Faggots

There was a point where I wanted to start reading classic gay literature. I remember seeing Larry Kramer's FAGGOTS on the shelf at a local Borders, but decided to get it another time. I have read his fantastic play THE NORMAL HEART years ago, just when I came out and wanted to explore gay themed writings. I finally bought FAGGOTS a weeks ago on amazon. All I have to say is WOW!!!! This is not just a "walk in the park" kind of read. This is a book which really slaps you in the face. Larry Kramer does NOT (and he really doesn't) hold back ANYTHING in the lives of gay men. The focus of the book is Fred Lemish, a 39-year old man who is looking for love. However, there were more obstacles in the world of gay men than he should have known. The issue of sex is very very exploitive. From outdoor sex, to leather, to raunch, to pig-sex, to groups, and also an explisive orgy scene. (And just you wait until the climax of the novel!!) But what Kramer shows is how obsessed sex is with gay men. Many scenes take place in gay clubs, which many sexual activities occur. I did not mind the many characters in the book. Even though Kramer makes Fred Lemish the hero, we also observe many others in the gay lifestyle. At first is may seen complicated. BUT as the novel progresses I was able to follow and know the characters in the book. The nover was written in 1978, just before the AIDS crisis began. HOWEVER, after I read this book, I thought--Could this REALLY happen today?? I felt it still…

Boy, this was a bit of a marathon to get through, but I masochistically made myself do so. I think this book may have turned me off to men and gay men in particular for awhile (and I'm one of them). Since I've been reading it, my libido has disappeared. I hope it comes back. How could these people have behaved this way? I've always been turned on by subtlety and mystery. I must be a unicorn. Also, this book seems to mainly be about privileged, upper-class New York gays, with the exception of a couple of younger guys who are preyed upon because of their looks. It's really quite sickening in many ways. One wonders, did these elite New York gays of that era care about anything besides the raunchiest sex they could possibly have? It seems they were using sex for some deep, un-satiated inner hunger that could never be filled. Kind of like the Buddhist concept of the "hungry ghost." I guess maybe I really didn't miss out on as much as I thought I did, as I've often looked longingly at this era and wished I could have lived then. But this book presents little more than narcissism and utterly unchecked lust and hedonism. I'll be glad when it begins to recede from my consciousness.