Quoting Annie Proulx here from "Getting Movied": "I simply did not think this story could be a film: it was too sexually xplicit for presumed mainstream tastes, the general topic of homophobia was a hot potato unless gingerly skirted, and, given Hollywood actors' reluctance to play gay men (though many gay men have brilliantly played straight guys) it would likely be difficult to find a good cast, not to say a director."