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Mae West Is Dead: Recent Lesbian and Gay Fiction
Gathers British and American short stories about the lives of lesbians and homosexuals
317 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 26, 2022
A strange concoction. It is rare, in my experience, to have gay male fiction and lesbian fiction packaged together in one volume. Many of the pieces seem dated in their concerns, as if 1983 occurred in a land far far away. Did people talk about the women's movement in the early 1980s? Seemingly, gay and lesbian writers were much more concerned with a range of justice issues in 1983 than they are now.
Mars-Jones’ introduction is also bizarre, in that he devotes several pages to an analysis of a gay mystery novel (Vermilion) which had, at that time, been recently published. Now I should mention that in the Eighties I read absolutely everything, especially anything even remotely gay, and I could not read Vermilion. I have never managed to read Vermilion. So for someone to spend several pages trying to wrench some sort of meaning out of a genre genre (genre squared?) pulp novel is beyond comprehension. It would be like trying to squeeze meaning out of the pulp in a Danielle Steele novel. The meaning is only the portrayal of some kind of fantasy. In other words, the introduction to this volume is a waste of space. Are some facets of gay society obsessed with anonymous sex? Yes. Are some facets of gay society obsessed with issues of social justice? Yes.
These blanket statements say it all. And also say nothing.
Like every anthology, a reader will hit highs and lows. The layout of the book is entirely perplexing. If one reads a story and wants to know who wrote it, one has to go to the table of contents at the start of the book to discover the name of the writer (it is not with the story itself). Then one has to go to the back of the volume to discover more about the writer. It was irritating to be constantly flipping about the book just to discover some basic info — cannot recall ever reading a volume so inconvenient in that respect.
(The 1983 edition I read does not include a story by Mars-Jones, which other reviewers discuss.)
Mars-Jones’ introduction is also bizarre, in that he devotes several pages to an analysis of a gay mystery novel (Vermilion) which had, at that time, been recently published. Now I should mention that in the Eighties I read absolutely everything, especially anything even remotely gay, and I could not read Vermilion. I have never managed to read Vermilion. So for someone to spend several pages trying to wrench some sort of meaning out of a genre genre (genre squared?) pulp novel is beyond comprehension. It would be like trying to squeeze meaning out of the pulp in a Danielle Steele novel. The meaning is only the portrayal of some kind of fantasy. In other words, the introduction to this volume is a waste of space. Are some facets of gay society obsessed with anonymous sex? Yes. Are some facets of gay society obsessed with issues of social justice? Yes.
These blanket statements say it all. And also say nothing.
Like every anthology, a reader will hit highs and lows. The layout of the book is entirely perplexing. If one reads a story and wants to know who wrote it, one has to go to the table of contents at the start of the book to discover the name of the writer (it is not with the story itself). Then one has to go to the back of the volume to discover more about the writer. It was irritating to be constantly flipping about the book just to discover some basic info — cannot recall ever reading a volume so inconvenient in that respect.
(The 1983 edition I read does not include a story by Mars-Jones, which other reviewers discuss.)
December 16, 2018
The last two short stories (Phantom Limb Pain and The Book Lover and perhaps a couple of others) only make the purchase of this anthology worth it. It's weird to see such amazingly written and engaging pieces being put next to, frankly, boring and cheap 'creative' exercises.
March 8, 2023
"'Mae West is Dead' represents the best of contemporary lesbian and gay fiction in Britain and the United States...(There is) wit, dignity and stylishness...Stereotypes, glitzy trash, self conscious news, voyeurism, self-pity, self-importance and gratuitous physical detail (have) no place...the stories are well-written, witty (and) wise...(the stories) are organised in an often suggestive sequence...(with) an impressive mixture of sensuality and pathos."
From the back cover of the 1987 paperback edition (first published 1983) from publisher Faber & Faber which now, unintentionally perhaps, tells us a great deal about the hurdles any gay writer in the UK had to leap through to be published by a mainstream publisher in the early 1980s. I constantly keep going back to the assurance that none of the stories contain "gratuitous physical detail" as if assuring all their straight readers that they aren't going to have to associate with anything bordering on what gays actually 'do' and also more or less saying that any "gratuitous physical detail" were gays are concerned is only the purvey of pornography not literature. You can't a gay Henry Miller for example.
(Added March 2023)
I have again looked at this anthology and, despite the reservations mentioned in my review below, I've restored it's rating to five stars because I enjoyed to many of the contributors and would not wish anyone to miss out on them because of the failings of the editor. Clearly an anthology that originally appeared in 1983 is going to be dated but, surprisingly I find that the passage of time has allowed the quality of so many stories to stand out much more clearly. I would still rate the authors I mention very highly but that doesn't mean they are the only authors worth reading. (Written January 2023).
I first read this anthology back in the late 1990s and I loved it for the authors it introduced me too like Simon Burt, Richard Hall, Joseph Torchia and Peter Hazeldine but having read George K. Ilsey's excellent review before posting I had to go back and have a serious look at the anthology in the cold light of the 21st century and, I am glad I did so, because as an anthology the book has severe problems.
My 1987 edition has the organizational flaws he mentions but it does not even have a section providing details on the various authors which even at the time I first read it I found disappointing. Even more disconcerting was the introduction by Mr. Mars-Jones - I found the in depth analysis of the novel 'Vermilion' unreadable but, more to the point I was horrified to read in the introduction:
'...for the past fifteen years (he was referring to the decriminalisation of homosexual acts under certain conditions in the UK in 1967 - LO) homosexual men in Britain have been accorded a lavish fraction of civil rights. Homosexuals are, intermittently, freer then ever before...'
The problem is, or was, that gay men were more comprehensively restricted and prosecuted after the so called 'liberation' of 1967 then ever before and it was because of the heavy handed police tactics against gay men that gay liberation in the UK was born. To write about gay civil rights in the 1970s and qualify it with the word lavish is just grotesque.
So I continue to praise the authors included in this anthology - they make it worth reading - but as anthologist Mr. Mars-Jones should be deeply ashamed.
From the back cover of the 1987 paperback edition (first published 1983) from publisher Faber & Faber which now, unintentionally perhaps, tells us a great deal about the hurdles any gay writer in the UK had to leap through to be published by a mainstream publisher in the early 1980s. I constantly keep going back to the assurance that none of the stories contain "gratuitous physical detail" as if assuring all their straight readers that they aren't going to have to associate with anything bordering on what gays actually 'do' and also more or less saying that any "gratuitous physical detail" were gays are concerned is only the purvey of pornography not literature. You can't a gay Henry Miller for example.
(Added March 2023)
I have again looked at this anthology and, despite the reservations mentioned in my review below, I've restored it's rating to five stars because I enjoyed to many of the contributors and would not wish anyone to miss out on them because of the failings of the editor. Clearly an anthology that originally appeared in 1983 is going to be dated but, surprisingly I find that the passage of time has allowed the quality of so many stories to stand out much more clearly. I would still rate the authors I mention very highly but that doesn't mean they are the only authors worth reading. (Written January 2023).
I first read this anthology back in the late 1990s and I loved it for the authors it introduced me too like Simon Burt, Richard Hall, Joseph Torchia and Peter Hazeldine but having read George K. Ilsey's excellent review before posting I had to go back and have a serious look at the anthology in the cold light of the 21st century and, I am glad I did so, because as an anthology the book has severe problems.
My 1987 edition has the organizational flaws he mentions but it does not even have a section providing details on the various authors which even at the time I first read it I found disappointing. Even more disconcerting was the introduction by Mr. Mars-Jones - I found the in depth analysis of the novel 'Vermilion' unreadable but, more to the point I was horrified to read in the introduction:
'...for the past fifteen years (he was referring to the decriminalisation of homosexual acts under certain conditions in the UK in 1967 - LO) homosexual men in Britain have been accorded a lavish fraction of civil rights. Homosexuals are, intermittently, freer then ever before...'
The problem is, or was, that gay men were more comprehensively restricted and prosecuted after the so called 'liberation' of 1967 then ever before and it was because of the heavy handed police tactics against gay men that gay liberation in the UK was born. To write about gay civil rights in the 1970s and qualify it with the word lavish is just grotesque.
So I continue to praise the authors included in this anthology - they make it worth reading - but as anthologist Mr. Mars-Jones should be deeply ashamed.
July 14, 2024
A lumpy mix of the diverting and the borderline dire, with no real organising principle, or even names attached to each short story. As another reviewer on Goodreads notes, you have to switch to the contents page to figure out who you are reading.
I'm still interested in finding more by Adam Mars-Jones, as his capstone contribution was the cream on the half-baked cake. Worth dipping into as a lens on LGBT+ history circa 1983 (I'd be interested to see if the AIDS references got inserted in a later edition, as my copy was newer), but the quality is inconsistent.
I'm still interested in finding more by Adam Mars-Jones, as his capstone contribution was the cream on the half-baked cake. Worth dipping into as a lens on LGBT+ history circa 1983 (I'd be interested to see if the AIDS references got inserted in a later edition, as my copy was newer), but the quality is inconsistent.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews