Older and younger gay men pool party fiction story

We see ourselves reflected in tales from our LGBTQ forebears, and being exposed to the personal trauma of events which they experienced allows us to see how our own lives fit the collective record. As such, I hoped for an account which furthers our understanding of modern queer history, while maybe providing that all-important sense of connection.

On the surface, Not So Good a Gay Man holds a great deal of promise: Robinson not only had a successful and lengthy career as a science fiction writer, but he also put his services to use as a speechwriter for Harvey Milk. Despite the title, this is not really a book about Frank M. Robinson, the gay man.

Instead it is a book about Frank M. Robinson, the writer. We still live in a world which sidelines LGBTQ authors and their fiction, so I could scarcely imagine what challenges presented themselves seven decades ago. The problem is that Robinson is not a passionate writer. Throughout his life he only did so sporadically, normally with the promise of significant financial reward.

Robinson was paid handsomely for stories he wrote apathetically and which borderline-plagiarised the work of others. Not So Good a Gay Man is an incredibly disjointed read, full of awkward phrasing and rambling repetition. This leaves some awkward questions.

Swimming in the Dark

And if Robinson was so poor at his craft, why did he do so well? This could have formed an interesting narrative had Robinson recognised his position and attempted to surround it with some sort of critical commentary, but unfortunately he demonstrates little sense of his own entitlement. She was dumpy and weathered While at a party ina closeted twenty-six-year-old Spacey allegedly groped the unwilling fourteen-year-old actor Anthony Rapp.

This accusation sparked outrage when it came to light in Octoberwith almost universal condemnation directed toward the prospect of an older man taking advantage of a vulnerable adolescent. Spacey took the opportunity to come out, only to provoke further horror—the closet was no excuse. I wish this was a random non sequitur with no relevance to this review, but unfortunately similar scenarios occur over and over throughout Not So Good a Gay Man.

Many of the gay men Robinson spent time with were older and quite wealthy, and their sex lives consisted of exploiting teenage boys who were lost, hungry, and had nowhere else to stay. Another regularly hosted pool parties filled with mostly naked teenagers. Again, a different commentary surrounding these scenes could have provided interesting insights into the cruel and coercive culture which surrounded this stratum of rich gay men.

Worse, he took part himself—and as if to ferment his hypocrisy, Robinson complains about impoverished young people stealing in order to eat. In fact I feel dirty just typing that sentence. Yet I still believe in the power of stories to provide us with a sense of community. By: Redfern Jon Barrett. Issue: 5 March