in it, but there's also an exciting story to it too. 

I'm not familiar with Tin Star. Do you remember the author's name, Clyde? And is that romance as in romance or romance as in sex? Gay male "bodice-ripper" or gay male "Harlequin Romance"? 

Of course, before I worry myself so much about gay Western novels, I ought to read more of Annie Proulx's short stories. 

[MaineWriter]

Jeff,

The author of The Tin Star is J. L. Langley. It is for sale on amazon and there are quite a few reviews posted there which should help you decide if it's your cup of tea...or ride in the saddle as it might be. 

L

[Clyde-B]

I'm not familiar with Tin Star. Do you remember the author's name, Clyde? And is that romance as in romance or romance as in sex? Gay male "bodice-ripper" or gay male "Harlequin Romance"? 

Of course, before I worry myself so much about gay Western novels, I ought to read more of Annie Proulx's short stories. 

Well Jeff, it is pretty much of a "zipper-popper!"       "You got an owie, oh, let's go to bed."  "You're home from work, oh, let's go to bed."  "you got kicked out of the house, oh, let's go to bed."    It wasn't too bad, but don't expect Dickens, or even Mickey Spillane.  I was able to finish it.  But I like my sex a little sexier, and motivated by more than "It's been ten pages, it's time to do it again."     It ain't lit, but it was fun.

 
I got it at Amazon.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Jeff,

The author of The Tin Star is J. L. Langley. It is for sale on amazon and there are quite a few reviews posted there which should help you decide if it's your cup of tea...or ride in the saddle as it might be. 

L

Well Jeff, it is pretty much of a "zipper-popper!"      "You got an owie, oh, let's go to bed."  "You're home from work, oh, let's go to bed."  "you got kicked out of the house, oh, let's go to bed."    It wasn't too bad, but don't expect Dickens, or even Mickey Spillane.  I was able to finish it.  But I like my sex a little sexier, and motivated by more than "It's been ten pages, it's time to do it again."     It ain't lit, but it was fun.

 
I got it at Amazon.

Thanks, Leslie and Clyde!

"Zipper-popper"?  Love it, Clyde! The gay male equivalent of the bodice-ripper! 

Like I said, "Sometimes all you ask of Shakespeare is Denzel Washington in leather pants." 

"It's been ten pages, it's time to do it again"? Are you sure that novel isn't Brokeback fanfiction? 

[delalluvia]

Aw, now, c'mon, Del, don't tease us like that and then not tell us the title! 

The New Yorker once said of Kenneth Branagh's film of Much Ado About Nothing, "Sometimes all you ask of Shakespeare is Denzel Washington in leather pants," and sometimes all you want of a gay Western is a couple of hot cowboys doin' the nasty. 

Sorry, dear.  I won't subject anyone to such atrocious writing - it would be inhumane. 

It was a zipper-popper - lost, injured cavalryman (a good 'rider', get it?) in uniform gets rescued by sympathetic native American hunk wearing only a loincloth and things happen every few pages during his 'recuperation time' in the teepee.  In-between bouts of sex, they try to communicate what it means to be gay.

It's like Village People - the Western.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

There's better out there.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Sorry, dear.  I won't subject anyone to such atrocious writing - it would be inhumane. 

It was a zipper-popper - lost, injured cavalryman (a good 'rider', get it?) in uniform gets rescued by sympathetic native American hunk wearing only a loincloth and things happen every few pages during his 'recuperation time' in the teepee.  In-between bouts of sex, they try to communicate what it means to be gay.

It's like Village People - the Western.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

There's better out there.

    

But--sometimes all you want from a read is a hot cavalryman in tight pants and a nearly nekkid Native American--oh, never mind!     

[Front-Ranger]

Well, The Virginian has been called both the first Western and the first gay novel...but there are no explicit sex scenes, so maybe no one would be interested.

But, if you're still with me, you can read all about it at

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,6809.0/all.html

[Kerry]

I recommend "Queer Cowboys" by Chris Packard. It's somewhat dry and academic in places, but certainly worth a read.

Front cover.



Blurb on back cover.



Sample page.

[SFEnnisSF]

I am currently reading a gay western book series called Legend of the Golden Feather Series.

I'm only on the first book, Bristlecone Peak, and I'm really enjoying it.

"Jake Brady, a farmer from Kentucky, fleeing for his life from his neighbor and four of his sons who have tracked him a thousand miles, ended up in the mining town of Alma, high in the Colorado Rockies. Wiley Deluce, one of the fastest and deadliest draws alive, arrived in Alma to carry out a job he was paid to do. Jake and Wiley met, became partners and blood brothers in the crowded Silver Heels bar, and that's when their love and adventures began."

http://www.goldenfeatherpress.com/
(Scroll down for lots of info)