Gay sex in main stream fiction

Hi, I am new to the group. I read a lot of things and I would not say that being gay influences what I read too much. I have read a few Hollinghurst and I just read Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas. Obviously I am not going to be into straight romance.

I am surprised by how often gay sex scenes appear in main stream fiction. A few that come to mind are A Suitable Boy, The Buddha of Suburbia, At Swim, Two Boys (though that might be considered gay?).

I've noticed that in a couple of Ken Follett books (Jackdaws comes to mind right away, but there are others) there are gay characters and they tend to be treated sympathetically. Most recently I happened across a gay character (and a gay sex scene) in Away by Amy Bloom. It shows up everywhere. And I think that is a good thing -- normalization.

Yes, normalisation is a good thing, but it may also account for the quietness of this group. Does our sexuality really have much to do with what we like to read? It seems to me that when being gay was less "normal", people would have been more likely to answer yes to that question.

The other book I read recently that I could not remember when I posted above (which IS a reflection on the book) was Guardian of the Dawn by Zimler.

You're probably right. Because I suspect (although I might be wrong) that you are not Pakistani, Indian or Irish, yet you've read the Kureishi, Seth and O'Neill books. Meaning that... true, dedicated readers don't tend to limit themselves to reading books by and about people like themselves to the exclusion of all others. So, maybe all the gay readers in this group read African-American fiction, chick-lit, mysteries/thrillers, Southern Gothic, etc., etc. along with stories about gay characters.

Still, nice to have a group just in case something exciting comes along in the genre that one just feels the need to share.

Yes, good point, I change my mind. I was only looking at the question from one point of view. Sure, A Suitable Boy was a huge "main stream" best seller but actually, how many straight guys read it? I don't know if amazon or LibraryThing keeps demographics but my guess is not many.

So I should not have been thinking in terms of gay guys only reading gay fiction. Actually, gay guys read whatever they like. The difference is that straight guys seem to only read what is "normal" for straight guys to read.

So, yes, it is nice to have a group. Who else will I discuss the sequel to A Suitable Boy with (A Suitable Girl) when ever Vikram finishes it.

Because I am writing fiction, now, I only read non-fiction so what I read tends to be more of the research genre, for my specific needs.

When I read fiction, I read everything that seemed interesting, although bestseller lists never really appealed to me. Perhaps that is because my grandmother's library had the best of the classics, and I haven't seen any of those on any bestseller list, since I learned to read. I would suspect that many open-minded straight guys read literature with gay references, and gay sex scenes, without having any judgment about it, other than how the scenes were written. After all, I would assume there are many straight men who are more concerned with good writing, than with the elemental differences of the characters.

We should also keep in mind the raw fact that few straight guys are going to trumpet any gay sexual component in a straight story, no matter how well it is written. We will just have to be satisfied that there are some of them out there that find it just as 'normal' to read about that as it is to read about a guy/girl doing naughties. I'm okay with that.

Yes, I was over generalising. But I do think gay men are more eclectic in their preferences for reading as well as music, art, movies etc. than straight men - generally.

Another one to add to the list of "main stream" with gay characters is The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie. I remember the uncle dressed in a white wedding dress being rowed away into the night by his sailor lover.